SQL Server Mirroring in a single machine

Question

I would like to know whether it is possible to learn SQL server mirroring in my local machine (Only one PC I have). If yes could anyone please guide me on this? or please share a document (if any).

Thanks in Advance Sreejith

Answer 1

Based on my experience it is not possible to accomplish this feat on the same machine. One day I spent hours trying to get this to work and eventually gave up after many failed attempts. I recall that I gave up after extensive troubleshooting and research that revealed some documentation, or perhaps an error message during implementation, that "clearly" and emphatically indicated that it was not possible.

I am running a server with a single NIC. It might be possible to mirror databases on the same physical box if you have two NICs on the box and find a way to have each instance configured and specifically tied to its own individual NIC.

I disagree with the comment from @steoleary suggesting that you're wasting your time learning Database Mirroring because of word that this feature will be depreciated in future releases of SQL Server.

I expect that Database Mirroring will be around for along time, similar to instances of SQL2000. Besides, Always On is essentially built on Database Mirroring so the more you know and practice with this feature the better off you will be regardless of Microsoft's future plans regarding the feature.

Answer 2

It is possible to set up mirroring on the same machine, you just need to have 2 separate SQL Server instances installed on the box (you can't mirror a database on the same instance for obvious reasons).

Have a look at the following technet article:

Database Mirroring

It explains the concepts quite well, it's also not a particularly difficult thing to learn really.

What I would suggest though is not to spend too much time or effort learning this really (unless you use it heavily in your current job I suppose) as it is a deprecated feature as of SQL 2012 and so will be removed at some point in the future, you would be best getting to grips with the basics of mirroring, how to set it up etc, and then move on to the Always On feature of SQL Server 2012 which is it's replacement.

AlwaysOn Availability Groups