The network interface priority in a Cluster Shared Volume does not immediately change after an interface with higher priority is available

  • Article

This article applies to the following operating systems:

  • Windows Server® 2008 R2

Symptoms

If a network being using for Cluster Shared Volume (CSV) I/O traffic fails, CSV network traffic will immediately shift to another available cluster enabled network seamlessly. When the issues with the original adapter are resolved and communication is re-established for the high priority (lower metric) network, CSV network communication may continue over the existing network for a short period of time before traffic is failed back to the highest priority network.

Cause

While in a healthy state, CSV evaluates available networks and the best possible network every 3 minutes.

Resolution

This behavior is by design. CSV network I/O will begin to use the highest priority adapter in a period of time that could be up to 3 minutes.