Microsoft SQL Always On Availability Group is effectively a SQL mirroring cluster. 

In a Mirroring Cluster, there is an active SQL database server and a passive database server. When the active database server is down for some reason, the cluster will fail over to the passive database server, and the passive database will become the active database server. 

In a Mirroring Cluster, only one database server is active at one time and the database operation is served from the active server only. In principle, data change in the active database is copied to the passive database in real time. 

In a Microsoft SQL Always On Availability Group, there is one single primary replica, aka, the active database, and up to 8 secondary replicas, aka, the passive databases.

Setting up a HA cluster with a Microsoft SQL Always-on Availability Group is very simple. Follow the steps below:

Set up a Microsoft SQL Always On Availability Group

We assume that you already have a Microsoft SQL Always On Availability Group in your organization. Otherwise, please follow the article below.

Step-By-Step: Creating a SQL Server Always On Availability Group

Install the Primary DualShield Server

Follow the normal installation process to install the primary DualShield Server. In the database selection step, select Microsoft SQL as the database server

This instruction is for installing a fresh new instance of the DualShield backend server or an all-in-one server.

Install DualShield Server

To start the installation, execute "DualShieldSetup64-xxx.yyyy-signed.exe", where xxx is the version number and yyyy is the build number, e.g. "DualShieldSetup64-6.0.0.0228-signed.exe"


DualShield 6 supports multiple languages. However, in the first release, version 6.0.0, language translation has not yet been completed. Please select English for now.




You may install DualShield on a different drive, in a different folder. However, it is recommended to use the default drive and folder as suggested, for the sake of simplicity and transparancy in future communications. 


Option 1: All-in-One ServerOption 2: Slim Backend Server

If you want to install a DualShield server that is to be used as both the backend and frontend, then you need to install all of its component. 

Select "All Components"

If you want to install a DualShield server as a pure backend server without the end-user services, then you can keep it slim.

Select "Back-end Components"

At the present time, the documentation for DualShield 6 is not yet complete. Therefore you might want to include the legacy Management Console so that you can refer to the old documentation if necessary.

If you do select the legacy management server and/or self-service server, then you must also select the legacy SSO server. 

At the present time, the documentation for DualShield 6 is not yet complete. Therefore you might want to include the legacy Management Console so that you can refer to the old documentation if necessary.

If you do select the legacy management server, then you must also select the legacy SSO server. 


OptionValue
Server FQDN

Enter here the FQDN to be used for this DualShield server. Please choose the FQDN wisely and correctly, as it would be difficult to change after the installation. 

A DualShield server must be given a unique Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) which is provided in the installation process.

The DualShield server includes several web consoles, including

  • Admin Console
  • User Console
  • Single Sign-On Console (mainly used for SAML SSSO)
  • Deployment Console (for device and tokens)

DualShield consoles are all web-based portals that can be accessed with a web browser. The FQDN is the web address of the DualShield consoles. 

If the DualShield server is a backend server located in the internal network and to be accessed from internal PCs and workstations, then the DualShield's FQDN must be added into the internal DNS server.

If the DualShield server is a frontend server located in the DMZ and to be accessed from external PCs and workstations, then the DualShield's FQDN must be added into the external DNS server.

If the DualShield server is an all-in-one server that is accessed from both internal & external PCs and workstations, then its FQDN must be added into both the internal & external DNS servers. 

Use SSL to access DualShield
You can install a DualShield without SSL. However, it is highly recommended that you should select "Use SSL to access DualShield", particularly if this is going to be used as a production server.
Create a self-signed certificate
A certificate is to be used for DualShield web consoles and portals. You may use a self-signed certificate, however, it is highly recommended that you should provide a commercial SSL certificate, particularly if this is going to be used as a production server.


DualShield server is a JAVA application server. It runs in a Java Virtual Machine (JVM).

You can set the maximum memory size (JvmMx) and the minimum memory size (JvmMs) to be used by JVM. If you have a large active user base, then increase both of these values. It is not recommended to reduce them.

Those values can be changed after installation. 


Please select "Software Encryption".


Option 1: Local/Internal DatabaseOption 2: Remote/External Database

DualShield uses a standard SQL database as its data store. If you select "Install a copy of MySQL server", then it will install an instance of MySQL server on the local machine.


If your organisation has a SQL server, then it is recommended that you use your own SQL server, so that your DBA can manage all databases in one server.


OptionValue
Server Address  

The address of the SQL server. You can enter its IP address or host name.

If it is a local SQL server, then keep it as is "localhost". 

Server Port                The TCP port number of the SQL server. Keep the default value unless you have reasons to change it to a different value.
User Name    This is the account name to be used to access & manage the SQL database. 
Password     This is the account password to be used to access & manage the SQL database. 
Database Name This is the name of the database to be used by DualShield. Keep the default name "DualShield" for simplicity and transparency in future communications.  







Wait for the DualShield server to be fully loaded

DualShield is a set of JAVA server applications. After the installation, upgrade or restart of the DualShield servers, The OS needs to initialise the JAVA virtual machine (JVM) and load the DualShield application into the JVM. This process can be slow and take a long time, depending on the speed and power of the machine. 


To wait for the DualShield server to be fully loaded and monitor the its initialisation progress, launch the Windows Task Manager and check the process called DualShield Server which is often a sub-process of Commons Daemon Service Runner, as shown below:

During the initialisation process, the CPU usage of the DualShield Server process will go up and down, and the Memory consumption will continue to increase.

When the CPU usage drops to zero or slightly above zero, and the memory consumption reaches close to 1.8GB for the backend or 550MB for the frontend, that's the indication that DualShield is fully loaded and ready for operation. 



Install the Secondary DualShield Server

The secondary DualShield server must be a replica of the primary DualShield server. Follow the guide below to clone the primary DualShield server to the secondary server machine.

DualShield includes a utility program, dsclone that enables you to easily create a backup image of the primary DualShield server and install replica servers from the image. If the internal MySQL server was also installed when the primary DualShield was installed, then the MySQL server and database will be also included in the backup image and will be installed on the replica server machines. 

Prerequisites

  1. The replica server machine should have similar hardware and OS to the primary machine.
  2. Windows OS on both servers must have the same drive letter and the same path, e.g. c:\windows

Installation  

  1. unzip "dsclone.zip" to a folder, e.g. c:\backup where it is readable  and writable;
  2. open windows console with administrator privilege, go to the folder, e.g. c:\backup;
  3. run dsclone.exe. It will self-extract its contents to a subfolder called "clonepack";
  4. go into the subfolder, e.g. c:\backup\clonepack
  5. in the command line, run "dsclone backup";
  6. wait for it to finish;
  7. copy the entire folder, e.g. c:\backup\clonepack, to the replica machine;
  8. run "dsclone mutate" on the replica machine and follow the instructions.

Having successfully cloned the second server, you now have 2 DualShield servers installed on 2 different machines. Both DualShield servers have the same FQDN.


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