SQL Server – Impact of Changing Server Machine Names in Mirror State

sql serversql-server-2016windows-server

It's an enterprise network domain. Two existing Windows server 2016 machines, one each for SQL Server 2016 Standard edition and other is also SQL Server 2016 Standard edition in a passive mirror configuration.

For some reason we need to change both server machine names from say A to B and A1 to B1. Will this have any impact on SQL Server and its passive mirror access? What precautions I need to take? I can understand the connection string with change but I am looking for impact of this change on mirroring configuration particularly

Best Answer

Renaming Windows computer for SQL Server is supported an operation and described in documentation. For mirroring, it needs to be turned off and re-established after renaming. Remember that renaming Windows requires a reboot, so be prepared for service outage.

When you rename a computer that is configured to use database mirroring, you must turn off database mirroring before the renaming operation. Then, re-establish database mirroring with the new computer name. Metadata for database mirroring will not be updated automatically to reflect the new computer name. Use the following steps to update system metadata.

For what it's worth, could you use SQL client aliases instead of renaming the computers?

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