2.7

Table Of Contents
The Data Director provisioning process prepares and configures the SQL Server software as described in the
following list.
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The SQL Server DBVM can join an existing Windows domain during provisioning. You must provide a
Windows Active Directory credential with sufficient privileges to join the domain. If a SQL Server DBVM
joins a domain, Windows authentication is the authentication method. The user-supplied domain account
is added to the sysadmin role of the SQL Server instance.
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If the DBVM does not join a domain, Data Director uses mixed authentication, and prompts for the SQL
Server System Administrator (SA) password.
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No user databases are created when provisioning within Data Director.
About SQL Server Snapshot Backups
Data Director supports manually initiated, snapshot backups with SQL Server DBVMs. You cannot use
automatic, external, or point-in-time recovery (PITR) backups when using a SQL Server a DBVM.
If you create a snapshot backup of a SQL Server DBVM, then change the configuration properties of the DBVM
and try to recover from the now out-of-date (or un-synchronized) snapshot, the virtual machine may become
unstable, or the configuration values displayed in the Data Director interface for the SQL Server DBVM may
not be accurate.
Also, snapshot backups may decrease the I/O performance of a SQL Server DBVM.
For these reasons VMware recommends that you only use snapshots as a temporary backup solution, and that
you maintain them for a limited amount of time. You can use snapshot backups before performing system
maintenance, such as applying patches to the operating system or database software, or performing database
operations that may cause a loss of data. When you have successfully completed the maintenance or data
changing tasks, delete the snapshot backup.
See “Snapshot Backups,” on page 151 and “Create a Database Snapshot,” on page 155.
Data Director Support for SQL Server
You can provision new, empty SQL Server databases using Data Director. To learn more about creating a SQL
Server database, see “Create an Empty SQL Server Database,” on page 105.
The following Data Director features are not available for use with SQL Server. When managing SQL Server
databases the user interface controls for these features are not available in the Data Director administration
console.
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Database cloning.
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Adding databases to the organization catalog.
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Database ingestion.
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Use of IP whitelists.
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Changing disk size.
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DBVM reporting.
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Editing database resources.
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Adding database owners.
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Base DB template validation.
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Upgrading.
VMware vFabric Data Director Administrator and User Guide
16 VMware, Inc.