One of the coolest features of SQL Server 2000 is its ability to use named instances, which allow you to run multiple installs of SQL Server on the same computer. With SQL Server 2000, you have two types of named instances:
- Default instance
- Named instance
The default instance is basically the standard install of SQL Server. Prior to SQL Server 2000, when you installed SQL Server 7.0 or earlier, you were installing the default instance. You can have only one default instance per server. For example, if you have a two-node cluster, and you install the default instance on node 1, you must install a named instance of SQL Server 2000 on node 2 for clustering to work properly. Remember: Only one default instance per server. If you installed a default instance on node 1 and a default instance on node 2, a failover wouldn't work because two default instances can't reside on the same server. (A cluster acts as a single virtual server.) Named instance
The named instance uses the initial name of the default instance plus a secondary SQL Server name. For example, suppose that I want to create a default instance called SQL2K and a named instance called SQLTECH. I would initially install my default instance with the name of SQL2K, but the named instance would look like SQL2K\SQLTECH. Each installation of a named instance gets it own system and user databases, SQL Server Agent, and registry keys. Configuring MS DTC
Before installing SQL Server 2000 on your cluster, you must install MS DTC on all nodes. A utility is included in the clustering installation that allows you to install this quickly. Simply open a command prompt and type comclust.exe, as I've done in Figure B. This will add the MS DTC resource to the Quorum group. Figure B
Once you have run the comclust.exe command on all nodes, you can verify that the MS DTC resource was created by looking at the cluster group on each node. Next, verify that you have a MS DTC resource in there and that it shows a status of Online. Installing SQL 2000 in a VMware Cluster
Now you're ready to install SQL Server 2000. The first step is to insert the SQL Server Enterprise Edition CD. When the first screen appears, choose SQL Server 2000 Components. Author's note: To install SQL Server clustering, you need to have SQL Server Enterprise Edition or Developer Edition.
