Quorum disk placement

[flstffatboy]

We are currently trying to configure a new hardware solution for running SQL Server 2000 in a clustered environment with a SAN. I have been unable to get a good answer regarding the location of the Quorum disk. Can the Quorum disk be on the same physical disk (spindle) as the transaction logs as long as they are seperated in the SAN on seperate logical volumes?

All input would be very much appreciated!

flstf

 

[chiph]

What I've seen done is:

Quorum: stored on mirrored drives (small Raid-1 array)
Transaction Log: stored on Raid-5 array
Data files: stored on Raid 0+1 array

The reasoning behind this:
1) The Quorum doesn't need much space (a few meg or so), but it does need to be redundant ... buy two small SCSI or FC drives and mirror them.

The Transaction Log can be fairly large, and is actually more important than the data. Thus you should use large SCSI or FC drives and place them in a RAID-5 array. You'll want at least two hot-spares.

The Data Files get them most use. RAID 0+1 means the data is mirrored and striped. Mirrored for protection, striped for performance. Large SCSI or FC drives, and at least one hot-spare.

BTW, just because your drives are in a RAID array doesn't mean that you're invulnerable. A company I know had two drives go bad overnight in their array, and lost all their data. So having a good backup strategy is important, because, well, stuff happens.

Chip H.

 

[flstffatboy]

Chip H

Thanks for your reply it is appreciated.

flstf

 

[SQLBill]

The way my system was set up is:

I have a 14 x 36 GB hard drive array. The array is a RAID 5 and has my M drive (all SQL Server database files) and the Q (quorum drive). So, yes they can all be put on the same physical drive.

-SQLBill