Virtual Server 2005 Cluster Setup Kit

Configuring Windows 2003 on Node1
After you've configured the VMs, the "hardware" portion of your virtual cluster is ready to go. The next step is to install and configure Windows 2003 on each cluster node. You can install Windows 2003 either from the installation CD-ROM or from an ISO image of the installation CD-ROM. To install the OS via the Windows 2003 CD-ROM, simply insert the CD-ROM into the physical system's CD-ROM/DVD drive, then power on the Node1 VM. By default, the VM is configured to access the physical drive. To avoid possible corruption of the shared quorum drive, be sure that Node2 is powered off during this time, then proceed with the Windows 2003 installation. Use the default values and name the system Node1. Be sure to add Node1 to an existing domain. At any time after the OS has been installed, you can optionally install the Virtual Machine Additions component, which provides an improved video driver.

The next steps are to configure the network and shared quorum drive that the cluster will use. To configure the network, you'll want to edit the Windows network configuration for the Node1 VM's internal and external network adapters. To configure the Windows adapters, from the Start menu select Programs, Accessories, Communications, Network Connections to open the Network Connections window. First, you'll need to reconfigure the internal network adapter to let the two clusters' nodes communicate. However, locating the NIC that's associated with the internal network isn't straightforward because the properties of both the internal and external virtual network adapters appear exactly the same in the Network Connections window. The best way I've found to identify the internal network is to open Web Administrator and select the Edit Configuration option for Node1. Then click the Network Adapters link and note the MAC address that's assigned to the internal network adapter. In my configuration, the internal virtual network adapter has a MAC address of 00-03-FF-32-91-07. To match that address to the local area connection that's shown in the Network Connections dialog box, I open a command prompt, run the command

ipconfig /all

and look for the matching value listed under the Physical address heading.

After determining which local area connection is associated with the internal and external network, I rename the connections to more meaningful names. To rename the connections, open the Network Connections folder, select the desired connection, press F2, and enter the new name. To clarify which adapter is used for the internal cluster network and which is used for external networking, I rename the connections Internal Network and External Network. Then I configure the network properties for each connection by right-clicking the connection and selecting Properties from the pop-up menu. For the external connections, I enter the fixed IP address 192.168.100.191 and subnet mask 255.255.255.0. Then I manually assign the IP addresses for my network's DNS and default gateway. For the internal network, I enter the fixed IP address 192.168.200.1 and subnet mask 255.255.255.0 and leave the gateway and DNS settings blank.

Your next step is to configure the quorum disk for Node1. To do so, from the Start Menu, right-click My Computer, then click Manage and double-click Disk Management. You should see a window similar to the one that Figure 7 shows, which displays two disks: Disk 0—Node1's system disk, and Disk 1—the shared SCSI disk that will be the cluster's quorum drive. Right-click the 47 MB unallocated space next to Disk 1 and select New Partition to start the New Partition Wizard. Accept the default selections for Partition Type and Partition Size. For the drive letter, I usually select Q: for the quorum drive. After the wizard is done, you should now have a drive C and a drive Q.

Your next step is to use the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in to create a domain account, which MSCS will use. The user account that you create shouldn't be an administrator account; a standard user account will suffice. It's a good idea to give the account a meaningful name—for example, SVC-MyCluster (substitute your cluster name).

Now it's time to create the cluster on Node1. Log on in as Administrator. Then, to configure the first cluster node, from the Administrative Tools menu select Cluster Administrator. The Open Connection to Cluster dialog box will be displayed. Select Create new cluster from the drop-down list to start the New Server Cluster Wizard. Select the domain that the cluster will be in. I've named the cluster MyCluster and added it to the existing teca.local domain. (I created the teca.local domain earlier; it's hosted on Windows Server 2003 Small Business Server—SBS.)

You should now see the Select Computer dialog box, in which you enter the name of the system that will be the first cluster node. By default, the local system name (here, Node1) is displayed. Clicking Next displays the Analyzing Configuration dialog box, which verifies whether all the cluster-configuration pieces are in place. In this dialog box, you'll need to specify the quorum drive. To do so, click the Quorum button, then select Disk Q for the quorum drive. You'll see the Proposed Cluster Configuration screen, similar to the one that Figure 8 shows. After you've reviewed the displayed information and approved the proposed configuration, click Next to create the cluster.

Configuring Windows 2003 on Node2
You install Windows 2003 on Node2 by following the same procedure you used for Node1. Name the system Node2. You also use the same procedure to identify the internal network and configure the Windows network adapters for the internal and external networks. Be sure to assign the external and internal networks unique IP addresses. Use the IP address 192.168.100.192 for the External IP address and 192.168.200.2 for the Internal IP address. Then use Disk Management to ensure that Node2 can see the quorum drive.

After configuring the Node2 networking, you're ready to add Node2 to the cluster. To do so, go to Node1 and from the Administrative Tools menu select Cluster Administrator. After Cluster Administrator starts, you should see the cluster you created earlier. To add Node2 to the cluster, select File, New Node to start the Add Node Wizard. Proceed through the wizard to add the node as you did earlier for Node1.

You're Done!
When your virtualized cluster is up and running, you'll probably want to add some additional shared storage and set up some cluster resources, such as a sample file share. You'll also want to test various failover scenarios by connecting to the cluster, then initiating a failover by powering off either VM, or both (but not at the same time). On my test cluster, I installed Microsoft SQL Server 2005, which has a cluster-aware installation program. Doing so automatically added SQL Server to the MyCluster list of clustered resources. An application must be included in the cluster resource to be protected during a failover. However, the exact process for installing an application on a cluster varies somewhat according to the application.

I've given you the essential steps for setting up a virtualized Windows 2003 cluster. A good way to start using VMs is to set up and test server clustering or test applications in a cluster environment. By using virtualization technology such as Virtual Server 2005, you can start using clustering on your existing hardware without investing in additional expensive equipment.

Project Snapshot: How to

PROBLEM: You've heard that you can set up a Windows cluster in a virtual machine, but you don't know how to go about it. This guide gives you the essential steps for setting up a two-node, virtualized Windows Server 2003 cluster.
WHAT YOU NEED: Windows 2003, Enterprise Edition server that's configured for networking
Microsoft Virtual Server 2005
At least 50MB free disk space
DIFFICULTY: 3.5 out of 5
PROJECT STEPS:

Create the shared quorum drive.
Configure the first cluster node.
Add the quorum drive and internal network to the first node.
Configure the second node.
Add the quorum drive and internal network to the second node.
Configure Windows 2003 on the nodes.

End of Article

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Clients and Peers have often looked at me with that 'It's never going to work' look when I mention clusters using virtual servers. Thank for validating the concept. This will convince more of our clients to look at this option for SQL Server availabliity.

Thanks. Just one more reason why I never let my subscription expire.

SCG April 28, 2005 (Article Rating:

)

Umm... what if the physical box crashes... You've got both VMs in the cluster on the same physical box. Can Virtual Server 2005 do a cluster with two VMs on two different physical host servers?

VMware ESX can.

rrosenkoetter May 05, 2005 (Article Rating:

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Great insight on Clustering with Virtual Server 2005. Had one question, has anyone had problems when adding the second node to the cluster that it can't find the Quorum Drive (i believe on node2).

Thoughts.

afterburn June 06, 2005 (Article Rating:

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A Great Tool for MCSEs
I read Michael Otey's article "Virtual Server 2005 Cluster Setup Kit" (May 2005, InstantDoc ID 45901) with glee. I have been an MCSE since 1988 and have never been able to complete the practical clustering requirements as specified in Microsoft exam 70-284, "Implementing and Managing Exchange Server 2003." Instead, I've relied on theoretical resources to pass the exam. My problem was caused by not having access to clustering-capable servers at work and not being able to afford to purchase the technology necessary to set up a home lab.

Michael's article opened my eyes to the world of Virtual Server 2005's clustering capabilities. I downloaded a trial version of the evaluation kit, followed the instructions Michael provides in his article, and blow me down—it works. Thanks to Michael and Windows IT Pro, I can now simulate the aspects of clustering I need to study for the Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) exams and won't need to fudge my way through the clustering section. Virtual Server 2005 should be in every MCSE's armory of study tools.

—Lee Thacker

Anonymous User June 21, 2005 (Article Rating:

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This article was very helpful. I had been trying to set up a cluster with Virtual PC and ran into problems. Thanks!

tamala October 18, 2005 (Article Rating:

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Excellent article. One thought though how do you add additional storage to the shared SCSI bus to allow the install of Exchange 2003/SQL 2000 in a clustered environment.

Thanks

walesman@hotmail.com November 04, 2005 (Article Rating:

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Just more BS on VS2005 and clustering. You can only add a quorm drive. Installing any additional storage is not possible.

I think you're pulling our legs by telling us that you installed SQL Server. Prove it by doing another article explaining how to install Exchange or SQL Server.

puckertoe January 13, 2006 (Article Rating:

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I am also having an issue with the quorum. I followed the directions and all is perfect except when I try to change the quorum from local to the specific drive letter as reflected in Figure 8, I only have two options, local and majority. Not sure what I did wrong.

Thanks for any ideas.

jpgleason February 28, 2007 (Article Rating:

)

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