(De)Commission SharePoint Database Servers

Question

In our SharePoint Farm, We are running with 2 Database Servers and on which we have 20+ Databases.Now, due to some issues we would like to decommission the existing database servers and commission 2 new Database servers without any data/configuration loss.

Some of the options are...

Action Plan - A:

1. Create the databases on the New Database servers, using .mdf & .ldf files
2. Detach ALL the databases
3. Place "App_offline.htm" file to turn off sharepoint functionality
4. Attach the new databases
5. Create an alias record in DNS which resolves the old servername to the new servername
6. Add the old server's IP address as a 2nd IP in the properties of the network card
7. Remove the "App_offline.htm" file to turn on the sharepoint functionality

Action Plan - B:

1. Place "App_offline.htm" file to turn off sharepoint functionality
2. Migrate the Databases to the new Database servers using "Stsadm -o migratedatabase"
3. Remove the "App_offline.htm" file to turn on the SharePoint functionality

Action Plan - C:

1. Detach ALL the databases
2. Copy them to the new server
3. Attach the databases
4. Turn the old server off
5. Create an alias record in DNS which resolves the old servername to the new servername
6. Add the old server's IP address as a 2nd IP in the properties of the network card

Please let me know the best feasible way of doing this.

Answer 1

One option you have is to create SQL aliases on your SharePoint servers. You will have to do this on every SharePoint server in the farm (not the SQL servers). To do this go to Start>Run and type cliconfg.exe. You can set up the alias to be the name of the current SQL servers and point to the current SQL servers. Once you have done that, you can then copy the current databases to the new SQL servers and set the security for them appropriately. Then change the SQL alias to still have the same alias, but be directed to the new servers (you will have to update this on every SharePoint server). Once you have updated the SQL aliases, you should then be able to browse your SharePoint sites normally. Make sure you test this well before decommissioning the old servers. One important thing to note: SQL security is important, your new environment must grant the same level of access for all of your SharePoint services accounts as the old environment.

Answer 2

Move all databases to a different database server 1.Prepare the new database server by using the Prepare the database servers procedure.

2.Record which Web applications are associated with the SSP by performing the following steps:

a. Record the associated Web applications that are listed on the Manage This Farm's Shared Services page. 

3.To back up an SSP, a. Stop Crawling b. Stop Office Sharepoint Server Search service on all the servers c. Ensure the File share Permissions d. Type the following command: stsadm -o backup -directory -backupmethod full -item e.Repeat these steps for each SSP that you want to back up.

4.Remove the SSP by performing the following steps:

a.On the disk on which Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies is installed, change to the following directory: %COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft shared\Web server extensions\12\Bin.

b.To remove an SSP, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
    stsadm -o deletessp -title <SSP name> -deletedatabases -force

c.To detach the SSP content database from the SharePoint farm, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
    stsadm -o -deletecontentdb -url <URL> -databasename <database name>

d.Repeat steps b and c for each SSP.

5.Stop the farm by performing the following steps: sc \ServerName Stop ssosrv sc \ServerName Stop DCLauncher sc \ServerName Stop DCLoadBalancer sc \ServerName Stop OSearch sc \ServerName Stop SPAdmin sc \ServerName Stop SPSearch sc \ServerName Stop SPTimerV3 sc \ServerName Stop SPTrace sc \ServerName Stop SPWriter

iisreset ServerName /stop

b.Repeat step 6 on each server in the farm.

6.Back up the databases on the source database server.

7.Restore databases on the destination database server.

8.Use SQL Server to copy to the destination server the logons for all service accounts, including SQL Server logins, fixed server roles, fixed database roles, and permissions for the databases. Ensure that setup/farm service account has dbcreator & securityadmin permission (server role)

9.Refer the farm to the new database server by creating a SQL Server connection alias.

a.Start the SQL Server Native Client Network Utility (%SYSTEM%\cliconfg.exe).

b.On the General tab, verify that TCP/IP is enabled.

c.On the Alias tab, click Add.

The Add Network Library Configuration dialog box appears.

d.In the Server alias box, enter the name of the current instance of SQL Server. (should not change the alias)

e.In the Network libraries area, click TCP/IP.

f.In the Connection parameters area, in the Server name box, enter the new server name and instance to associate with the alias, and then click OK.

g.Repeat steps a through f on all servers that connect to SQL Server.

10.Start the new farm by performing the following steps: sc \ServerName Stop ssosrv sc \ServerName Stop DCLauncher sc \ServerName Stop DCLoadBalancer sc \ServerName Stop OSearch sc \ServerName Stop SPAdmin sc \ServerName Stop SPSearch sc \ServerName Stop SPTimerV3 sc \ServerName Stop SPTrace sc \ServerName Stop SPWriter

iisreset ServerName /stop

11.Restore an SSP to the new location. a. By default, the first SSP to be restored becomes the default. Perform this step if you want to assign a different SSP as the default.

b. Ensure that Office Sharepoint Server Search service is started on Index server

c. From CA, Restore the SSP (Perform Restore)

Please refer - http://64.4.11.252/en-us/library/cc512725%28office.12%29.aspx for further information.