Installing the Cluster service

At this point all hardware has been configured, the network configurations are complete, and the disk partitions on the external array are available.

To install the Cluster service, all nodes must be powered down except Node #1. The external disk array must be powered on as well.

To configure the Cluster service, follow these steps: 1. Select Start Settings Control Panel. 2. Double-click Add/Remove Programs.

3. Double-click Add/Remove Windows Components.

4. From the Windows Components Wizard, select the Cluster service (see Figure 9.5) and click Next.

Figure 9.5. Windows Components Wizard

5. Select the location of the source files for Windows 2000 Advanced Server. Click Next to continue.

6. The Cluster Service Configuration Wizard will now start (see Figure 9.6). The Hardware Configuration screen is used as a reminder that only hardware configurations listed in the Cluster category of Microsoft's Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) will be supported. Click "I Understand" to agree, then click Next.

Figure 9.6. Agreeing to the Hardware Compatibility List

7. The next screen to be displayed is Create or Join a Cluster (see Figure 9.7). Since the cluster has not been created yet, select "The first node in the cluster" radio button. Click Next to continue.

Figure 9.7. Creating a cluster

If there are any problems with the shared SCSI bus, an error box will be displayed (see

Figure 9.8). This error states that the Cluster service has not found any shared disks that meet the clustering criteria. Verify the configuration of the external array as well as the configuration of the partitions (i.e., verify that they are formatted using NTFS).

Figure 9.8. No Disks Found error

8. The next screen is used to name the cluster. Enter DHCP as the cluster name. Click Next to continue.

9. Enter the name of the Cluster Account created earlier (see Figure 9.9). Enter Cluster in the "User name" field, leave the password blank (as it was when the account was created), and, if the user account is a domain account, verify the correct domain is selected. Click Next.

10.The Add or Remove Managed Disks window appears (see Figure 9.10). Now it is time to select the partitions created earlier on the external disk array as managed disks. Managed disks are partitions that will be managed by the Cluster service. Although other disks may appear from other SCSI buses, only disks on the shared SCSI bus can be managed by the Cluster service. If any other disks appear under the Managed Disks windows, select them and click Remove to unmanage them. Click Next.

Figure 9.10. Adding and removing managed disks

11.The next screen is used to select the quorum disk (see Figure 9.11). The quorum disk is used for cluster management by storing checkpoint and log files for the cluster. From the dropdown list, select drive Q as the quorum disk. Click Next.

Figure 9.11. Selecting the quorum disk

The next phase of the installation is the network configuration. Although the interfaces have been configured with IP addresses, the Cluster service needs to know which interface is used for the private cluster network and which is used for the public network.

13.The order of the network interfaces may vary. In this case, the private cluster network is displayed first. Select the "Enable this network for cluster use" radio button. Select the "Internal cluster communications only (private network)" radio button. Click Next. 14.Now configure the public network interface. Select the "Enable this network for

cluster use" radio button. Select the "Client access only (public network)" radio button. Click Next.

15.The next window is used to select the order in which the networks will be used for cluster communication. The reason for selecting the order is that, in the event of a failure on the private cluster network (either the network itself or the interfaces), the Cluster service can move cluster communications to the public network interface. Verify that the private cluster network is the first network selected and click Next. 16.The Cluster IP address windows are displayed. This is the IP address that represents

the cluster on the network. Enter 192.168.0.50 with the subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. Next, verify that the public network is selected. This associates the cluster IP address with the public network. Click Next to continue.

17.Click Finish to complete the Cluster Configuration Wizard.

The Cluster service is now configured and running on Node #1. To complete the cluster, Node #2 must now be configured with the Cluster service. Compared to Node #1, configuring Node #2 is extremely simple.

18.Power on Node #2. Leave Node #1 and the external array powered on also. 19.On Node #2, go to Start Settings Control Panel.

20.Double-click Add/Remove Programs.

21.Double-click Add/Remove Windows Components.

22.From the Windows Components Wizard, select the Cluster Service and click Next. 23.Select the location of the source files for Windows 2000 Advanced Server. Click Next

to continue.

24.The Cluster Service Configuration Wizard will now start. The Hardware Configuration screen is displayed. Click I Understand to agree, then click Next.

25.The next screen displayed is Create or Join a Cluster (see Figure 9.12). To add Node #2 to the cluster, select the radio button labelled "The second or next node in the cluster." Click Next to continue.

Figure 9.12. Joining a cluster

27.The Cluster Configuration Wizard will automatically use the Cluster Account used in the configuration of Node #1. Click Next.

28.Click Finish to complete the Cluster Configuration Wizard.

Well, it took a little while, but you now have a basic functioning Windows 2000 cluster. At this point both nodes should be communicating across the private network. The nodes share a common external disk array, which stores data for any cluster-aware applications. Finally, the cluster itself is represented on the network as a virtual server, with its own IP address. In other words, users see the cluster as a single server, not the individual nodes.