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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Checkpoint Manager

Software component in the Cluster service that is responsible for saving data in the log file maintained by the quorum resource.

CIM

See Common Information Model.

CIM class

See WMI class.

client application

Application software that gathers data from the user, prepares it for the server, and issues a request to the server. The client presents data received from the server to the user through its own user interface.

See also client-server model.

client-server model

Architecture that splits an application into a front-end client component and a back-end server component. The client component gathers data from the user, prepares it for the server, and issues a request to the server. On the back end, the server waits for requests from its clients. When the server receives a request, it processes the request and returns the requested information to the client. The client then presents the data to the user through its own user interface.

cluster

Windows Clustering defines a cluster as is a group of independent computer systems, referred to as nodes, working together as a unified computing resource. Windows Clustering provides two different types of clusters: failover cluster and network load balancing clusters.

Cluster Administrator

An application included with Windows Clustering that is used to manage and administer a server cluster. Cluster Administrator can run on any member of the trusted domain regardless of whether the computer is a cluster node.

Cluster Administrator extension

A dynamic-link library (DLL) that enables Cluster Administrator to manage a custom resource type. A Cluster Administrator extension uses the Cluster Administrator Extension API and is implemented as an in-process COM server.

Cluster Automation Server

The library of COM-based interfaces that developers writing in Microsoft Visual Basic and various scripting languages use to create cluster management applications for failover clusters.

cluster-aware application

An application that runs on a node, is managed as a cluster resource, and is designed to be aware of and interact with the server cluster environment.

cluster-capable disk

A disk that satisfies the definition of a storage class resource. Because it can be owned by only one node at a time, a cluster-capable disk is not a shared disk.

Also called a cluster disk.

cluster database

A database containing property and configuration data for all cluster objects. The cluster database is synchronized across all nodes.

cluster disk

A disk that satisfies the definition of a storage class resource. Because it can be owned by only one node at a time, a cluster disk is not a shared disk.

Also called a cluster-capable disk.

cluster management application

A cluster-aware application used to manage and administer a server cluster. Cluster Administrator is an example of such an application.

cluster network driver

Failover cluster software component that monitors the status of network paths between nodes and detects communication failure by using periodic messages called heartbeats.

cluster object

A physical or logical unit managed by the Cluster service. The cluster objects are nodes, networks, network interfaces, groups, resources, and resource types.

Also called cluster object.

Cluster Server

One of the former names for the Failover Cluster API.

Other former names or pseudonyms include MSCS, Wolfpack, Server Cluster API, and Clustering Service.

Cluster service

The essential software component that controls all aspects of failover cluster operation and manages the cluster database. Each node in a failover cluster runs one instance of the Cluster service.

cluster-unaware application

An application that can run on a node and be managed as a cluster resource but has no inherent knowledge of its environment. Cluster-unaware applications function the same regardless of whether they are running on a node in a failover cluster or on a non-clustered system.

cluster version

Two version numbers that describe the versions of the Cluster service that are compatible with all active nodes. The cluster version is compared to a node's node version before the node is allowed to join a cluster. The cluster version changes as nodes join and leave the cluster. The GetClusterInformation function retrieves the cluster version.

Clustering Service

Obsolete name referring to the collection of software components and APIs that work together to implement failover cluster.

See also Cluster Server, MSCS, Wolfpack.

Common Information Model (CIM)

A conceptual specification supported by the Desktop Management Task Force for applying an object-oriented, web-based model to describing management data in an enterprise network.

Used for WMI class specification.

common property

An attribute possessed by every instance of a cluster object. For example, each node has a NodeName property

configuration object

A COM object that implements cluster configuration interfaces in order to manage the creation and configuration of resources. See also managed resource.

control code

A 32-bit value defined by the Failover Cluster API used to initiate an operation on a cluster object or notify a resource DLL of changes to the cluster. Control codes are categorized as external or internal.

control code functions

A set of Failover Cluster API functions that take control codes as parameters. Each cluster object has one control code function and many control codes, allowing a single function to initiate several different operations.

core network name resource

The Network Name resource for a Failover cluster.

custom resource type

A resource type defined by a third-party developer using the Failover Cluster API. Creating a custom resource type involves writing a resource DLL and a Cluster Administrator extension.