Step 11: Set Up Shared Storage for WCF Broker Nodes

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Applies To: Microsoft HPC Pack 2012, Microsoft HPC Pack 2012 R2

Use the following instructions to connect the servers that will be WCF broker nodes to networks and storage. This connection process is similar to the connection process that is used for the servers that function as the head node.

In the HPC clusters where you want to configure high availability for WCF broker nodes, we recommend that you use network topology 4. This topology connects your servers by multiple, distinct networks. If you use a network for iSCSI, create this network in addition to the other networks. For more information, see “Network infrastructure requirements” in Requirements for HPC Pack in Failover Clusters.

To connect the failover cluster servers to the networks and storage

  1. Review the details about networks in the Hardware requirements section in Requirements for HPC Pack in Failover Clusters.

  2. Connect and configure the networks that the servers in the failover cluster will use.

  3. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for physically connecting the servers to the storage.

  4. Ensure that the disks (LUNs) that you want to use in this failover cluster are exposed to the servers that will be in the failover cluster (and only those servers). For each active node that you plan to have in the failover cluster, you need to expose at least one disk (for the instance of Message Queuing that will run on each of the active nodes). If the failover cluster will have an even number of nodes, you generally also need to expose a disk for the disk witness.

    For storage options and interfaces, see the Failover Clustering documentation for the version of Windows Server you are using. For Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows Server 2012, see Failover Clustering Hardware Requirements and Storage Options.

  5. On a server that you want to include in the failover cluster, use a tool such as Disk Management to confirm that the cluster disks are visible and online.

  6. We recommend that you format all the volumes with the NTFS file system.

  7. If you will have more than one failover cluster that supports WCF broker nodes, repeat the process for each additional failover cluster.

Additional references

Step 12: Create Failover Clusters Using WCF Broker Nodes