New ways to do familiar Server Cluster tasks

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

New ways to do familiar tasks

The following table lists common tasks for configuring server clusters in Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition or Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition. The user interface for performing these tasks is different from the way it was in Windows 2000.

If you want to In Windows 2000 use In Windows Server 2003 family use

Create a new cluster.

Add or Remove Programs to install the Cluster service then use Cluster Administrator to add the first node to the cluster.

Cluster Administrator and select the Create new cluster option. For more information, see Checklist: Planning and creating a server cluster and Create a cluster.

Add nodes to a cluster.

Add or Remove Programs to install the Cluster service on each server to be added to the cluster then use Cluster Administrator locally to add each node, one by one, to the cluster.

Cluster Administrator and select the Add nodes to cluster option to add one or more nodes all at once. You can also add nodes locally or remotely. For more information, see Add additional nodes to the cluster.

Restore the cluster quorum for all nodes in the cluster.

Cluster Administrator to stop the Cluster service on all nodes. Then use Backup to restore the System State data, and finally the Clusrest.exe tool to copy the restored data to the quorum disk.

Backup to restore the System State data and select the advanced restore When restoring the Cluster Quorum, mark the restored data as Authoritative option. For more information, see Restore the cluster database on a local node.

Uninstall the Cluster service.

Add or Remove Programs to uninstall the Cluster service on each node.

Cluster Administrator to evict the last node in the cluster.

Create a Web or FTP server.

Cluster Administrator to create an IIS instance resource. Then configure the IIS bindings and use the IISSYNC tool to replicate the IIS configuration to all nodes.

Cluster Administrator to create a Generic Script resource for running the IIS service. Then configure the IIS bindings and use the IIS Backup/Restore feature to replicate the IIS configuration to all nodes. For more information, see Checklist: Creating a clustered IIS Web or FTP service.

Change network roles, names, and priorities.

The New Server Cluster Wizard and change these network properties during setup.

Cluster Administrator after setup to change the properties of the cluster networks. For more information, see Change how the cluster uses a network, Change the name or description of a network, and Change network priority for communication between nodes.

Delete a resource.

Cluster Administrator to first take the resource offline before deleting it.

Cluster Administrator to delete it. For more information, see Delete a resource.

Change the password for the Cluster service account.

Cluster Administrator to first stop the Cluster service on all nodes. Then use Active Directory Users and Computers to change the password for the account before restarting the Cluster service and bringing the nodes back online.

Cluster.exe commands to dynamically change the password on the domain controller and the cluster nodes without bringing down the entire cluster. For more information, see Change the Cluster service account password.