Resource dependencies
Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2
Resource dependencies
A dependent resource requires, or depends on, another resource to operate. For example, if a Generic Application resource requires access to clustered physical storage, it would depend on a Physical Disk resource.
The following terms describe resources in a dependency relationship:
A dependent resource depends on other resources (the dependencies).
A dependency is a resource on which another resource depends.
A dependency tree is a series of dependency relationships such that resource A depends on resource B, resource B depends on resource C, and so on.
Resources in a dependency tree obey the following rules:
A dependent resource and all of its dependencies must be in the same group.
The Cluster service takes a dependent resource offline before any of its dependencies are taken offline, and brings a dependent resource online after all of its dependencies are online, as determined by the dependency hierarchy.
Resource dependencies determine bindings. For example, clients will be bound to the particular IP address that a Network Name resource is dependent on.
Some of the resource types provided with the operating system have required dependencies. For more information, see Setting resource properties.
For more information on the concepts in this topic, see: