step by rajiv mural failover clustering 2012

8/12/2019 Step by Rajiv Mural Failover Clustering 2012

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[Step-by-Step] Creating a Windows Server 2012 R2 Failover Cluster usingStarWind iSCSI SAN v8March 27, 2014 at 10:27 pm | Posted inCluster,Windows Server 2012,Windows Server 2012 R2|Leave a comment

Tags:Cluster,Failover Cluster,iSCSI,SAN,StarWind iSCSI SAN,Step-by-Step,Windows Server 2012,Windows Server2012 R2

If you dont knowStarWind iSCSI SANproduct and you currently handling clusters that require a

shared storage (not necessarily Windows), I highly recommend to take a look around to this the

platform. To summarize, StarWind iSCSI SAN represents a software which allows you to create your

own shared storage platform without requiring any additionalhardware.

I created a post a while ago about Five Easy Steps to

Configure Windows Server 2008 R2 Failover Cluster

using StarWind iSCSI SAN to explain how can a Failover

Cluster can be easily configured with the help of StarWind iSCSI

SAN. Since there has been some changes in the latest releases of

Windows Server andStarWind iSCSI SAN has a brand new

v8of its platform, I thought it would be a good idea to create a

new article to achieve an easy way to create our own cluster.

As I did, for the previous post, the main idea about this article is to show a simplestep-by-step

process to get a Windows Server 2012 R2 Failover Cluster up and running, and without requiring to

use an expensive shared storage platform to complete it. The steps involved are:

1. Review and complete pre-requisites for the environment.

2. Install StarWind iSCSI SAN software.

3. Configure and create LUNs using StarWind iSCSI SAN.

4. Install Failover Cluster feature and run cluster validation.

5. Create Windows Server 2012 R2 Failover Cluster.
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1. Review and Complete Pre-Requisites for theEnvironment

Windows Server 2012 introduced some changes into the Failover Cluster scenarios, even though those

are important and improved changes, the basic rules of Failover Cluster has not changed. Here are the

requirements for a Windows Server 2012 R2 Failover Cluster.

Requirements for Windows Server 2012 R2 Failover Cluster

Here are the requirements in Windows Server 2012 R2 for Failover Clusters:

o Two or more compatible servers: You need hardware that is compatible with each other, highly

recommended to always use same type of hardware when you are creating a cluster. Microsoft

requires for the hardware involved to meet the qualification for the Certified for Windows

Server 2012 logo, the information can be retrieved from theWindows Server catalog.

o A shared storage: This is where we can use StarWind iSCSI SAN software.

o [Optional] Three network cards on each server, one public network (from which we usually

access Active Directory), a private for heartbeat between servers and one dedicated to iSCSI

storage communication. This is actually an optional requirement since using one network card is

possible but not suitable in almost any environment.

o All hosts must be member from an Active Directory domain. To install and configure a cluster

we dont need a Domain Admin account, but we do need a Domain account which is included in

the local Administrators of each host.

Here are some notesabout some changes introduced in Windows Server 2012 regarding requirements:

We can implement Failover Cluster on all Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2

editions, including of course Core installations. Previously on Windows Server 2008 R2 the Enterprise or

Datacenter Edition were necessary.

Also the concept for Active Directory-detached cluster appears in Windows Server 2012, which

means that a Failover Cluster does not require a Computer object in Active Directory, the access is

performed by a registration in DNS. But, the cluster nodes must still be joined to AD.

Requirements for StarWind iSCSI SAN Software
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Here are the requirements for installing the component which will be in charge of receiving the iSCSI

connections:

o Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2012

o Intel Xeon E5620 (or higher)

o 4 GB of RAM (or higher)

o 10 GB of disk space for StarWind application data and log files

o Storage available for iSCSI LUNs: SATA/SAS/SSD drive based arrays supported. Software based

arrays are not supported in iSCSI.

o 1 Gigabit Ethernet or 10 Gigabit Ethernet.

o iSCSI ports open between hosts and StarWind iSCSI SAN Server. The iSCSI ports are 3260 and 3261

for the management console.

General Recommendations for the Environment

In this scenario, there are several Microsoft and StarWind recommendations we must fulfill in order to

get the best supportability and results. Keep in mind that each scenario could require different

recommendations.

To mention some of the general recommendations:

o NIC Teaming for adapters, except iSCSI. Windows Server 2012 improved significantly the

performance and of course supportability of network adapters teaming and is highly recommended

to use that option for improved performance and high-availability. But we must avoid configure

teaming on iSCSI network adapters.

Microsoft offers a very detailed document about handling NIC teaming in Windows Server 2012:

Windows Server 2012 NIC Teaming (LBFO) Deployment and Management and also check

this article NIC Teaming Overview.

o Multi-path for iSCSI network adapters. iSCSI network adapters prefer handling MPIO instead of

NIC teaming, because in most scenarios the adapter throughput is not improved and moreover

there could be some increases in response times. Using MPIO is the recommendation with round-

robin.
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o Isolate network traffic on the Failover Cluster. It is almost mandatory that we separate iSCSI

traffic from the rest of networks, and highly recommended to isolate the rest of traffic available.

For example: Live Migration in Hyper-V clusters, management network, public network, or Hyper-

V replica traffic (if the feature is enabled in Windows Server 2012).

o Drivers and firmware updated: Most of hardware vendors will require prior to start any

configuration, like a Failover Cluster, to have all drivers and firmware components updated to the

latest version. Keep in mind that having different drivers or firmware between hosts in a Failover

Cluster will cause to fail the validation tool and therefore the cluster wont be supported by

Microsoft.

o Leave one extra LUN empty in the environment for future validations.The Failover Cluster

Validation Tool is a great resource to retrieve detailed status about the health of each cluster

component, we can run the tool whenever we want and it will not generate any disruption. But,

to have a full Storage Validation it is required to have at least one LUN available in the cluster

but not used for any service or application.

For more information about best practices, review the following link: StarWind High Availability

Best Practices.

One important new feature introduced by StarWind iSCSI SAN v8 is the use of Log-Structured File

System (LSFS). LSFS is a specialized file system that stores multiple files of virtual devices and ensures

high performance during writing operations with a random access pattern. This file system resolves the

problem of slow disk operation and writes data at the speed that can be achieved by the underlying

storage during sequential writes.

At this moment LSFS is experimental in v8, use it carefully and validate your cluster services in a lab

scenario if you are planning to deploy LSFS.

2. Install StarWind iSCSI SAN software

After we reviewed and verified the requirements, we can easily start installing StarWind iSCSI SAN

software, which can be downloaded in trial-mode. This represents the simplest step in our list, since

the installation does not have any complex step.
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In the process, the Microsoft iSCSI service will be required to add to the server and the driver for the

software.

After the installation is complete we can access our console and we will see as a first step necessary is

to configure the Storage pool necessary.

We must select the path for the hard drive where we are going to store the LUNs to be used in our

shared storage scenario.

3. Configure and create LUNs in StarWind iSCSI SAN

When we have the program installed, we can start managing it from the console and we will see the

options are quite intuitive.
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We are going to split the configuration section in two parts: Hosting iSCSI LUNs with StarWind iSCSI SAN

and configuring our iSCSI initiator on each Windows Server 2012 R2 host in the cluster.

Hosting iSCSI LUNs with StarWind iSCSI SAN

We are going to review the basic steps to configure the StarWind iSCSI to start hosting LUNs for our

cluster; the initial task is to add the host:

3.1Select the Connect option for our local server.

3.2With the host added, we can start creating the storage that will be published through iSCSI: Right-

click the server and select Add target and a new wizard will appear.

3.3Select the Target alias from which well identify the LUN we are about to create and then

configure to be able to cluster. The name below will show how we can identify this particular target in

our iSCSI clients. Click on Next and then Create.
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3.4With our target created we can start creating devices or LUNs within that target. Click on Add

Device.

3.5Select Hard Disk Device.
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3.8Since this is a virtual disk, we can select from either thick-provision(space is allocated in

advance) or thin-provision(space is allocated as is required). Thick provisioning could represent, for

some applications, as a little bit faster than thin provisioning.

The LSFS options we have available in this case are: Deduplication enabled (procedure to save space

since only unique data is stored, duplicated data are stored as links) and Auto defragmentation

(helps to make space reclaim when old data is overwritten or snapshots are deleted).

3.9In the next section we can select if we are going to use disk caching to improve performance for

read and writes in this disk. The first opportunity we have works with thememory cache, from which

we can select write-back(asynchronous, with better performance but more risk about


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inconsistencies), write-through(synchronous, slow performance but no risk about data inconsistency)

or no cache at all.

Using caching can significantly increase the performance of some applications, particularly databases,

that perform large amounts of disk I/O. High Speed Cahing operates on the principle that server

memory is faster than disk. The memory cache stores data that is more likely to be required by

applications. If a program turns to the disk for data, a search is first made for the relevant block in the

cache. If the block is found the program uses it, otherwise the data from the disk is loaded into a new

block of memory cache.

3.10StarWind v8 adds a new layer in the caching concept, using L2 cache. This type of cache is

represented in a virtual file intended to be placed in SSD drives, for high-performance. In this section

we have the opportunity to create an L2 cache file, from which again we can select to use it as write-

back or write-through.


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3.11Also, we will need to select a path for the L2 cache file.

3.12Click on Finish and the device will be ready to be used.

3.13In my case Ive also created a second device in the same target.


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Configure Windows Server 2012 R2 iSCSI Initiator

Each host must have access to the file weve just created in order to be able to create our Fa ilover

Cluster. On each host, execute the following:

3.14Access Administrative Tools, iSCSI Initiator.

We will also receive a notification about The Microsoft iSCSI service is not running, click Yes to

start the service.

3.15In the Target pane, type in the IP address used for the target host, our iSCSI server, to receive

the connections. Remember to use the IP address dedicated to iSCSI connections, if the StarWind iSCSI

SAN server also has a public connection we can also use it, but the traffic will be directed using that

network adapter.

3.16Click on Quick Connect to be authorized by the host to use these files.


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Once weve connected to the files, access Disk Management to verify we can now use these files as

storage attached to the operating system.

3.17And as a final step, just using the first host in the cluster, put Online the storage file and select

also Initialize Disk. Since these are treated as normal hard disks, the process for initializing a LUN is

no different than initializing a physical and local hard drive in the server.

Now, lets take a look about the Failover Cluster feature.

4. Install Failover Cluster feature and Run ClusterValidation


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Prior to configure the cluster, we need to enable the Failover Cluster feature on all hosts in the

cluster and well also run the verification tool provided by Microsoft to validate the consistency and

compatibility of our scenario.

4.1In Server Manager, access the option Add Roles and Features.

4.2Start the wizard, do not add any role in Server Roles. And in Features enable the Failover

Clustering option.

4.3Once installed, access the console from Administrative Tools. Within the console, the option we

are interested in this stage is Validate a Configuration.

4.4In the new wizard, we are going to add the hosts that will represent the Failover Cluster in order to

validate the configuration. Type in the servers FQDN names or browse for their names; click on

Next.


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4.5Select Run all tests (recommended) and click on Next.

4.6In the following screen we can see a detailed list about all the tests that will be executed, take

note that the storage tests take some time; click on Next.

If weve fulfilled the requirements reviewed earlier then the test will be completed successfully. In my

case the report generated a warning, but the configuration is supported for clustering.

Accessing the report we can get a detailed information, in this scenario the Network section

generated a warning for Node is reachable from Node by only one pair of network

interfaces. It is possible that this network path is a single point of failure for communication within

the cluster. Please verify that this single path is highly available, or consider adding additional

networks to the cluster. This is not a critical error and can easily be solved by adding at least one new

adapter in the cluster configuration.


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4.7Leaving the option Create the cluster now using the validated nodes enabled will start the

Create Cluster as soon as we click Finish.

5. Create Windows Server 2012 R2 Failover Cluster

At this stage, weve completed all the requirements and validated our configuration successfully. In

the next following steps, we are going to see the simple procedure to configure our Windows Server

2012 R2 Failover Cluster.

5.1In the Failover Cluster console, select the option for Create a cluster.

5.2A similar wizard will appear as in the validation tool. The first thing to do is add the servers we

would like to cluster; click on Next.

5.3In the next screen we have to select the cluster name and the IP address assigned. Remember

that in a cluster, all machines are represented by one name and one IP.


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5.4In the summary page click on Next.

After a few seconds the cluster will be created and we can also review the report for the process.

Now in our Failover Cluster console, well get the complete picture about the cluster weve created:

Nodes involved, storage associated to the cluster, networks and the events related to cluster.


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