Failover Clustering with internal storage

[guest]

Hello all. I will appreciate if anyone can help answer the following questions. I have two physical machines, identical specs and each has five disks in RAID 5 configuraton.

All your documentation insist on having an external storage for failover clustering. I cant afford that because it will involve some extra cost not budgeted. I would like to use the two machines as is for the clustering. Is it possible to configure the csv as virtual machines in these two nodes? If so how do we replicate data in two machines so that if one machine fails the one standing can switch over to use the volume in its physical shelf.

Another thing I have considered is to use a simple PC in the office for the clustering. We really have to get a cheap or free SAN software to run this. What can you advise? Also what is the protection against the failure of this shared storage?

i apologize if this question has been answered before but I have spend the past two days without getting an answer from the forum. That's why I have come to you for answers.

[guest]

General speaking, if you want to set up a Failover Cluster, you need the following basic configurations:



1. Two or more nodes with proper configurations

2. A DC(you can configure it on a physical computer or a virtual machine)

3. A shared storage(a physical storage device like SAN or a software storage device such as Microsoft iSCSI Software Target)



So, with only two physical computers, it’s not possible to build a two nodes cluster. However, if you have another physical computer, you may try use Microsoft iSCSI Software Target as the following guide mentioned.


Note: You may also need to consider when the computer for Microsoft iSCSI Software Target is down.


Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.3

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/d ... 189062a0d0



Creating HA VMs for Hyper-V with Failover Clustering using FREE Microsoft iSCSI Target 3.3

http://blogs.technet.com/b/canitpro/arc ... t-3-3.aspx


Best Regards,

Vincent Hu

[guest]

You need some way for the data to be available to both servers, so that you can failover applications from one server to another and they still have access to the data. The most common way to do this is with external storage which both machines can access. You can also use replication software to keep local storage replicated. This requires an add-on product like Steeleye, Double-Take, or Symantec Storage Foundations for Windows.

[guest]

1. Does it mean that in this configuration I will not use the full capability of the RAID array in the two machines?



A: I am sorry that I didn’t get your concern clearly.



2. Or is there a way of combining them with the shared storage?



A: Shared storage is a shared storage, it will be dedicated for shared storage, not a part of the Hyper-V host machine.



3. does the MS iscsi target software replicate data across two computers to provide redundancy?



A: You can install Microsoft iSCSI Software Target on a normal Windows Server 2008 R2 computer, all the data will be kept on the computer where Microsoft iSCSI Software Target installed.





Best Regards,

Vincent Hu

[guest]

If you want to use the internal storage in the servers you really only have two options:

1. Use a 3rd party replication software that integrates with failover clustering as Elden mentioned. I happen to work for one of the vendors Elden mentioned and our solution is described here.

http://us.sios.com/DataKeeper_Cluster_Edition_144.htm

2. Instead of clustering consider database mirroring as described here

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms189852.aspx

I would highly recommend that you don't just put up a cheap iSCSI target as that single iSCSI target then becomes a single point of failure. You mentioned that there is no budget, so I think your only true choice is to investigate database mirroring as all the other options will cost you additional money in 3rd party applications.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David A. Bermingham, MVP Senior Technical Evangelist, SIOS Technology Corp

[guest]

You should try Exanodes for Windows from Seanodes

[blin]

Or try HP 3PAR GeoCluster Software

HP 3PAR GeoCluster Software for Microsoft Windows simplifies and automates disaster recovery (DR), reducing administration time and improving recovery time objectives (RTOs) in Windows-based environments. GeoCluster Software automates storage failover between primary and backup sites and reduces disruption to Windows-based applications. An easy, automated process simplifies DR, reduces administration and application recovery times, facilitates business continuity, and minimizes user impact.