Using SQL Server Tools with Failover Clustering
You can use most SQL Server tools and services with failover clustering. Before doing so, however, you should review the following considerations.
Full-Text Queries
To use the Microsoft Search service to perform full-text queries with failover clustering, observe the following requirements:
In order for full-text queries to function properly on failover clusters, an instance of SQL Server must run on the same system account on all failover cluster nodes.
Note
This is a general requirement of failover clustering, and is not specific to Microsoft Search service.
To change the startup account for SQL Server in the failover cluster, you must use SQL Server Configuration Manager. If you use Control Panel or the Services Application in Microsoft Windows to change the startup account, you will break the full-text configuration for SQL Server.
SQL Server Configuration Manager
To use SQL Server Configuration Manager with failover clustering, observe the following requirements:
To change the startup account for SQL Server in the failover cluster, you must use SQL Server Configuration Manager. If you use Control Panel or the Services Application in Windows, you might break your server configuration.
When creating or altering databases, you can only view the cluster disks for the local failover cluster instance.
If you use SQL Server Configuration Manager to reset the properties of the SQL Server service account, you are prompted to restart SQL Server. In a failover cluster configuration, this takes the full-text and SQL Server Agent resources offline; however, it does not bring the full-text or SQL Server Agent resources back online when SQL Server is restarted. You must restart those resources manually using the Windows Cluster Administrator utility.
SQL Server Management Studio
If you are browsing a table using SQL Server Management Studio and lose the connection to SQL Server during a failover, you see the error message, "Communication Link Failure." You must press the ESC key to undo the changes and exit out of the SQL Server Management Studio window.
You cannot run a query, save any changes, or edit the grid.
Service Control Manager
Use Service Control Manager to start or stop a clustered instance of SQL Server. You cannot pause a clustered instance of SQL Server.
SQL Server Profiler
You can use SQL Server Profiler with failover clustering. However, if a failover occurs when you are running a SQL Server Profiler trace, you must restart the trace after the server comes back online.
SQL Mail
SQL Mail can be configured remotely by Configuration Manager.