clustering

[watts3000]

Can someone tell me how exactly clustering works I know windows 2000 advanced server supports clusering. How is this set up can you do one advanced server box clustered to a windows 2000 server box or do you need 2 or more regular 2000 server boxes and an advanced server box.

 

[IgorTs]

definately you need two advanced servers connected, install clustering support, point to the other server, enable. they will sync.


take a look

 

[Santa]

A bit more complicated then the brief that IgorIs explained but he was correct in saying you need 2 (or more) Advance Server for Microsoft Clustering.

Currently to do anything more than 2 node clustering (2 Servers) you will need the Datacenter version of Microsoft's Server OS.

The reason you do clustering is for high availibility of the service provided by the clustered servers. If one server goes down the client will not know the difference. The service will be transparently transferred to the surviving server.

This will require an external storage unit either done by Fiber Channel or Scsi. If you are interested you will need at least 2 Advance server and some sort of external storage unit mentioned. Microsoft is very strict on what they will support in a clustered enviroment and it is best to look through their HAL to make sure you are compliant down to the type of Scsi or Fiber Channel card.

 

[IgorTs]

i just answered his questions. There could be also explanation how does it work, how to operate/maintain/monitor it and other details.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Also, be sure that your servers are matching hardware. It's important that they both consist of the same components. Clustering with W2K Advanced Server is much more difficult than it may seem because of the hardware requirements and licensing regulations...be sure to read up on all of that.

 

[Santa]

[ Answer to a PM since my PM is still broke.. ]

Primarily you would want at the very least matching SCSI or Fiber Channel Cards.. the rest i.e. Processor (dual or not, same speed or not same amount of ram etc..) is dependent on your failover. When the service you are clustering fails over from one box to the other will the surviving box be able to handle the load. This is why typically people say its best to have identical systems since you know that in case of failover you are sure the other machine is capable to handle the load.

Its not a necessity to have identical peices for everything but at the very least its best to get the same Scsi or fiber channel cards.

External storage units are like external hard drives that connect to your computer via scsi or fiber channel. The external storage units store the quorum space and any data partition needed for the paticular service you are trying to cluster. You need this space so that if one machine dies the other machine will pick up in place of the dead machine and will have the most up to date information. This is the only way to do Microsoft clustering.

What high availbility means is that you will be making some service (FTP, DHCP, WEB, DATABASE, ect..) availble as much as possible. If one machine goes down the other machine takes over without skipping a beat.

You could do other fancy things such as load balancing but this becomes an extra thing you add in front of Microsoft's clustering service.

It is not a simple thing to do nor is it something you desperatly need as a home user because of overhead in part price.

 

[Nothinman]

Can someone tell me how exactly clustering works I know windows 2000 advanced server supports clusering

Win2K supports failover, not true clustering. When I think of clustering I think of many machines working together on a single problem, MS calls 'if one box dies the other takes over' clustering.

 

[skeletal29]

www.about.com

 

[Tanner]

I was just searching the forums for "cluster" and happend upon this thread. After reading through it, I can't agree more w/ this:



<< Can someone tell me how exactly clustering works I know windows 2000 advanced server supports clusering

Win2K supports failover, not true clustering. When I think of clustering I think of many machines working together on a single problem, MS calls 'if one box dies the other takes over' clustering. >>



BAWAAAAHAHAHAHAAHAH @ M$ for this poorly chosen terminology.


Santa

do U have some experience w/ these windows AS machines and their failsafe setups?

 

[SaigonK]

ok first off it isnt just Microsoft who uses the term Clustering, and it IS the right term.
Clustering technologies allow computers to work together to achieve higher performance, availability, and/or capacity

It isnt just about working togethor. Many systems can cluster, it isnt just a failover.

 

[PeeluckyDuckee]

This MS clustering service you guys speak of, does both system need to have scsi hardware in order for it to work? So what's the difference between clustering your, lets say, dns servers than simply load balancing between all your dns servers?

When I think of clustering I think of combining multiple resources together to perform one function, faster and more reliable.

If you can, please give me a real world example of when it would be appropriate to use clustering. I think I'm confused as to why and when it is needed.

 

[SaigonK]

Real World:

One of our Novell 5.1 servers is clustered, and I plan to cluster our DHCP server as well.
For DNS i woudlnt say a cluster is so much a need as failover is.

but for us the Novell server is also an APP server and as such needs to be up 24/7, without a chance of failure.
By clustering we ensure that if there is a failure, no one skips a beat. The second node takes over everything the first node is doing and then continues on without the first node.

I plan to cluster our DHCP server so that we dont have issues with people not being able to get an IP if the server goes down.
A second DHCP server would not be feasible obviously, so a cluster is the best choice for us.