Windows Server 2008 SP2 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 on HP Integrity Servers Failover Cluster Installation and Configuration Guide

Transcription

1 Windows Server 2008 SP2 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 on HP Integrity Servers Failover Cluster Installation and Configuration Guide HP Part Number: T Published: April 2011

2 Copyright 2011 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Legal Notices Confidential computer software. Valid license from HP required for possession, use or copying. Consistent with FAR and , Commercial Computer Software, Computer Software Documentation, and Technical Data for Commercial Items are licensed to the U.S. Government under vendor's standard commercial license. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. Microsoft, Windows, and Windows NT are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Intel and Itanium are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Java is a U.S. trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group.

3 Table of Contents About This Document...7 Intended Audience...7 New and Changed Information in This Edition...7 Document Organization...7 Typographic Conventions...7 Related Information...8 Publishing History...8 HP Encourages Your Comments Introduction...11 Clustering Overview...11 Cluster Terminology...12 Nodes...12 Cluster Service...12 Shared Disks...12 Resources...12 Resource Dependencies...13 Services and Applications...13 Quorums...13 Heartbeats...16 Virtual Servers...16 Failover...16 Failback Installing and Configuring the Cluster...17 An Overview of the Installation and Configuration Process...17 Gathering Required Installation Information...19 Installing the Cluster...20 Additional Configuration Topics...28 NIC Teaming in Clustered Environments...28 Troubleshooting the Cluster...29 What to Do if Validation Tests Fail...29 Validation Issues for Multi-site or Geographically Dispersed Failover Clusters...29 Troubleshooting...29 Additional Clustering Tasks...30 Upgrading Individual Nodes in the Cluster...30 Evicting a Node from the Cluster...30 Destroying a Cluster...31 Table of Contents 3

4 List of Figures 1-1 Disk Only example Node Majority example Node and File Share Majority example Node and Disk Majority example Example cluster hardware cabling scheme (2 node cluster) Server Manager window Add Features Wizard window Failover Cluster Management window Validate Configuration Wizard window Validate Configuration Wizard window Validation Wizard result symbols Create Cluster Wizard window Failover Cluster Management window Configure Service menu High Availability wizard High Availability wizard High Availability wizard Failover Cluster Management window Failover Cluster Management window List of Figures

5 List of Tables 2-1 Installation and Configuration Input

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7 About This Document This document describes how to install and configure Microsoft Failover Clusters on HP Integrity servers running Microsoft Windows Server 2008 with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. The document printing date and part number indicate the document s current edition. The printing date changes when a new edition is printed. Minor changes may be made at reprint without changing the printing date. The document part number changes when extensive changes are made. Document updates may be issued between editions to correct errors or document product changes. To ensure that you receive the updated or new editions, you should subscribe to the appropriate product support service. See your HP sales representative for details. To find the latest version of this document, or other documents supporting Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 SP2 on HP Integrity Servers, click here: (to locate documents by operating system) (to locate documents by server model number) Intended Audience This document is intended for system administrators and HP support personnel responsible for installing, configuring, and managing Microsoft Failover Cluster solutions using HP Integrity servers. This document is not a tutorial. New and Changed Information in This Edition This document includes the following changes since its last release: About This Document: added Service Pack 1 (SP1) support for Windows Server 2008 R2 Publishing History: multiple changes to table content Introduction: in first Note, added Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows Server 2008 R2 An Overview of the Installation and Configuration Process: deleted sentence and URL from Step 11 Document Organization This document is organized as follows: Introduction (page 11) Installing and Configuring the Cluster (page 17) Describes cluster concepts and terminology. Describes how to install and configure clusters. Typographic Conventions This document uses the following typographical conventions: WARNING CAUTION A warning calls attention to important information that if not understood or followed will result in personal injury or nonrecoverable system problems. A caution calls attention to important information that if not understood or followed will result in data loss, data corruption, or damage to hardware or software. Intended Audience 7

8 IMPORTANT NOTE KeyCap Computer output User input Command Ctrl+x This alert provides essential information to explain a concept or to complete a task A note contains additional information to emphasize or supplement important points of the main text. The name of a keyboard key or graphical interface item (such as buttons, tabs, and menu items). Note that Return and Enter both refer to the same key. Text displayed by the computer. Commands and other text that you type. A command name or qualified command phrase. A key sequence. A sequence such as Ctrl+x indicates that you must hold down the key labeled Ctrl while you press another key or mouse button. Related Information You can find more information about clustering with HP Integrity servers, server management, and software in the following locations: For a collection of links to various overviews, white papers, and configuration documents supporting failover clustering on Windows Server 2008: Publishing History details.aspx?familyid=75566f16-627d-4dd3-97cb-83909d3c722b&displaylang=en At the time of this publication, the following documents were available: Microsoft High Availability Strategy White Paper Overview of Failover Clustering with Windows Server 2008 Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering Architecture Overview Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering Datasheet Windows Server 2008 Multi Site Clustering The document part number and publication date indicate the document s current edition. The publication date will change when a new edition is printed. Minor changes may be made at reprint without changing the publication date. The document part number will change when extensive changes are made. Document updates may be issued between editions to correct errors or document product changes. To ensure that you receive the updated or new editions, you 8

9 should subscribe to the appropriate product support service. See your HP sales representative for details. Manufacturing Part Number Supported Operating Systems Supported Smart Setup Version Supported Products (Servers) Publication Date T Microsoft Windows Server 2008 with Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Itanium-based Systems Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Itanium Edition Version 7.1 BL860c BL870c BL860c i2 BL870c i2 BL890c i2 rx2800 i2 rx2660 rx3600 rx6600 rx7640 rx8640 Superdome sx2000 April, 2011 HP Encourages Your Comments HP encourages your comments concerning this document. We are committed to providing documentation that meets your needs. Send any errors found, suggestions for improvement, or compliments to: docsfeedback@hp.com Please include the document title, manufacturing part number, and any comment, error found, or suggestion for improvement you have concerning this document. HP Encourages Your Comments 9

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11 1 Introduction In Windows Server 2008, the improvements to failover clusters (formerly known as server clusters) include simplified creation and configuration, greater security, and enhanced stability. Cluster setup and management are much easier. Security and networking in clusters have been improved, in addition to the way a failover cluster communicates with its storage systems. NOTE: Throughout this document, Windows Server 2008 refers to both the Windows Server 2008 with Service Pack 2 (SP2) and Windows Server 2008 R2 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) versions of the operating system, unless specifically noted otherwise. Other new features in failover clustering include: New validation wizard verifies that your system, storage, and network configurations are suitable for creating a cluster. Support for GUID partition table (GPT) disks in cluster storage. GPT disks can have partitions larger than two terabytes and built-in redundancy in the way partition information is stored, unlike master boot record (MBR) disks. Improvements to interfaces for working with shared folders, simplifying their configuration and management. Improvements to management interfaces. See the following documents for basic, introductory information about clustered solutions for Windows Server 2008: For a summary of failover clustering features and functionality: Windows Server 2008 SP2: Windows Server 2008 R2: To see a list of frequently asked questions about the Failover Cluster Configuration Program: For a collection of high-level Help topics regarding the configuration and management of failover clusters: 6c5b0145-dee7-47b1-b29c-4e52b146ee mspx Clustering Overview Clustering in Windows Server 2008 has been radically redesigned to simplify and streamline cluster creation and administration. Rather than worrying about groups and dependencies, administrators can create an entire cluster in one seamless step via a wizard interface. All you have to do is supply a name for the cluster and the servers to be included in the cluster and the wizard takes care of the rest. You do not have to be a cluster specialist or have in-depth knowledge of failover clusters to successfully create and administer Windows Server 2008 failover clusters. The goal of Windows Server 2008 failover clustering is to make it possible for the non-specialist to create a failover cluster that works. Organizations using previous versions of failover clustering often had staff dedicated to installation and management of failover clusters. This significantly increased the total cost of ownership for failover cluster services. With the introduction of Windows Server 2008 failover clusters, even an IT generalist without any special training in failover cluster services will be able to create a server cluster and configure the cluster to host redundant services, and the configuration will work. This means a lower total cost of ownership for you. You will not need an advanced degree to get failover clusters working. The main reason for this change is that the new administrative interface does the heavy lifting for you. In previous versions Clustering Overview 11

12 of failover clustering, you had to learn an unintuitive, cluster-centric vocabulary and then try to figure out what those words really meant. There is no need to learn the intricacies of cluster vocabulary with Windows Server 2008 failover clustering. Instead, configuration is task based. You are asked if you want to create a highly available file server, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server, Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) server, or other type of server and then the wizard walks you through the process. Cluster Terminology Nodes A working knowledge of clustering begins with the definition of some common terms. The following terms are used throughout this document. Individual servers or members of a cluster are referred to as nodes or systems (the terms are used interchangeably). A node can be an active or inactive member of a cluster, depending on whether or not it is currently online and in communication with the other cluster nodes. An active node can act as host to one or more cluster groups. Cluster Service Shared Disks Resources Cluster service refers to the collection of clustering software on each node that manages all cluster-specific activity. Shared disks are devices (normally hard disk drives) that the cluster nodes are attached to by a shared bus. Applications, file shares, and other resources to be managed by the cluster are stored on the shared disks. Resources are physical or logical entities (such as file shares) managed by the cluster software. Resources can provide a service to clients or be an integral part of the cluster. Examples of resources are physical hardware devices such as disk drives, or logical items such as IP addresses, network names, applications, and services. Resources are the basic unit of management by the cluster service. A resource can only run on a single node in a cluster at a time, and is online on a node when it is providing its service on that node. At any given time, a resource can exhibit only one of the following states: Offline Offline pending Online Online pending Failed When a resource is offline, it is unavailable for use by a client or another resource. When a resource is online, it is available for use. The initial state of any resource is offline. When a resource is in one of the pending states, it is in the process of either being brought online or taken offline. If the resource cannot be brought online or taken offline after a specified amount of time, and the resource is set to the failed state, you can specify the amount of time that cluster service waits before failing the resource by setting its pending timeout value in Failover Cluster Management tool. Resource state changes can occur either manually (when you use the Failover Cluster Management tool to make a state transition) or automatically (during the failover process). When a service and application fails over, the states of each resource are altered according to their dependencies on the other resources in the service and application. 12 Introduction

13 Resource Dependencies A dependency is a reliance between two resources that makes it necessary for both resources to run on the same node (for example, a Network Name resource depending on an IP address). The only dependency relationships that cluster service recognizes are relationships between resources. Cluster service cannot be told, for example, that a resource depends on a Windows Server 2008 service; the resource can only be dependent on a resource representing that service. Services and Applications Quorums Services and applications are managed as single units for configuration and recovery purposes. If a resource depends on another resource, both resources must be a member of the same service or application. For example, in a file share resource, the service or application containing the file share must also contain the disk resource and network resources (such as the IP address and NetBIOS name) to which clients connect to access the share. All resources within a service or application must be online on the same node in the cluster. NOTE: During failover, entire services and applications are moved from one node to another node in the cluster. A single resource cannot fail from one node to another. The Windows Server 2008 failover clustering quorum model is entirely new and represents a blend of the earlier shared disk and majority node set models. In Windows Server 2008 failover clustering there are now four ways to establish a quorum. The following is a list of the different quorum types and their characteristics: Disk Only This is the traditional MSCS quorum model, where a shared quorum disk must be online and nodes must be able to communicate with that disk. In this configuration, the disk is the master. The nodes have no votes, and the cluster stays up even when only one node can talk to the disk. Cluster Terminology 13

14 Figure 1-1 Disk Only example Majority Node Set This type of quorum is optimal for clusters having an odd number of nodes. In this configuration, only the nodes have votes. The shared storage does not have a vote. A majority of votes are needed to operate the cluster. Figure 1-2 Node Majority example Node and File Share Majority This type of quorum is optimal for clusters having an even number of nodes when a shared witness disk is not an option. Other characteristics include the following: each node and the file share witness gets a vote it does not require a shared disk to reach a quorum the file share has no special requirements the file share should be located at a third site, making this type of quorum the best solution for geographically dispersed clusters 14 Introduction

15 Figure 1-3 Node and File Share Majority example Node and Disk Majority This type of quorum is optimal for clusters having an even number of nodes. Each node and the witness disk gets a vote, and it requires that each node can communicate with the disk. This cluster can survive the loss of any one vote. Figure 1-4 Node and Disk Majority example The concept of quorum in Windows Server 2008 moves away from the requirement for a shared storage resource. The concept of quorum now refers to a number of votes which must equate to a majority of nodes. All nodes and disk resources get a vote. This helps eliminate failure points in the old model, where it was assumed that the disk would always be available. If the disk failed, the cluster would fail. In Windows Server 2008 failover clustering the disk resource that gets a vote is no longer referred to as a quorum disk; now it is called the witness disk. With the new quorum models, the cluster can come online even if the witness disk resource is not available. The No Majority Disk Only model behaves similarly to the old quorum disk model. If the quorum disk failed, the cluster would not come online, thus representing a single point of failure. The Node Majority model behaves similarly to the Majority Node Set model. This model requires three or more nodes and there is no dependence on witness-disk availability. The disadvantage of this model is that you cannot run two server clusters, because a majority of nodes is not possible in a two-node cluster scenario. The Node and File Share Majority and the Node and Disk Majority models are similar. In the Node and Disk Majority model, both the nodes and the disk resource are allowed to vote. The Cluster Terminology 15

16 Heartbeats cluster will come online as long as a majority of votes are reached, regardless of the status of the disk resource. In the Node and File Share Majority model, a file share replaces the disk as a disk-based vote. The Node and File Share Majority model is an excellent solution for geographically dispersed multi-site clusters. In the Node and Disk Majority quorum model, the disk resource is a shared disk, the witness disk. Failover cluster administrators can select the quorum model of choice, depending on the requirements of the clustered resource. The quorum model should be selected after the cluster is first created and prior to putting the cluster into production. Heartbeats are network packets periodically broadcast by each node over the private cluster network. Heartbeats inform other nodes of a single system's health, configuration, and network connection status. When heartbeat messages are not received among the other nodes as expected, the cluster service interprets this as node failure, and a failover begins. Virtual Servers Failover Failback Groups that contain an IP address resource and a network name resource (along with other resources) are published to clients on the network under a unique server name. Because these groups appear as individual servers to clients, they are called virtual servers. Users access applications or services on a virtual server the same way they access applications or services on a physical server. They do not need to know that they are connecting to a cluster and have no knowledge of which node they are connected to. Failover is the process of moving a group of resources from one node to another in the case of a failure. For example, in a cluster where Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) is running on node A and node A fails, IIS fails over to node B of the cluster. Failback is the process of returning a resource or group of resources to the node on which it was running before it failed over. For example, when node A comes back online, IIS can fail back from node B to node A. 16 Introduction

17 2 Installing and Configuring the Cluster This chapter provides installation and configuration directions for clustered systems using HP Integrity servers and Microsoft Windows Server 2008, IA64 Edition. An Overview of the Installation and Configuration Process To install and configure your cluster, you must complete the following steps: 1. All hardware components that comprise a cluster configuration need to earn a Microsoft logo on Windows Server 2008 designations and will be listed in the Windows Catalog. However, Windows Server 2008 Cluster solutions will not be listed in the Windows Server Catalog. For more information about the Microsoft Windows Server Catalog, see: First, you will need to select the operating system and storage platform for your clustering solution. Then you will need to verify that you have two or more supported HP Integrity servers, supported Fibre Channel or SAS adapters, two or more supported network adapters, two or more supported Fibre Channel host bus adapters (HBAs), two supported Fibre Channel switches, and one or more supported shared storage enclosures. Also verify that you have the required drivers for these components. For more information about the Windows logo program, see: For more information about Microsoft's support policy for Windows Server 2008 failover clusters, see: For more information about Microsoft's support policy for server clusters, the Hardware Compatibility List, and the Windows Server Catalog, see: 2. (This step applies only to systems where the Windows Server 2008 operating system is NOT preloaded, per the purchase agreement.) Use the Microsoft Windows Server 2008, IA64 Edition CD to install the OS on each of the nodes that will make up the clustered system. For more information about this step, see the appropriate Installation (Smart Setup) Guide, Windows Server 2008 document at: 3. Use the Smart Setup CD to install the Support Pack on each node. This installs or updates the system firmware and operating system drivers. Insert the Smart Setup CD, click the Support Pack tab, and follow the onscreen instructions. 4. Use the Smart Update CD (if shipped with your system) on each node to install any Microsoft hot fix updates or security patches that have been published for the operating system. 5. Locate your HP Storage Enclosure configuration software CD. 6. Locate your HP Storage Enclosure Controller firmware, and verify you have the latest supported version installed. 7. Locate your HP StorageWorks MultiPath for Windows software. An Overview of the Installation and Configuration Process 17

18 NOTE: You must use MultiPath software if you have redundant paths connected to your storage. Installing more than one HBA per cluster provides multiple connections between the clusters and your shared storage (see Figure 2-1). Multiple HBAs, along with MultiPath software, are highly recommended because they provide continuous access to your storage system and eliminate single points of failure. 8. Locate your HP Fibre Channel switch firmware, and verify that you have the latest supported version installed. 9. Verify that you have sufficient administrative rights to install the OS and other software onto each node. 10. Verify that all of the required hardware is properly installed and cabled (see Figure 2-1). NOTE: Figure 2-1 is an example only. It might not represent the actual cabling required by your system. Figure 2-1 Example cluster hardware cabling scheme (2 node cluster) 11. Determine the input parameters required to install your clustered system and record them in the table in Gathering Required Installation Information (page 19). 12. Go to the next section ( Installing the Cluster (page 20)) for installation instructions. 13. Go to the next section ( Additional Configuration Topics (page 28)) for links to Microsoft documentation regarding cluster configuration. 18 Installing and Configuring the Cluster

19 14. Go to the next section ( Troubleshooting the Cluster (page 29)) for information about troubleshooting problems with your failover cluster. Gathering Required Installation Information Use Table 2-1 to record the input parameters you will need to install and configure the cluster. Record the information in the Value column next to each description. Table 2-1 Installation and Configuration Input Input Description Node names (Microsoft Windows Server 2008 supports up to eight nodes per cluster) Domain name, DNS IP address, and subnet mask for the domain controller: Cluster management network name and IP address: Public network connection IP addresses and team IP address for each node: Private network connection (cluster heartbeat) subnet mask and IP address for each node: Input Value Node 1: Node 3: Node 5: Node 7: Domain name: DNS IP: Domain controller subnet mask: Cluster name: Cluster IP: Node 1 Public-1: Node 1 Public-2: Node 2 Public-1: Node 2 Public-2: Node 3 Public-1: Node 3 Public-2: Node 4 Public-1: Node 4 Public-2: Node 5 Public-1: Node 5 Public-2: Node 6 Public-1: Node 6 Public-2: Node 7 Public-1: Node 7 Public-2: Node 8 Public-1: Node 8 Public-2: Subnet mask: Node 1: Node 3: Node 5: Node 7: Node 2: Node 4: Node 6: Node 8: Node 1 team: Node 2 team: Node 3 team: Node 4 team: Node 5 team: Node 6 team: Node 7 team: Node 8 team: Node 2: Node 4: Node 6: Node 8: Gathering Required Installation Information 19

20 Installing the Cluster To install and configure failover clustering, complete the following steps: 1. Right-click on My Computer and select Manage. 2. In the Server Manager window, select Features from the list and click on Add Features. Figure 2-2 Server Manager window 3. In the Add Features Wizard window, select the following features: Failover Clustering Multipath IO (if you are planning to use MPIO, which is recommended) 20 Installing and Configuring the Cluster

21 Figure 2-3 Add Features Wizard window 4. Click Next. Confirm your selected features and click Install to continue. Confirm that the installation succeeded and click Close. 5. Validate the cluster configuration using the Failover Cluster Management tool. a. Ensure that all servers in your cluster are powered On and connected to the shared storage. b. Click Start Programs Administrative Tools Failover Cluster Management to run the Failover Cluster Management tool. c. Select Validate a Configuration to run the validation wizard. Installing the Cluster 21

22 Figure 2-4 Failover Cluster Management window d. When prompted to select the servers you want to add, type in the system host name for each of the cluster nodes. Then click the Add button (or click Browse to search the network for it). When finished adding all nodes, click Next to continue. 22 Installing and Configuring the Cluster

23 Figure 2-5 Validate Configuration Wizard window e. In the next screen, select which test to run for validation (selecting Run all tests is recommended, especially for the first validation attempt). Then click Next. Figure 2-6 Validate Configuration Wizard window Installing the Cluster 23

24 f. After prompting you to confirm the tests you selected, the wizard runs the tests, and a Summary Report screen should display the results and indicate that all tests were completed successfully. All tests must pass with either a green check mark or in some cases a yellow triangle (warning). The following table shows the summary symbols and explains their meaning: Figure 2-7 Validation Wizard result symbols g. When looking for problem areas (red X or yellow! marks), in the part of the report that summarizes the test results, click an individual test to review the details. Also review the summary statement (by clicking View Report) for information about whether the cluster is considered a supported configuration. h. If you need to view Help topics that will help you understand the results, click More about cluster validation tests. To view the logged results of the tests after you close the wizard, see SystemRoot\Cluster\Reports\Validation Report date and time.html, where SystemRoot is the folder in which the operating system is installed (for example, C:\Windows). To view Help topics about cluster validation after you close the wizard, in Failover Cluster Management, click Help Help Topics. Then click the Contents tab, expand the contents for the failover cluster Help, and click Validating a Failover Cluster Configuration. i. After taking action to correct any problems, rerun the wizard as needed to confirm that your configuration passes the tests. For Microsoft discussions of various cluster validation topics, see: Installing and Configuring the Cluster

25 6. Create the cluster. a. From the Failover Cluster Management tool, select Create a Cluster. b. Enter a Cluster Name. Only select the public network (with a check mark), and then assign a unique IP address for the cluster. Finally, click Next to create the cluster. Figure 2-8 Create Cluster Wizard window c. After the cluster is created, make sure that the Public and Private networks are available, and that all shared storage disks are visible in the Failover Cluster Management tool. Figure 2-9 Failover Cluster Management window Installing the Cluster 25

26 d. To add groups for shared storage, right-click on Services and Applications and select Configure a Service or Application Figure 2-10 Configure Service menu 26 Installing and Configuring the Cluster

27 e. Select File Server as the service you want to configure for high availability. Then click Next. Figure 2-11 High Availability wizard f. Enter a name for the file server, assign it an IP address, and click Next. Figure 2-12 High Availability wizard Installing the Cluster 27

28 g. Select the disk drive you want to add to the file server and click Next. Figure 2-13 High Availability wizard This completes the cluster installation process. Additional Configuration Topics See the following documents for more information on configuration issues, or how to implement specific types of clustered solutions in Windows Server 2008: For a step-by-step guide to configuring a two-node file server failover cluster: For a step-by-step guide to configuring a two-node print server failover cluster: For information on how to configure the quorum in a failover cluster: For information on how to configure accounts in Active Directory: NIC Teaming in Clustered Environments One method of avoiding single points of failure in the cluster's network infrastructure is to connect the cluster nodes' network adapters to multiple, distinct networks. Another method is to deploy redundant switches and routers, and team those adapters, which provides the following benefits: 28 Installing and Configuring the Cluster

29 The NIC and switch redundancy layer is transparent to the IP layer. It may use standby, redundant team members to load balance your network traffic and improve performance for transmitted and received packets on the individual cluster node. It may use advanced redundancy mechanisms to improve the detection of failures in your network infrastructure, and to provide a proactive response to them. For example, cluster nodes continuously test their connectivity with each other but they cannot detect path failures when there is an external switch upstream. Active Path Failover is an advanced teaming feature that detects such failures, and fails over to a NIC that has a path to an Echo Node device (an external switch upstream). If you are going to implement NIC teaming in your cluster networks, you should complete the following steps: 1. Plan your network infrastructure according to the cluster demands, taking into account NIC teaming configuration, redundant switches, routers, and so on. 2. Create the teams planned in the previous step for every cluster node. 3. Validate your cluster configuration. 4. Create your cluster. For more information about NIC teaming issues in clustered environments, see the following document: Troubleshooting the Cluster What to Do if Validation Tests Fail In most cases, if any tests in the cluster validation wizard fail, then Microsoft does not consider the solution to be supported. There are exceptions to this rule, such as the case with multi-site (geographically dispersed) clusters where there is no shared storage. In this scenario the expected result of the validation wizard is that the storage tests will fail. This is still a supported solution if the remainder of the tests complete successfully. The type of test that fails is a guideline to the corrective action to take. For example, if the storage test "List all disks" fails, and subsequent storage tests do not run (because these would also fail), contact the storage vendor to troubleshoot. Similarly, if a network test related to IP addresses fails, consult with your network infrastructure team. Most of the warnings or errors should result in working with internal teams or with a specific hardware vendor. After the issues have been addressed and resolved, it is necessary to rerun the cluster validation wizard. It is required (in order to be considered a supported configuration) that all tests are run and completed successfully without failures. Validation Issues for Multi-site or Geographically Dispersed Failover Clusters Failover cluster solutions that do not have a common shared disk and instead leverage data replication between nodes might not pass the cluster validation "storage" tests. This is a common configuration in cluster solutions where nodes are stretched across geographic regions. If a cluster solution does not require external storage to fail over from one node to another, it does not need to pass the "storage" tests to be a fully supported solution. For more information on multi-site or geographically dispersed clusters, see the following white paper: Troubleshooting See the following documents for more information about troubleshooting errors and interpreting system event descriptions in clusters: Troubleshooting the Cluster 29

30 For information about system events related to the cluster as a whole: For information about system events related to individual nodes in the cluster: For information about system events related to networking issues: For information about system events related to storage issues: For information about system events related to clustered services and applications: For information about system events related to a cluster witness disk or witness file share (applies only to clusters with an even number of nodes): Additional Clustering Tasks Upgrading Individual Nodes in the Cluster After your initial installation and configuration, you can upgrade the software and drivers installed on each node in your cluster and add the latest system updates and security fixes. This task must be done regularly to keep your Integrity servers up-to-date and secure. With clustered systems, you can do maintenance even when users are online. Wait until a convenient, off-peak time when one of the nodes in the cluster can be taken offline for maintenance and its workload distributed among the remaining nodes. Before the upgrade, however, you must evaluate the entire cluster to verify that the remaining nodes can handle the increased workload. Pick the node you want to upgrade, then use the Failover Cluster Management tool to move all the Services and Applications onto one or more of the remaining nodes. You can also use scripts to move resources. Once all the resources have been failed over to the other nodes, the selected node is ready to upgrade. For more information about how to upgrade your Integrity servers with the latest drivers and hot fixes, see the latest Smart Setup Guide for Integrity servers at: Once the upgrade to the first node is complete, reboot it if necessary and move the resources back to it. As soon as possible, repeat this process to upgrade the other nodes in the cluster. This minimizes the amount of time the nodes are operating with different versions of software or drivers. Evicting a Node from the Cluster To evict a node from the cluster, complete the following steps: 1. Click Start Programs Administrative Tools Failover Cluster Management to run the Failover Cluster Management tool. 30 Installing and Configuring the Cluster

31 2. Right-click on the node name and select More Actions Evict. Figure 2-14 Failover Cluster Management window Destroying a Cluster To destroy a cluster, complete the following steps: 1. Click Start Programs Administrative Tools Failover Cluster Management to run the Failover Cluster Management tool. 2. Right-click on the node name and select More Actions Destroy Cluster... Figure 2-15 Failover Cluster Management window Additional Clustering Tasks 31