Choosing a Cluster Storage Method

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Currently, the most common storage I/O technologies used with Windows Server 2003 clusters are Parallel SCSI and Fibre Channel.

Beginning with the Windows Server 2003 release, SCSI interconnects are supported only on two-node clusters running the 32-bit version of Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition. SCSI is not supported on Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition, or any 64-bit version of the Windows Server 2003 family.

SCSI storage and two types of Fibre Channel — arbitrated loops and switched network — are currently qualified storage configurations in the Windows Catalog. Both SCSI and Fibre Channel are discussed later in this section.

Note

  • This section provides an overview of storage technology and implementation recommendations. The information here is intended to provide deployment guidelines and help administrators make informed deployment decisions. For procedural information about installing or configuring storage in your server cluster, see "Storage configuration options" in Help and Support Center for Windows Server 2003.

In addition to configuring adequate storage for applications, you also need a dedicated disk to use as the quorum device. This disk must have a minimum capacity of 50 megabytes (MB). For optimal NTFS file system performance, it is recommended that the quorum disk have at least 500 MB. For more information about the quorum device, see "Choosing the Cluster Model" later in this chapter. It is recommended that you do not use the quorum disk for storing applications or anything other than quorum data.