Windows 2003 cluster Installation configuration full introduction (i)

&http://www.aliyun.com/zixun/aggregation/37954.html ">nbsp; A server cluster is a set of stand-alone servers that work together and run Microsoft Cluster Service (Microsoft Cluster Service,mscs). Server clusters provide high availability, recovery, scalability, and manageability for resources and applications.

Server clusters allow clients to access applications and resources in the case of failures and scheduled pauses. If one of the servers in the cluster is unavailable due to failure or maintenance needs, resources and applications are transferred to the available cluster nodes.

The Windows cluster (Windows Clustering) solution uses noun "high availability" rather than "fault tolerance." Fault-tolerant technology provides a higher level of resiliency and resiliency. Fault-tolerant servers typically use deep hardware redundancy, plus specialized software, to restore almost any single hardware or software error in real time. These solutions are much more expensive than Windows Clustering (Windows Clustering) solutions because organizations must pay for redundant hardware that is idle for errors.

Server clusters do not guarantee uninterrupted operation, but they do provide sufficient availability for most mission-critical applications. The Cluster service can monitor applications and resources and automatically identify and recover numerous fault conditions. This provides the flexibility to manage workloads in a cluster. In addition, the availability of the entire system is improved.

The benefits of Cluster service (Cluster services) include:

• High Availability: Ownership of resources, such as disk drives and Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, is automatically transferred from the failed server to the available servers through the server cluster. When a system or application in a cluster fails, the cluster software restarts the failed application on the available servers or disperses the work from the failed node to the remaining nodes. As a result, users only feel the pause of the service in an instant.
• Failback: When the failed server returns to its intended preferred owner's online status, the Cluster service will automatically reassign the workload in the cluster. This attribute is configurable, but is disabled by default.
• Manageability: You can use the Cluster Administrator tool (CluAdmin.exe) to manage the cluster as a single system and to manage applications that are like running on a single server. You can transfer an application to another server in the cluster. Cluster Administrator can be used to manually balance the workload of the server and release the server for scheduled maintenance. You can also monitor the status of the cluster, all nodes, and resources from anywhere on the network.
• Scalability: Cluster services can be scaled to meet the growth of demand. Additional nodes can be added when the cluster monitors the overall load of the application beyond the capabilities of the cluster.

This document provides guidance on creating and configuring server clusters for servers connected to shared cluster storage devices and running Server 2003 Enterprise Edition or Windows Server 2003. The purpose of this document is to guide you through the steps of installing a typical cluster and not to explain how to install a clustered application. Windows cluster (Windows Clustering) solutions and geographically dispersed clusters are not discussed for the implementation of non-traditional quorum models, such as the majority node set (majority node Set,mns). For additional information about server cluster concepts and installation and configuration steps, see Windows Server 2003 online Help.

Server Cluster configuration Checklist:

This checklist helps you prepare for installation and then follow the specific steps.

Software Requirements

• All computers in the cluster have Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition or Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition installed.
• A name-resolution method, such as domain name System,dns, DNS Dynamic update protocol, Windows Internet Name Service (Windows Internet names Service,wins), hosts, and so on.
• An existing domain model.
• All nodes must be members of the same domain.
• A domain-level account that must be a member of the local Administrators group on each node. A dedicated account is recommended.