Failover setup using two servers and one NAS

Question

Is it possible to set up an automatic failover configuration using two Windows Server 2019 servers and one NAS as common storage, without any third-party software? Is Hyper-V replica one of the possible solutions?

Answer 1

Hi,

If the Windows Server 2019 machines are in domain, then it's possible to use only two Server 2019 and one NAS server to create failover cluster. If you don't have domain environment, it's recommended to set a DC server before creating the cluster. Or you may choose workgroup failover cluster.

Hyper V replication is different from failover cluster:

Hyper V replication can do between two standalone Hyper V hosts, don't need to create a cluster. VM can replicate from Hyper V server 1 to Hyper V 2 server, and we will have two VM files. When S1 has issues, we can start VM on S2.

While in the failover cluster, the VM files are stored on shared storage, when S1 has issues, the ownership of the VM will failover to S2, S2 will get data of the VM in shared storage.

Thanks for your time!
Best Regards,
Anne

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Answer 2

Hey,

As mentioned, Hyper-V replication and Failover Cluster are different technologies. Depending on the hardware you have you can use both. In case you have storage in your servers, you can use it with some kind of software-defined storage to create a Failover Cluster and leave your NAS as a backup target. Couple examples.
S2D examples:
https://techblog.ptschumi.ch/windows-server/storage-spaces-direct/deploy-storage-spaces-direct-on-two-node-cluster-with-windows-server-core/
StarWind VSAN:
https://www.starwindsoftware.com/resource-library/starwind-virtual-san-for-hyper-v-2-node-hyperconverged-scenario-with-windows-server-2016/

If your NAS can share storage via iSCSI, you can use it as a shared storage to create Failover Cluster.

Cheers,

Alex Bykovskyi

StarWind Software

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