Clusters and Failover

Microsoft SQL Server is an early user of Windows NT clusters for failover support. Microsoft SQL Server 6.5, in cooperation with various hardware vendors, supports high-availability databases by using failover from one node to another. Microsoft SQL Server also adds support for OLE Transactions through the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MS DTC). OLE Transactions allow Microsoft SQL Server databases to be partitioned among multiple Windows NT Servers. MS DTC automatically manages the work of transactions that span these nodes. In addition, SQL Enterprise Manager allows an operator to monitor and manage multiple SQL Servers from a single console.