Hyper-Cluster

Last year about this time I set up a completely virtualized cluster (only one physical computer) using Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V and iSCSI via Windows Storage Server 2008 (WSS). WSS had been released a couple of days before, I had been waiting for it, and it was worth the wait.

Whenever the topic of clustering came up, I usually mentioned my lab configuration, and lots of people asked me how I did it. Unfortunately, I hadn't taken notes, and there were a few serious problem areas I ran into.

Well, this past weekend I decided it was time to upgrade to Windows Server 2008 R2 and try out Live Migration in the latest version of Hyper-V. I rebuilt from scratch, and this time I took notes. They're attached them as a PDF for anyone who's interested.

UPDATE: Turns out that Mark Ghazai has a step-by-step guide with a lot more screen-shots than my notes, although mine covers a few issues that he doesn't. He also used Microsoft-only iSCSI targeting software instead of Windows Storage Server, but that part of the process is the same regardless.

Hyper-Cluster.pdf