Sign in
 
HomeWindows Server 2012Windows Server 2008 R2Windows Server 2003LibraryForums
Windows Server TechCenter >
> 
> 
Failover Cluster without Storage

Answered Failover Cluster without Storage

  • Tuesday, May 22, 2012 5:51 AM
     
     
    Sign In to Vote
    0

    Hi

    I want to know Is it possible to implement a failover cluster solution without a storage area network (SAN) ?

    Any idea please

    Regards


    • Edited by jingoi Tuesday, May 22, 2012 5:53 AM
    •  
     

All Replies

  • Tuesday, May 22, 2012 8:04 AM
     
     
    Sign In to Vote
    0

    "It depends" on what you want to do with the WSFC. If you just want to create a cluster that runs a server that doesn't require a shared disk then no you don't. You can use Node Majority (odd number of nodes) or Node and File Share Witness Majority for a quorum.

    Some applications can use local disk on each node (for example Availability Groups in SQL Server 2012). Some third-party add-ins to clustering can use local storage and proprietary replication between nodes.

    It all really depends on what applications you want to cluster (and possibly how much you're willing to spend on 3rd party software).


     
  • Tuesday, May 22, 2012 8:49 AM
    Moderator
     
     Answered
    Sign In to Vote
    0

    Hi,

    If you need to put the clustered application or services on the SAN, it is recommended that you perform a cluster valuation with storage.

     

     
  • Tuesday, May 22, 2012 10:30 AM
     
     Proposed Answer
    Sign In to Vote
    1

    Hi

    I want to know Is it possible to implement a failover cluster solution without a storage area network (SAN) ?

    Any idea please

    Regards


    Yes of course! You have two nodes already so you have redundancy :) The only thing you need "extra" is some sort of an application emulating SAN from your DAS (in a nutshell - it will synchronously mirror a pair of LUNs from the different nodes between each other). Finally you'll have something like on the picture attached to the end of the message (it compares "classic" design with something what does for Windows now people with Linux have with DRBD for years and KVM & Xen hypervisors do out-of-box). I'm aware of a two companies who can do this for Windows natively: StarWind and DataCore. If you run Hyper-V to may Google for StorMagic and other Linux or Solaris-based VSA (Virtual Storage Appliances) running as a guest VMs. But from my point of view it's not a way to go :)

    -nismo

    P.S. And the picture...


    • Proposed As Answer by Max Craft Tuesday, November 06, 2012 9:37 AM
    •  
     
  • Tuesday, May 22, 2012 10:32 AM
     
     
    Sign In to Vote
    0

    "It depends" on what you want to do with the WSFC. If you just want to create a cluster that runs a server that doesn't require a shared disk then no you don't. You can use Node Majority (odd number of nodes) or Node and File Share Witness Majority for a quorum.

    Some applications can use local disk on each node (for example Availability Groups in SQL Server 2012). Some third-party add-ins to clustering can use local storage and proprietary replication between nodes.

    It all really depends on what applications you want to cluster (and possibly how much you're willing to spend on 3rd party software).


    Application-aware (homebrewed) clustering built-in into particular app is usually more effective then "generic" way.

    -nismo

     
  • Tuesday, May 22, 2012 11:11 AM
     
     
    Sign In to Vote
    0

    Thanks for your all reply i dont want to use any sort of SAN device , i only want to use local storage on servers..

    Dear stephen please advice me as you said in post

    You can use Node Majority (odd number of nodes) or Node and File Share Witness Majority for a quorum. does this scenerio works for me ? because i want to use some third party software also..

    Thanks

     
  • Tuesday, May 22, 2012 8:50 PM
     
     
    Sign In to Vote
    0

    Thanks for your all reply i dont want to use any sort of SAN device , i only want to use local storage on servers..

    Dear stephen please advice me as you said in post

    You can use Node Majority (odd number of nodes) or Node and File Share Witness Majority for a quorum. does this scenerio works for me ? because i want to use some third party software also..

    Thanks

    There's no SAN device there's entirely DAS (you call it "local storage") on every node. 

    If your app is not cluster-aware by itself there's no way you'll do what Stephen had suggested :)

    -nismo

     
  • Wednesday, May 23, 2012 4:43 PM
     
     
    Sign In to Vote
    0

    Yes, you can build a cluster with just local attached disk but as been mentioned before, other than Exchange 2007 CCR or 2010 DAG, you will need a 3rd party replication solution that integrates with failover clustering. 

    Microsoft's Symone Perriman has an excellent presentation on multisite clustering (clustering without shared storage) which is a must view for anyone considering it.

    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/Video/hh133452

    I also wrote a step-by-step article and video which can be viewed here.

    http://clusteringformeremortals.com/2009/09/15/step-by-step-configuring-a-2-node-multi-site-cluster-on-windows-server-2008-r2-%e2%80%93-part-1/

    While it is call "multisite", the concept is the same if the nodes are in the same data center, they do not have to be geographically dispersed.

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

     
  • Wednesday, May 23, 2012 4:50 PM
     
     
    Sign In to Vote
    0

    if youre going to put hyper-v cluster you should have a shared storage.(fc san or iscsi san).other wise you can just create a cluster.if you have even no of nodes you can use file share witness for the quorum.the storage requrement is depend on your application

    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd759255.aspx

    Darshana Jayathilake

     
  • Wednesday, May 23, 2012 5:15 PM
     
     
    Sign In to Vote
    0

    Of course shared storage is the recommeded configuration, but it is possible to do without shared storage.  This presentation talks about how it is done in detail.

    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/Video/hh133452

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

     
  • Thursday, May 24, 2012 10:32 AM
     
     
    Sign In to Vote
    0
    What applications would you like to run on your cluster? This will typically determine what sort of storage solutions are available to you.
     
  • Thursday, November 01, 2012 11:29 PM
     
     
    Sign In to Vote
    0
    No matter what kind of application, let's suppose servers/pc that must float between two parent nodes.
    What are the steps for doing cluster without storage/san.
    Are 3rd party software needed?

    Lasandro Lopez

     
  • Friday, November 02, 2012 12:12 AM
     
     Proposed Answer
    Sign In to Vote
    1

    Yes, 3rd party software is required for failover clustering wthout shared storage.  As Nismo illustrated earlier, you can use a virtual storage solution like Starwind, or you can use a cluster integrated replication solution like DataKeeper Cluster Edition.  I wrote a Step-by-Step article for implementing the latter here.

    http://clusteringformeremortals.com/2009/09/15/step-by-step-configuring-a-2-node-multi-site-cluster-on-windows-server-2008-r2-%e2%80%93-part-1/

    http://clusteringformeremortals.com/2009/10/07/step-by-step-configuring-a-2-node-multi-site-cluster-on-windows-server-2008-r2-%e2%80%93-part-3/

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

     
  • Monday, November 05, 2012 5:23 PM
     
     
    Sign In to Vote
    0

    is this datakeeper software expensive?

    because StarWind was so much expensive

    Lasandro Lopez

     
  • Tuesday, February 12, 2013 12:27 PM
     
     
    Sign In to Vote
    0
    This doesn't address the question, why would it be posted?