MSDTC - configure after the cluster install?

Hi,
Here is our newly built cluster configuration:
2 node
Active/Passive
Windows 2003 Ent.
SQL 2000 SP4
D:\ for SQL Data
E:\ for SQL Logs
2 cluster groups:
Cluster group
SQL group
SQL is running great, failover between nodes works good. However, during
the cluster install and the SQL install, we didnt configure a cluster
resource for the MS DTC. Our apps team needs to be able to run DTS packages
on this cluster. Now, I found this document
(http://www.sql-server-performance.com/rn_sql_server_clustering_2000_to_2005.asp)
that states the MS DTC must be configured ahead of the SQL install in a
cluster (page 3 of this document). So a few questions here:
1. Can MS DTC be configured in a cluster "after the fact"?
I am looking at this MS article that makes me think it can:
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=301600
2. Assuming it can be done, I am told the DTS packages are not many and not
large. We dont have the physical disk resources for MS DTC to have its own
physical disk. Should we put the MS DTC resource in the SQL Group and use
the D:\ drive?
3. IF (a big if) I could get the physical disk just for MS DTC, what would
be the recommended RAID level and disk size?
Thanks in advance to everyone...I am a server/SAN admin, not really a SQL
admin so any help is much appreciated.
JJP
>1. Can MS DTC be configured in a cluster "after the fact"?
Yes, should not be a problem. I have had to do this after an oops.

>2. Assuming it can be done, I am told the DTS packages are not many and not
>large. We dont have the physical disk resources for MS DTC to have its own
>physical disk. Should we put the MS DTC resource in the SQL Group and use
>the D:\ drive?
I know MSFT reccomends the DTC to receive its own disk and network name. In
most clusters I have successfully installed and worked with I have put MSDTC
on the cluster group itself and used the Quorum drive with success. I don't
know how that effects supportability but we had no issues as a result of
that configuration.

>3.) ..Disk size..
The MSDTC space requirements in my experience have not been very large. That
is why the Quorum drive worked. We were using linked servers to Oracle and
using distributed transactions and the space was not an issue. We only had a
few GB of space involved.
"JJP" <anonymous@.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:udGwDx8oHHA.3772@.TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> Hi,
> Here is our newly built cluster configuration:
> 2 node
> Active/Passive
> Windows 2003 Ent.
> SQL 2000 SP4
> D:\ for SQL Data
> E:\ for SQL Logs
> 2 cluster groups:
> Cluster group
> SQL group
> SQL is running great, failover between nodes works good. However, during
> the cluster install and the SQL install, we didnt configure a cluster
> resource for the MS DTC. Our apps team needs to be able to run DTS
> packages on this cluster. Now, I found this document
> (http://www.sql-server-performance.com/rn_sql_server_clustering_2000_to_2005.asp)
> that states the MS DTC must be configured ahead of the SQL install in a
> cluster (page 3 of this document). So a few questions here:
> 1. Can MS DTC be configured in a cluster "after the fact"?
> I am looking at this MS article that makes me think it can:
> http://support.microsoft.com/?id=301600
> 2. Assuming it can be done, I am told the DTS packages are not many and
> not large. We dont have the physical disk resources for MS DTC to have
> its own physical disk. Should we put the MS DTC resource in the SQL Group
> and use the D:\ drive?
> 3. IF (a big if) I could get the physical disk just for MS DTC, what would
> be the recommended RAID level and disk size?
> Thanks in advance to everyone...I am a server/SAN admin, not really a SQL
> admin so any help is much appreciated.
> JJP
>
|||>>3.) ..Disk size..
>We only had a few GB of space involved.
Mike,
Sound like you have many GB quorum drive and only few GB is used, right?
Scary…
OK
"Mike Walsh" wrote:

> Yes, should not be a problem. I have had to do this after an oops.
>
> I know MSFT reccomends the DTC to receive its own disk and network name. In
> most clusters I have successfully installed and worked with I have put MSDTC
> on the cluster group itself and used the Quorum drive with success. I don't
> know how that effects supportability but we had no issues as a result of
> that configuration.
>
> The MSDTC space requirements in my experience have not been very large. That
> is why the Quorum drive worked. We were using linked servers to Oracle and
> using distributed transactions and the space was not an issue. We only had a
> few GB of space involved.
>
>
>
>
>
> "JJP" <anonymous@.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:udGwDx8oHHA.3772@.TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>
>
|||> Mike,
> Sound like you have many GB quorum drive and only few GB is used, right?
> Scary.
> OK
I have a small quorom drive (only a 1 or 2gb) and hardly any space is being
used.
Why is this scary? The quorum drive is not a space hungry drive and it is
used simply as a space for cluster "communications" and health checks...
"OK" <OK@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:34F59400-A315-499D-90F1-81E19126DA40@.microsoft.com...[vbcol=seagreen]
> Mike,
> Sound like you have many GB quorum drive and only few GB is used, right?
> Scary.
> OK
>
> "Mike Walsh" wrote:
|||Scary would be “having multi-gigabytes quorum drive, with only few gigabytes
used for MSDTC transactions”! ;-)
"Mike Walsh" wrote:

> I have a small quorom drive (only a 1 or 2gb) and hardly any space is being
> used.
> Why is this scary? The quorum drive is not a space hungry drive and it is
> used simply as a space for cluster "communications" and health checks...
> "OK" <OK@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:34F59400-A315-499D-90F1-81E19126DA40@.microsoft.com...
>
>