Setting

up Windows Server 2008 R2 Failover Cluster in vSphere.

ManypeoplehavebeenhavingissuesgettingthissetupinvSphere.ThisprocedureIhaveusedtosetup multiplevSphereWindows2008R2Failoverclusters.Thistutorialwillshowyouhowtosetupthe Quorumdevice,andsetuponefileserverservice.However,onceyouhavethebaseofthesystemsetup, itisfairlysimpletosetupyourclusterdoperformanyfunctionyouwant. Thistutorialmakesafewassumptions: 1. YouarefamiliarwithhowtonavigateinvSphereClient 2. YoualreadyhaveaphysicalNIConeachhostsetuptobeclusterinterconnects(NOTE:Youcan alsohaveaVLANsetupforclusterinterconnects,howeveryouneedtomakesurethatyoudont usethesameIPaddressthatotherclustersmaybeusinginthatsubnet. 3. YouhaveiSCSItargetssetupinyourinfrastructureandyoucanaccessthestorage. Acoupleofnotes,withthisconfiguration,youcanmigrateeachnodetoanyhost,anditusesiSCSIfor alloftheclusterdevices.TheWindowsoperatingsystemisinstalledonaVMFSpartitionthatisshared outandvisableonallESXhosts.HowyourinfrastructureissetupforiSCSIissitespecific.Iwillnotgo intodetailonhowtosetuptheiSCSIdiskssinceitvariesfromeachsite,however,Iwilldiscusshowto usetheiSCSIinitiatorthatisincludedinServer2008R2toattachitandformatitandmakesureitis availabletoallyournodes. 1. FirstthingistocreatetheVirtualMachine.ThisishowIbuiltmine: a. Ifirstcreatedaresourcepoolformyclustersothatitwillgettheproperprocessingand memoryresources. b. IthenrightclickinVirtualCenteronthenewresourcepool,andcreateanewVirtual Machine. c. ForConfiguration,IclickCustomandNext>. d. Givethevmaname.Node1workswell,butgiveitsomethingyoullremember. e. SelectwhereyouwanttostorethisVM.SinceIwantittobeabletomigratetoany runninghostandtakefulladvantageofDRM,Iputitonasharedstorageallmyhosts canseethathasatleastenoughfreespaceforyourVM. f. IthensayVirtualMachineVersion7sinceIdontneedtohaveitbackwardscompatible withESX3. g. IthensayingMicrosoftWindowsfortheGuestOperatingSystem,andfromthePull Down,selectMicrosoftWindowsServer2008R2(64bit)(experimental). h. IthengavethisVM,4processor,butyoucangiveitanyamountyouwant. i. Istuckwiththedefaultof4gbofRAM,butyoucanadjustthisasneccissary.

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IthengavemyVM3NICs,however,only1isrequired,Ipreferatleast2.Oneforyour clusterprivatenetworkandoneforyourpublicnetwork.Thethirdoneinmycaseisfor abackupnetworkthatisforbackingupandrestoringfiles.Onlychangewhichnetwork theyconnectto.MakesurethattheadapterstaysE1000.Removethecheckboxfor ConnectatPowerOnfortheClusterinterconnect.ThisissothatafteryouinstalltheOS andyouassignIPaddresses,youknowwhichNICiswhichintheOS.) k. ForSCSIcontroller,IkeptwiththedefaultLSILogicSAS. l. IcreatedaNewVirtualDisk,keptit40GBinsize,andstoreditwiththeVM.Youcan Thinprovisionifyouwant,butIprefernottosothatmystoragedoesntrunawayfrom me. m. Justkeepthedefaultsfortheadvancedoptionsofthevirtualdisk. n. YouarethenreadytocreatetheVM.JustClickFinish. Nowtobuildthesecondnode.Thisisreallyeasy.Justclonetheoneyoubuilt. a. RightclickyournewVM,andclickClone b. Giveitaname,Node2works. c. PutitinyourClusterthathostsyourVirtualInfrastructure. d. IthenclickedonmynewlycreatedResourcePooltoputmyclonethere. e. Selectastoragewithatleast45GBofspace.Themorethebetter.Makesureitisshared storagethoughsothatyoucanmigratetheVMfromhosttohost. f. Keeptheformatthesameassource.Youwantthesenodestobethesame. g. Clicknextsinceyoucantcustomizetheseservers,andtheclickFinishtobuildtheVM. NowwecanpoweruptheseVMsandinstalltheOS. AftertheOSisinstalled,logintoWindowsandcheckouttheNetworkDevices,onewillbe powereddown,thatisyourclusterinterconnectdevice.RenameittoClustersoyouknowwhat itisfor,andinVirtualCenter,rightclicktheVMandclickEditSettings.ClicktheClusterNICand putaCheckinConnectedandConnectatPowerOn.YoucannowmodifythisNICwiththeIP addressyouwantfortheClusterinterconnects. NowstartsthefunofiSCSI. a. OnyouriSCSItarget,makesurethatyouhavetwoLUNsbuilt,oneforaquorum,and oneforyourstorage.MakesurethatyouhaveCHAPenabledandthatyouhaveitsetup toeitherusetheInitiatorID,oraCHAPusername/passwordcombo.Howeveryour infrastructureusestoconnecttoiSCSIdeviceswillwork. b. ClickStart\AdministrativeTools\iSCSIInitiatorontheVM. c. UnderTarget,typetheIPaddressofyouriSCSItargetandclickQuickConnect.Youwill seeyourDiscoveredTargets,selectitandclickconnect. d. UndertheConfigurationTab,clicktheCHAPbuttonandenterallyourCHAPinformation fortheiSCSILUN. e. ClickOKatthebottomandyourconnected. f. Performtheabovestepagainontheothernode. g. StartServerManagerandclickonStorage.ThenselectDiskManagement.Youwillsee youriSCSIstorage,rightclickthemtobringthemonline.ThenagaintoInitialize,then

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rightclickoncemoretoformatthem.Assignthemdrivelettersandnamesasyousee fit. h. Ontheothernode,verifythatyoucanseethestorageandbringitonline.Ifyoucantdo this,troubleshootwhyyoucannotconnecttothestorage.Youareatastandstillfrom thenextstepifyoucantbringthestorageuponbothnodesatthesametime. i. Onceyouhaveverifiedthatyoucanaccessthestorageonbothnodes,youarenow readytoinstalltheFailoverClusterFeature. InServerManager,clickFeatures.IntheMainWindow,ClickAddFeature. PutaCheckinFailoverClusteringandclickinstall.Itwillinstallfailoverclusterfeature.Dothis stepontheothernode. NowweinstalltheFileServerRole.InServerManager,ClickRoles,andclickAddRolesinthe Mainwindow. ClickFileServices,andjustinstallFileServerunlessyouwanttoinstallanyoftheotherservices. ClickNextandinstalltherole. NowwestarttheCluster.InStart\AdministrativeTools\FailoverClusterManagertostartthe snapin. Oncethesnapinstarts,clickCreateaCluster Typeinbothnodesofyourcluster.Itwillthencreatetheclusterafterperformingsystemcheck. SelectNodeandDiskMajorityforQuorumsettings,andselectyourQuorumdrive.Itwillrunthe systemchecksandsetuptheQuorum. NowyoucancreateyourFileshare.ClickontheStoragefolderinClusterAdminandverifythat allyourstorageisthereanonline. ClickConfigureaServiceorApplicationandselectFileserverfromthewizard,giveitanameand anIPaddressandwhatstoragetouseforshares.Youcanthengiveittheproperpermissions andifyouwant,publishtoDFS.Theclustersoftwarewillconfigureandbringitonline. Nowyoucantesteverythingyouwantto,trytofailover,simulatefailures.Onethingto definitelytryismigratetheVMtoanotherhostandverifythatyourclusterresourcesnevergo down.

Thatisit,ifyouhaveanyquestions,donthesitatetocontactmeatlwilliams@modbee.com.