SNW Demo: Windows Server 2008 Core, Hyper-V and Failover Clustering

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I will be working at the Microsoft booth in the Storage Networking World next week in Orlando, Florida. I will deliver one of the demos there and my demo includes the following technologies:

  • Windows Unified Data Storage Server 2003 iSCSI Software Target
  • Windows Server 2008 Core Install
  • Windows Server 2008 iSCSI Initiator
  • Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V
  • Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering

We'll have two servers running Windows Server 2008 Core, both with the Hyper-V role installed and connected to an iSCSI Software Target, running WUDSS 2003. These two Windows Server 2008 Core servers will be configured as a Failover Cluster using the iSCSI SAN as shared storage. We'll use a third Windows Server 2008 with a Full install to remotely manage the Failover Cluster and Hyper-V. Here's a little diagram of what it looks like:

The demo steps will include:

  • Check Initial State
    • WUDSS configuration
    • Node 1 configuration via command line
    • Node 1 configuration via remote MMC
    • Hyper-V configuration
    • Cluster configuration
  • Configure Node1
    • Create new Virtual Machine
    • Make Virtual Machine Highly Available
    • Start HA Virtual Machine
  • Configure Node 2
    • Add Node 2 to Cluster
    • Move HA Virtual Machine to Node 2 

Please note that the configuration above is not fully fault tolerant. For instance, we'll have only one Ethernet switch. It is a demo, you know :-) . If you want to see more examples of configurations, including some that are fully fault tolerant, check my other post at: https://blogs.technet.com/josebda/archive/2007/12/07/high-availability-scenarios.aspx

Also note that is only one of the many ways to expose storage to a Hyper-V server and its child partitions. To see additional options, check my other two posts at https://blogs.technet.com/josebda/archive/2008/02/14/storage-options-for-windows-server-2008-s-hyper-v.aspx and https://blogs.technet.com/josebda/archive/2008/03/06/more-on-storage-options-for-windows-server-2008-s-hyper-v.aspx.

If you're attending SNW Spring 2008, be sure to come by the booth, check the demos and ask some questions. For details about the event, check https://www.snwusa.com/.