MSDTC / W2K3 / SQL 2000 Clustering

I'm in the process of setting up my first W2K3 / SQL 2000 cluster and I have a few questions with regards to MSDTC.
Documentation I have says that MSDTC must be clustered in order for SQL clustering to work. It also says that you cannot use comclust.exe anymore and that MSDTC must be setup in its own group with the following ( VIP, Network Name, and dedicated shared di
sk). I currently have Windows and SQL 2000 clustering up and running without MSDTC clustered.
My questions are :
1) Do I need MSDTC at all? If so, why?
2) If I do need MSDTC clustered, can I use a disk that has other applications installed on it? (I only have two LUNS to work with on the SAN, my quorum device and a device I'm using for SQL data / logs)
I know that I haven't given a lot of background information, but I was hoping I could get a discussion started.
Thanks.
Comments inline.
Geoff N. Hiten
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
Senior Database Administrator
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"tech_arch_guy" <tech_arch_guy@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2B8AD70E-877C-4F02-A0F7-7A51B072075C@.microsoft.com...
> I'm in the process of setting up my first W2K3 / SQL 2000 cluster and I
have a few questions with regards to MSDTC.
> Documentation I have says that MSDTC must be clustered in order for SQL
clustering to work. It also says that you cannot use comclust.exe anymore
and that MSDTC must be setup in its own group with the following ( VIP,
Network Name, and dedicated shared disk). I currently have Windows and SQL
2000 clustering up and running without MSDTC clustered.
> My questions are :
> 1) Do I need MSDTC at all? If so, why?
Yes. Setup will fail without MSDTC.
> 2) If I do need MSDTC clustered, can I use a disk that has other
applications installed on it? (I only have two LUNS to work with on the SAN,
my quorum device and a device I'm using for SQL data / logs)
>
W2000 used the quorum device as the MSDTC physical disk by default. W2003
recommends using another disk, but in your case the qourum drive is probably
OK. I have a cluster upgraded from W2000 to W2003 with MSDTC on the quorum
device and it works just fine.

> I know that I haven't given a lot of background information, but I was
hoping I could get a discussion started.
> Thanks.
|||You do NOT need MSDTC clustered for installing SQL Server 2000 virtual instance on a Windows 2003 Microsoft Cluster Server. You need MSDTC only if you doing distributed transactions. you can cluster MSDTC
even after installing SQL Server 2000 virtual instance.
Refer the foll. KB for Win2K3
How to configure Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MSDTC)on a Windows Server 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=301600
How to enable network DTC access in Windows Server 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=817064
It is recommended to use a seperate shared disk (500MB works) for MSDTC. In your case you just have the qourum disk and sql disk. I have seen many clusters that have MSDTC using the Quorum disk. Usually if
you are not doing a lot of distributed transactions then leave that way if everything is working fine. But if you are building your cluster and want to build as per best practices then the recommendation is to use a
seperate disk for MSDTC.
Best Regards,
Uttam Parui
Microsoft Corporation
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
Are you secure? For information about the Strategic Technology Protection Program and to order your FREE Security Tool Kit, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/security.
Microsoft highly recommends that users with Internet access update their Microsoft software to better protect against viruses and security vulnerabilities. The easiest way to do this is to visit the following websites:
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http://www.microsoft.com/security/guidance/default.mspx
|||I agree with Uttam but if you like to create DTC resource if you have
distributed transactions or even linked servers, you will be creating it just
like you create a disk resource. Make sure you have a disk, name and ip
resource created for MSDTC.
"Uttam Parui[MS]" wrote:

> You do NOT need MSDTC clustered for installing SQL Server 2000 virtual instance on a Windows 2003 Microsoft Cluster Server. You need MSDTC only if you doing distributed transactions. you can cluster MSDTC
> even after installing SQL Server 2000 virtual instance.
> Refer the foll. KB for Win2K3
> How to configure Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MSDTC)on a Windows Server 2003
> http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=301600
> How to enable network DTC access in Windows Server 2003
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=817064
> It is recommended to use a seperate shared disk (500MB works) for MSDTC. In your case you just have the qourum disk and sql disk. I have seen many clusters that have MSDTC using the Quorum disk. Usually if
> you are not doing a lot of distributed transactions then leave that way if everything is working fine. But if you are building your cluster and want to build as per best practices then the recommendation is to use a
> seperate disk for MSDTC.
> Best Regards,
> Uttam Parui
> Microsoft Corporation
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
> Are you secure? For information about the Strategic Technology Protection Program and to order your FREE Security Tool Kit, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/security.
> Microsoft highly recommends that users with Internet access update their Microsoft software to better protect against viruses and security vulnerabilities. The easiest way to do this is to visit the following websites:
> http://www.microsoft.com/protect
> http://www.microsoft.com/security/guidance/default.mspx
>
>