Windows Database Server Requirements
Delphix Administration / SQL Server Environments and Data Sources / Setting Up and Configuring Delphix for SQL Server / Tasks for the Windows System Administrator / Windows Database Server Requirements

Windows Staging Server 

This topic describes requirements for a SQL Staging Server. The Staging Server must also be a Target Server and must meet the Target Server requirements. For more information, see Overview of Setting Up SQL Server Environments.

Each SQL Staging Server must meet the following requirements:

  • Only standalone SQL Server environments will work as staging environments. You cannot use Windows Failover Cluster environments or SQL Server Always-On Cluster instances.
  • The SQL Server instance must be the same version as the instance hosting the source database. For more information about compatibility between different versions of SQL Server, see Windows Server OS and SQL Server DBMS Compatibility Matrices.
  • The owner of the SQL Server instances on the staging environment must have SMB read access to the location containing the backup images of the source databases. This can only be done on a domain or local service account.
  • If the source database is backed up with third-party backup software like LiteSpeed or Red Gate SQL Backup Pro, you must install the backup software on both the source and the staging environment. For backup software compatibility requirements, see Supported OS, SQL Server, and Backup Software Versions for SQL Server.

  • The Source Host must belong to the same Windows domain as the Staging Server, or the domain that the Source Server uses must have appropriate cross-domain trust relationships established with the Staging Server domain.

Windows Source Server

Source Hosts are the servers that contain data sources to which the Delphix Engine links and from which it provisions virtual databases (VDBs). Collectively, the source host and its databases are referred to as the source environment. This topic describes the requirements for creating connections between the Delphix Engine and SQL Server source hosts and databases.

Source Hosts Requirements

  • Either the Source Host must belong to the same Windows domain as the staging target, or the domain that the source host uses must have appropriate cross-domain trust relationships established with the Staging Server domains.
  • Source Hosts can be running any supported Windows operating system version. For more information, see Supported OS, SQL Server, and Backup Software Versions for SQL Server.
  • The source database user, used for linking needs to have permissions to take a backup
  • You must enable TCP/IP access for each SQL Server instance that contains a database to which the Delphix Engine will link
    • To enable TCP/IP access, access the SQL Server Config Manager and select Network Configuration > Protocols > TCP/IP.

Linking to Databases on Windows Server Failover Clusters

You can use databases on Windows Server Failover Clusters (WSFC) as data sources. Add the environment as described below, based on which WSFC feature the source databases use:

  • Failover Cluster Instances:
    • Add the environment as a standalone source using the cluster name or address.
  • AlwaysOn Availability Groups:
    • Add the environment as a cluster source using the cluster name or address.

If using a Failover Cluster or AlwaysOn data source, the cluster configuration must also meet the following requirements:

  • The fully qualified Cluster Name (part of the cluster's Core Resources) must be known to the DNS server used by the Delphix Engine.
  • The Staging Target environment must be able to resolve the Cluster Name using the Cluster IP address (perform a reverse DNS lookup)

Windows Target Server 

This topic describes requirements for SQL Server Target Hosts, and Windows Domain or local users, for connecting with the Delphix Engine. The target host server and the databases it contains are collectively referred to as Target Server. You can use Windows Target Servers for staging and/or provisioning of virtual databases (VDBs), as well as proxies for the discovery of database instances on source environments. For more information, see the topic Overview of Setting Up SQL Server Environments. The requirements described in this topic apply equally to target environments used as staging environments and for provisioning VDBs.

Target Hosts

Each SQL Server Target Host must meet these requirements: 
  • If the target host is used as a Connector host, it must have appropriate two-way cross-domain trust relationships established with the source hosts' domains. Please view Delphix in Multi-domain Windows Environments for further explanations on cross-domain trust requirements. 
  • The SQL Server instance on the target host should run as either domain users or local service accounts. Delphix does NOT support running SQL Server instances as local user accounts.

  • The SQL Server instance on the target host should be the same version or higher than the instance hosting the source database, with one exception. If a source database comes from a SQL Server 2005 instance, then the target hosts that will host VDBs from that source must be running either a SQL Server 2005 instance or a SQL Server 2012 instance or higher. 

    Upgrading VDBs from SQL Server 2005

    You can first provision a VDB to SQL Server 2005 and then upgrade it to a higher version by following the steps described in Upgrading SQL Server VDBs. For more information about compatibility between different versions of SQL Server, see Windows Server OS and SQL Server DBMS Compatibility Matrices.

  • The target host must have 64-bit Windows as the operating system. Delphix does not support 32-bit target systems.

  • To add a Windows cluster as a Target Server, see Adding a SQL Server Failover Cluster Target Server.

    AlwaysOn Targets Not Supported

    Delphix supports the use of Failover Cluster Instances (FCI) as Targets, but not Staging Targets.

    AlwaysOn Availability Groups are not supported as Targets or Staging Targets.

  • If the target host is a VMWare virtual machine, then the Windows Server operating system must be configured to use the VMXNET3 network driver. Refer to VMware KB 210992.
  • The operating system version on a target host that will be used for provisioning VDBs should be equal to, or higher than, the operating system on the target that is hosting the staging databases for the dSource from which the VDB is being provisioned. There is no OS compatibility requirement between source and target hosts. For more information, see Windows Server OS and SQL Server DBMS Compatibility Matrices.
  • Windows PowerShell 2.0 must be installed. To check the current version, type $PSVersionTable.PSVersion in a PowerShell Window.
  • Execution of Windows PowerShell scripts must be enabled on the target host.
    To enable script execution, enter this command while running Windows PowerShell as an Administrator: Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted. 
  • For Windows 2003 target hosts, the following should be installed:
    • Windows Server iSCSI initiator (available for download).
    • Hotfix documented in Microsoft Knowledge Base article KB 943043.
  • The Windows iSCSI Initiator Service should have its Startup Type set to Automatic, and the service should be running. For configuring the Windows iSCSI Initiator Service, see Requirements for Windows iSCSI Configuration.

  • Receive Side Scaling (RSS) must be enabled on each network interface to which the  Delphix Engine connects. To configure this, see Receive Side Scaling (RSS) for Windows Staging Target and Targets.

  • The Delphix Connector must be installed, as described in the topics Overview of Setting Up SQL Server Environments and Adding a SQL Server Standalone Target Environment.

    Flash Player Required for Connector Download

    A Flash player must be available on the Target Host to download the Delphix Connector when using the Delphix Management application. If the target host does not have a Flash player installed, you can download the connector directly from the Delphix Engine by navigating to this URL: http://<name of your Delphix Engine>/connector/DelphixConnectorInstaller.msi

  • Shared Memory must be enabled as a Network Protocol for the SQL instances on the target.  
    To enable this: In SQL Server Config Manager, navigate to Client Protocols > Shared Memory.
  • TCP/IP access must be enabled for each SQL Server instance on the target host to allow remote connections to instances.
    To enable TCP/IP access: In SQL Server Config Manager, navigate to Network Configuration > Protocols > TCP/IP. 

Windows Limitation on the Number of Delphix VDBs

The number of Delphix VDBs that can be created is limited due to a limitation of total number of iSCSI LUNs that a Windows Server can have for a given iSCSI target.

Delphix 3.2.7 and new

From Delphix Engine 3.2.7 and newer, the number of VDBs per Delphix Engine to a given Windows target server is 255. This is due to reducing the number of LUNs to 1 per VDB.

Delphix 3.2.6 and older

Up to Delphix Engine 3.2.6, 85 VDBs is limited per Delphix Engine to a given Windows target server. This is due to 3 LUNs being assigned to each VDB and Windows having a limit of 255 LUNs per iSCSI target.

Workaround:

  1. Have multiple Windows target servers associated with a Delphix Engine. 
  2. Have multiple Delphix Engines associated with a Windows target server.

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