BizTalk and SQL Clustering

Question

Hi,
I have following questions in clustering:
1. When we say BizTalk cluster. Does that mean that all the server nodes that participate will use the same SQL server cluster, SSO cluster?
2. In case of SQL Server cluster, one is active and one is passive. Will both the servers be replica of each other? I mean to ask will they have same data and configuration?  If not then how will it work in a failover scenario because the passive
instance will not the all the information of Active instance?
3. Does a Single node of SQL Cluster includes MsgBox and ManagementDB or are they on different Server?
4. What is the ideal setup of Sql DB? Eg: a different for MsgBox, Management DB, SSO etc?
5. Also, as per my understanding, for high availabilty we should have a BizTalk cluster, Sql cluster and SSO cluster? Is that correct?
Thanks.

Answer 1

Cluster or Not, all BizTalk Servers are configured in the same group and use the Master SSO instance. Only in the case of a cluster the associated DB's are clustered. Does not really change anything w.r.t configuration of the BizTalk Group.
I would refer you to the following links
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa373130(v=vs.85).aspx and
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc757731(v=ws.10).aspx to get a better understanding of clusters. Clusters in Microsoft are a shared resource so to answer your question, the passive node will (in case of failover) get access to the resources
which were with the active instance and thus no further configu sync is required. Its is the same information from the drives, master DB, services, registry which fails over onto the passive node.
How you utilize the two (or more) nodes of the cluster depends on the load you expect to handle. You may choose to split databases across the TWO nodes [called Active/Active in Microsoft parlance]. This way BOTH the nodes have to be licensed. Each BizTalk
Database has different needs w.r.t frequency of reads/writes, size, etc. The BizTalk Performance Optimization Guide @http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee377064.aspx in addition to best
Practices for Maintaining BizTalk Database @http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg634566.aspx should provide you with guidance on how to split the BizTalk Databases across multiple cluster
nodes.
I would like to provide you ONE configuration fits all BUT that is not possible. The setup of the SQL is highly dependant on the load you expect to address through BizTalk, the HA/DR consideration pertaining to availability/licensing, etc. In short it is
a topic for an infrastructure architect.
BizTalk Cluster is again a subject of requirement. There is no BizTalk Cluster per-se, BizTalk Services (BTSNTSvc.exe) can be clustered so implying that specific host instance can be clustered. As a rule one should only look at clustering those Receive
Protocols which need to be configured for availability. Examples would be FILE, FTP, even DB locations. IIS/Web Services provide HA + scalability through NLB. If you have a SQL Cluster then it is recomended to also cluster SSO on the same set of servers primarily
because it does not require additonal BizTalk Licensing.
Regards.