mibuso.com

Hi there,

anyone knows if there are plans for SQL Server native client support in future releases of Dynamics NAV? Sadly, at present time we, are still unable to fully utilize automatic failover for database mirroring as clients (and NAS, and NAV Servers etc) still have to be reconfigured manually.

Uh ... I guess the previous reply is just SPAM ... but to answer your questions:

As far as I know there are ideas to use SSNC in NAV version 7 - I don't know if that's just rumor or if it will come true ...
But: in case of failover, you don't necessarily have to reconfigure Clients and NAS (btw: what exactly do you have to reconfigure?) if you are working with appropriate IP setup in Active Directory:
Just assign a "virtual" IP for the SQL Server in AD, e.g. "NAVSQLServer" = 192.168.1.100. Then route this IP to the "real" IP of the active Node (e.g. the Principal 192.168.1.101). In case of failover just change this routing in AD to the Mirror, e.g. 192.168.1.102.
The users just always (re-)connect to "NAVSQLServer" ...

Would this work?

I guess you are talking about DNS aliases (CNAME). Yes this would work but it is not 100% reliable. Firstly, the change has to be done by hand. Somewhat OK if failover happens during daytime but what about nighttime? A delicate situation for 24/7 businesses. Secondly, clients resolve IP addresses through their local DNS cache (usually, entries stay valid in cache for 15mins). Clients without an updated cache won't be able to connect to the database. Users have to wait for a few minutes or do an ipconfig /flushdns that is far from being satisfactory..
As we are talking about "High Availability" here, I recongise this approach as a workaround, not a solution.

€: What the heck, I have two accounts here!?

True, I fully agree with you ... but I'm afraid this workaround is the only option we currently have ... isn't it?