SQL 2012 Database Availability Group - Force Automatic Failover

Question

Hi All,
I'd appreciate some help in understanding the following scenario in my test environment.
I have created a DAG with 2 replica servers (both of which are HyperV VM's running W2012 Std).
From a client PC in my test lab, I can connect to the virtual listener of my DAG and confirm via the "select @@servername" command that I am connecting to the primary replica server.
Using the Failover Wizard, I can easily move to primary instance between my 2 nodes and the command above confirms that the primary replica server has changed. So far so good.
What I wanted to test, was what would happen to my DAG in the event of a complete loss of power to the server that was acting as the primary replica server. At first, I thought I would stop the SQL Server service on the primary server, but this did not result
in my DAG failing over to the secondary replica. I have found out that the only way I can do this is by effectively shutting down the primary server in a controlled manner.
Is there any reason why either stopping the SQL Server service on the primary replica, or indeed forcing a power off of the primary replica does not result in the DAG failing over to the secondary replica?
Thanks,
Bob

Answer 1

Hi,
I would verify if Database Availability Group means AlwaysOn Availability Group.
How did you set the FailureConditionLevel?
Whether the diagnostic data and health information returned by sp_server_diagnostics warrants an automatic failover depends on the failure-condition level of the availability group. The failure-condition level specifies what failure conditions
trigger an automatic failover. There are five failure-condition levels, which range from the least restrictive (level one) to the most restrictive (level five). For details about failure-conditions level, see:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh710061.aspx#FClevel
There are two useful articles may be helpful:
SQL 2012 AlwaysOn Availability groups Automatic Failover doesn’t occur or does it – A look at the logs
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sql_pfe_blog/archive/2013/04/08/sql-2012-alwayson-availability-groups-automatic-failover-doesn-t-occur-or-does-it-a-look-at-the-logs.aspx
SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn – Part 7 – Details behind an AlwaysOn Availability Group
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/saponsqlserver/archive/2012/04/24/sql-server-2012-alwayson-part-7-details-behind-an-alwayson-availability-group.aspx
Thanks.
Tracy Cai
TechNet Community Support
Hi,
Thanks for the reply.
It's an AlwaysOn Availability Group.
In my test lab, I have changed the quorum configuration to a file share witness and that has allowed an automatic failover when I turn the primary replica server off (rather than power it off).
I'll take a look at the links you provided.
Regards,
Bob