Advanced resource configuration in Windows Server 2008 failover clusters

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SUMMARY

It is easier to configure high availability in Windows Server 2008 failover clusters then it is in earlier versions of Microsoft clustering technology. In Windows Server 2008, you can use the Failover Cluster Management snap-in to configure highly available services or highly available applications. The Failover Cluster Management snap-in involves some configuration wizards that enable you to configure high availability for specific types of services or applications on a step-by-step basis.

For example, you can use these wizards to configure file servers, Distributed File System (DFS) namespaces, print servers, and so on. After you complete a wizard, a service group or an application group is set to the “Online” state on one of the nodes in the failover cluster.

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MORE INFORMATION

One of the design goals for Windows Server 2008 failover clustering is to make the configuration and the administration of a cluster much easier for users. To achieve this goal, many configuration wizards are used to configure high availability on a step-by-step basis. Most of the time, the Configure a Service or Application action is used to start the High Availability Wizard. However, some advanced procedures are required to configure additional cluster resources in some highly available application groups or services groups that are already configured.

The Add a resource action is available for all highly available service groups or application groups. You can use this action to configure the following resources:

Client Access Point
Generic Application
Generic Script
Generic Service
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Service
Distributed Transaction Coordinator
File Server
IP Address
IPv6 Address
IPv6 Tunnel Address
iSNS Server (iSNS ClusRes)
NFS Share
Print Spooler
Volume Shadow Copy Service Task
Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) Server

The Client Access Point, Generic Application, Generic Script and Generic Service resources use the New Resource Wizard. Therefore, you can obtain some assistance when you configure these four resources. However, all the other resources do not use any wizards.

After you create and configure a resource by using the Add a resource action, the resource is set to the “Offline” state. This enables you to complete additional configurations.

All resources that do not use the New Resource Wizard require some additional configurations. To perform these additional configurations, you must understand how cluster resources work and what additional configuration steps are required for each resource type. You must also know whether a role or a feature must be configured to support the resource. For example, if you add a Print Spooler resource, you must complete the following additional configuration steps before you bring the resource to the “Online” state:

Add the Print Server role on each node in the cluster.
Modify the properties of the Print Spooler resource to include dependencies for a Network Name resource and for a Physical Disk resource.

The following table provides additional configuration requirements for selected cluster resource types.

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Resource Type	Additional Configuration Tasks
DHCP Service	DHCP Server Role installed Dependencies for a Physical Disk resource and for a Network Name resource
Distributed Transaction Coordinator	Dependencies for a Network Name resource and for a Physical Disk resource
File Server	Dependencies for a Network Name resource and for a Physical Disk resource
IP Address	Cluster Network Selection IP Address configuration (Static or DHCP)
IPv6 Address	Cluster Network Selection Address Configuration
IPv6 Tunnel Address	IPv6 configured on the cluster node ISATAP Router availability
iSNS Server (iSNS ClusRes)	Internet Storage Name Server Feature installed
NFS Share	File Server Role installed Services for Network File System service (part of File Server Role) Dependencies for a Network Name resource and for a Physical Disk resource
Print Spooler	Print Server Role installed Dependencies for a Network Name resource and for a Physical Disk resource
Volume Shadow Copy Service Task	Command line information (command, parameters) Physical disk dependency
WINS Service	WINS Feature installed Dependencies for a Network Name resource and for a Physical Disk resource
Distributed File System	DFS Namespace Server File Server Role installed Dependencies for a Network Name resource and for a Physical Disk resource