Implement HA

Hugo Hew 1 Reputation point
2020-08-23T02:54:38.497+00:00

Hi

Currently my company wants to implement HA version on server 2016, can I install the cluster and install the software at the cluster partition as a HA version, please advise thank you.

1 x Dell R430 - node 1

1 x Dell R230 - node 2

Windows Server Clustering
Windows Server Clustering
Windows Server: A family of Microsoft server operating systems that support enterprise-level management, data storage, applications, and communications.Clustering: The grouping of multiple servers in a way that allows them to appear to be a single unit to client computers on a network. Clustering is a means of increasing network capacity, providing live backup in case one of the servers fails, and improving data security.
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  1. TimCerling(ret) 1,156 Reputation points
    2020-08-23T12:16:17.003+00:00

    HA is simply a feature of the Windows Server operating system. There are two forms - network load balancing and failover clustering. NLB is often used for web applications whereas failover clustering is often used for applications like file services, data bases, mail systems, and virtualization. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/failover-clustering/failover-clustering-overview provides an overview of failover clustering. Failover clustering generally requires some for of shared storage that both (all) nodes of the cluster have access to. There are many ways to accomplish this.

    You have not provided much information about what you plan to implement into an HA environment. Some applications have the HA built in, so something like NLB or FC are not even needed. Read through the overview at the location shown earlier and then come back with more information about what you are trying to do with the HA. With more detail we will be able to provide more information.

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  2. Alex Bykovskyi 1,681 Reputation points
    2020-08-23T15:26:16.98+00:00

    Hey,

    As Tim mentioned, NLB and FC are the options to achieve HA. As for the Failover Clustering, you can utilize your existing nodes to create Failover Cluster. For a shared storage, if you do not have a separate one (e.g. separate SAN) you can use either S2D or StarWind VSAN. Both will provide shared storage pool utilizing underlying storage in your nodes. The following links should help:

    https://techblog.ptschumi.ch/windows-server/storage-spaces-direct/deploy-storage-spaces-direct-on-two-node-cluster-with-windows-server-core/

    https://www.starwindsoftware.com/resource-library/starwind-virtual-san-for-hyper-v-2-node-hyperconverged-scenario-with-windows-server-2016/

    Cheers,

    Alex Bykovskyi

    StarWind Software

    Note: Posts are provided “AS IS” without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose.

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  3. Xiaowei He 9,871 Reputation points
    2020-08-24T06:18:56.813+00:00

    Hi,

    What is the software you want to deploy in Windows failover cluster? Before you deploy, please check if the software is support to use HA.

    When you going to deploy HA, we may add failover cluster feature both on the two nodes :

    19831-image.png

    After installing the failover cluster role, create a cluster in the Windows cluster manager.

    19805-image.png

    After creating the Cluster, we may deploy storage for the Cluster role to use, generally, we should configure shared storage both connected to the two cluster nodes, via ISCSI, Fiber channel or use S2D. If you would like to learn the detailed information about how to configure cluster storage, we may start a new thread, or we may follow up in the following posts.

    19824-image.png

    Then, we may install the software you want and add the role into the cluster, if necessary, use the cluster storage:

    19832-image.png

    If there's anything unclear, please feel free to let us know.

    --------
    If the reply could be of help, please help to accept it as an answer, thanks for your cooperation!
    Thanks for your time!
    Best Regards,
    Anne

  4. Xiaowei He 9,871 Reputation points
    2020-08-27T02:10:04.277+00:00

    Hi,

    If you run an application as a Generic Application, the cluster software will start the application, then periodically query the operating system to see whether the application appears to be running. If so, it is presumed to be online, and will not be restarted or failed over.

    Note that in comparison with a cluster-aware application, a Generic Application has fewer ways of communicating its precise state to the cluster software. If a Generic Application enters a problematic state but nonetheless appears to be running, the cluster software does not have a way of discovering this and taking an action (such as restarting the application or failing it over).

    Before running the High Availability Wizard to configure high availability for a Generic Application, make sure that you know the path of the application and the names of any registry keys under HKEY_LOCAL _MACHINE that are required by the application.

    For more information about the generic application, please check the following links:

    https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/failover-clustering/creating-and-configuring-a-generic-application-resource/ba-p/371389

    https://forsenergy.com/en-us/cluadmin/html/59e0ff4b-9d3d-41af-9cec-f0eb35c87ab9.htm

    If the reply could be of help, please help to accept it as an answer, thanks for your cooperation!
    Thanks for your time!
    Best Regards,
    Anne

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  5. Hugo Hew 1 Reputation point
    2020-08-29T08:55:19.257+00:00

    Hi XiaoweiHe

    seems like Generic Application is for software failover, so what is the good option for application software running HA and which category should I use.  But I test on my end both nodes install the software under Generic Application after that how Win 10 accesses the apps?    

    21309-vmware-j7vw1l8qdt.png

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