Manage scale-out file server (SOFS) in the VMM fabric

Scale-out file server (SOFS) is a file server deployed as an active/active cluster based on SMB 3.0. Using a SOFS cluster provides apps with the bandwidth of all nodes in the cluster. All nodes in the cluster accept SMB requests, providing continuous availability and transparent failover if a node goes down.

You can add and manage SOFS clusters in the System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) fabric. There are many ways you can add a SOFS cluster. You can add an existing SOFS cluster to the fabric, provision a SOFS cluster from the existing Windows machines in the fabric, or provision a cluster from bare metal computers.

• Perform a rolling upgrade of an SOFS cluster.
• Add an existing SOFS to the VMM storage fabric.
• Create an SOFS cluster from standalone servers in the VMM fabric.
• Provision SOFS from bare-metal computers.