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Create a Windows Server 2003 Two-Node Cluster

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Install Cluster Service Software

Configure the First Node

Note: During installation of Cluster service on the first node, all other nodes must either be turned off, or stopped prior to Windows 2003 booting. All shared storage devices should be powered up.

  1. Click Start, click All Programs, click Administrative Tools, and then click Cluster Administrator.
  2. When prompted by the Open Connection to Cluster Wizard, click Create new cluster in the Action drop-down list, as shown in the figure below and click OK.
  3. Verify that you have the necessary prerequisites to configure the cluster, as shown in the figure below. Click Next.
  4. Type a unique NetBIOS name for the cluster (up to 15 characters), and then click Next. In the example shown in Figure 18 below, the cluster is named MyCluster.) Adherence to DNS naming rules is recommended. For additional information, see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
    • 163409 NetBIOS Suffixes (16th Character of the NetBIOS Name)
    • 254680 DNS Namespace Planning
  5. If you are logged on locally with an account that is not a Domain Account with Local Administrative privileges, the wizard will prompt you to specify an account. This is not the account the Cluster service will use to start.

    6. Note: If you have appropriate credentials, the prompt mentioned in step 5 and shown in the figure below may not appear.

  6. Because it is possible to configure clusters remotely, you must verify or type the name of the server that is going to be used as the first node to create the cluster, as shown in the figure below. Click Next.

    7. Note: The Install wizard verifies that all nodes can see the shared disks the same. In a complex storage area network the target identifiers (TIDs) for the disks may sometimes be different, and the Setup program may incorrectly detect that the disk configuration is not valid for Setup. To work around this issue you can click the Advanced button, and then click Advanced (minimum) configuration. For additional information, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 331801 Cluster Setup May Not Work When You Add Nodes

  7. The figure below illustrates that the Setup process will now analyze the node for possible hardware or software problems that may cause problems with the installation. Review any warnings or error messages. You can also click the Details button to get detailed information about each one.
  8. Type the unique cluster IP address (in this example 172.26.204.10), and then click Next.
  9. As shown in the figure below, the New Server Cluster Wizard automatically associates the cluster IP address with one of the public networks by using the subnet mask to select the correct network. The cluster IP address should be used for administrative purposes only, and not for client connections.
  10. Type the user name and password of the cluster service account that was created during pre-installation. (In the example in the figure below, the user name is “Cluster”). Select the domain name in the Domain drop-down list, and then click Next.
  11. Review the Summary page, shown in the figure below, to verify that all the information that is about to be used to create the cluster is correct. If desired, you can use the quorum button to change the quorum disk designation from the default auto-selected disk.
    1. The summary information displayed on this screen can be used to reconfigure the cluster in the event of a disaster recovery situation. It is recommended that you save and print a hard copy to keep with the change management log at the server.

    12. Note: The Quorum button can also be used to specify a Majority Node Set (MNS) quorum model. This is one of the major configuration differences when you create an MNS cluster

  12. Review any warnings or errors encountered during cluster creation. To do this, click the plus signs to see more, and then click Next. Warnings and errors appear in the Creating the Cluster page as shown in the figure below.
  13. Click Finish to complete the installation. The figure below illustrates the final step.

    14. Note: To view a detailed summary, click the View Log button or view the text file stored in the following location:
    %SystemRoot%\System32\LogFiles\Cluster\ClCfgSrv.Log

6.2 Validate Cluster Installation

Use the Cluster Administrator (CluAdmin.exe) to validate the cluster service installation on Node 1.

To validate the cluster installation

  1. Click Start, click Programs, click Administrative Tools, and then click Cluster Administrator.
  2. Verify that all resources came online successfully, as shown in the figure below.

    3. Note As general rules, do not put anything in the cluster group, do not take anything out of the cluster group, and do not use anything in the cluster group for anything other than cluster administration.

Configuring Second Node

Installing the cluster service on the other nodes requires less time than on the first node. Setup configures the cluster service network settings on the second node based on the configuration of the first node. You can also add multiple nodes to the cluster at the same time, and remotely.

Note: For this section, leave node 1 and all shared disks turned on. Then turn on all other nodes. The cluster service will control access to the shared disks at this point to eliminate any chance of corrupting the volume.

  1. Open Cluster Administrator on Node 1.
  2. Click File, click New, and then click Node.
  3. The Add Cluster Computers Wizard will start. Click Next.
  4. If you are not logged on with appropriate credentials, you will be asked to specify a domain account that has administrative rights over all nodes in the cluster.
  5. Enter the machine name for the node you want to add to the cluster. Click Add. Repeat this step, shown in the figure below, to add all other nodes that you want. When you have added all nodes, click Next.
  6. The Setup wizard will perform an analysis of all the nodes to verify that they are configured properly.
  7. Type the password for the account used to start the cluster service.
  8. Review the summary information that is displayed for accuracy. The summary information will be used to configure the other nodes when they join the cluster.
  9. Review any warnings or errors encountered during cluster creation, and then click Next.
  10. Click Finish to complete the installation.

Post Installation Configuration

Heartbeat Configuration

Now that the networks have been configured correctly on each node and the Cluster service has been configured, you need to configure the network roles to define their functionality within the cluster. Here is a list of the network configuration options in Cluster Administrator:

  • Enable for cluster use: If this check box is selected, the cluster service uses this network. This check box is selected by default for all networks.
  • Client access only (public network): Select this option if you want the cluster service to use this network adapter only for external communication with other clients. No node-to-node communication will take place on this network adapter.
  • Internal cluster communications only (private network): Select this option if you want the cluster service to use this network only for node-to-node communication.
  • All communications (mixed network): Select this option if you want the cluster service to use the network adapter for node-to-node communication and for communication with external clients. This option is selected by default for all networks.

This white paper assumes that only two networks are in use. It explains how to configure these networks as one mixed network and one private network. This is the most common configuration. If you have available resources, two dedicated redundant networks for internal-only cluster communication are recommended.

To configure the heartbeat

  1. Start Cluster Administrator.
  2. In the left pane, click Cluster Configuration, click Networks, right-click Private, and then click Properties.
  3. Click Internal cluster communications only (private network), as shown in the figure below
  4. Click OK.
  5. Right-click Public, and then click Properties
  6. Click to select the Enable this network for cluster use check box.
  7. Click the All communications (mixed network) option, and then click OK.

Heartbeat Adapter Prioritization

After configuring the role of how the cluster service will use the network adapters, the next step is to prioritize the order in which they will be used for intra-cluster communication. This is applicable only if two or more networks were configured for node-to-node communication. Priority arrows on the right side of the screen specify the order in which the cluster service will use the network adapters for communication between nodes. The cluster service always attempts to use the first network adapter listed for remote procedure call (RPC) communication between the nodes. Cluster service uses the next network adapter in the list only if it cannot communicate by using the first network adapter.

  1. Start Cluster Administrator.
  2. In the left pane, right-click the cluster name (in the upper left corner), and then click Properties.
  3. Click the Network Priority tab, as shown in Figure 31 below.
  4. Verify that the Private network is listed at the top. Use the Move Up or Move Down buttons to change the priority order.
  5. Click OK

6.5 Configuring Cluster Disks

Start Cluster Administrator, right-click any disks that you want to remove from the cluster, and then click Delete.

Note: By default, all disks not residing on the same bus as the system disk will have Physical Disk Resources created for them, and will be clustered. Therefore, if the node has multiple buses, some disks may be listed that will not be used as shared storage, for example, an internal SCSI drive. Such disks should be removed from the cluster configuration. If you plan to implement Volume Mount points for some disks, you may want to delete the current disk resources for those disks, delete the drive letters, and then create a new disk resource without a drive letter assignment.

Quorum Disk Configuration

The Cluster Configuration Wizard automatically selects the drive that is to be used as the quorum device. It will use the smallest partition that is larger then 50 MB. You may want to change the automatically selected disk to a dedicated disk that you have designated for use as the quorum.

Configure the Quorum Disk

  1. Start Cluster Administrator (CluAdmin.exe).
  2. Right-click the cluster name in the upper-left corner, and then click Properties.
  3. Click the Quorum tab.
  4. In the Quorum resource list box, select a different disk resource. In the figure below, Disk Q is selected in the Quorum resource list box.
  5. If the disk has more than one partition, click the partition where you want the cluster-specific data to be kept, and then click OK.

For additional information, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q280353 How to Change Quorum Disk Designation

Creating a Boot Delay

In a situation where all the cluster nodes boot up and attempt to attach to the quorum resource at the same time, the Cluster service may fail to start. For example, this may occur when power is restored to all nodes at the exact same time after a power failure. To avoid such a situation, increase or decrease the Time to Display list of operating systems setting. To find this setting, click Start, point to My Computer, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings under Startup And Recovery. Set the first node to 15 seconds and the second node to 30 seconds

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