SSRS - Reporting Server on Cluster Environment - Solution to RS Reporting Server not Cluster Aware Reporting Services on Faliover clustering

Recently we got a requirement of Active/Passive SQL 2005 32-bit Installation on Cluster Environment along with Reporting Server. As you are aware, RS is not cluster aware... there are some solutions to make it happen which are given below.

NOTE: You need ENTERPRISE Edition of Reporting Services to support Scale-Out Deployment

RS does not cluster. It is a stateless application and does not need to
cluster.You can install RS on the other node and join it to the existing RS instance
so they work in a web farm type of situation. The back-end RS databases
manage state so they appear as one instance.

SQL Server Reporting Services failover cluster configurations that are not supported
Do not deploy both SQL Server Report Services and the reporting services databases on each node of a multi-node cluster. Moreover, do not deploy SQL Server Reporting Services in a two-node cluster environment that consists of an active node and a passive node where the passive node becomes active during a failover.

SQL Server Reporting Services failover cluster configurations that are supported
When you deploy a SQL Server Reporting Services server on a single node in a SQL Server failover cluster, the cluster must already be installed and configured. Then, when you create the SQL Server Reporting Services database, you can specify the failover cluster name as the server name that will host the database.

Although the SQL Server Report Services service and Web service cannot participate in a failover cluster, you can install SQL Server Reporting Services on a computer that has a SQL Server failover cluster installed. The services will run independently of the failover cluster.

Alternatively, if you install SQL Server Reporting Services on a computer that is part of a SQL Server failover instance, you do not have to use that failover cluster for the SQL Server Report Services database. You can use a different instance of SQL Server to host the database.

Scale-out deployment where RS DB are on an instance that is part of a failover cluster


SSRS Scale-out Deployment(SQL Failover Cluster)


How to Install:
Installation procedures for the cluster are well documented. Essentially you install the OS on the active and passive nodes; then setup the cluster administrator on the virtual server. After this has been completed, install SQL Server and get your database files setup on the SAN. Once your SQL Server has been installed, go to the active node and start up the Reporting Services installation executable. The installation is straightforward on the active node. Be sure to put the databases on your clustered SQL Server and files on the SAN drive.

Note: For clarity, the "active node" is the first node you install on the cluster, the subsequent node, is referred to as the "passive node". Typically, in a clustered environment, the node that is handling the work is the active node, and the node standing by is the passive node.

To install the passive node’s reporting service, first fail the cluster (simply rebooting the active node will initiate the failover by the cluster) so the passive node becomes the active node (thus allowing the node to see the SQL Server and SAN drives). The passive node’s installation is pretty much the same as the active node. The caveat is upon pointing the reporting databases to the clustered SQL Server, the Web Farm Setup screen appears (figure below).

The key to making this installation successful is entering the active node’s machine name (the first node you installed in the cluster) where it says Report Server. The reason why you need the name of the active node is due to the encryption of the DSN name in the RSReportServer.config and the matching key that resides in the ReportServer database. By giving the active node’s name, the passive node can recognize the reporting databases located on the clustered SQL Server. The rest of the installation is normal

Links
Hosting a Report Server Database in a SQL Server Failover Cluster
Planning a Deployment Topology
Planning for Scale-Out Deployment
Configuring a Report Server Scale-Out Deployment
SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence Features Comparison
How to License Reporting Services
Reporting Services Feature Matrix
Reporting Services: FAQ
SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services Deployment Guide