Post-Installation Configuration

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2003 with SP1

Heartbeat Configuration

Now that the networks have been configured correctly on each node and the Cluster service has been configured, you need to configure the network roles to define their functionality within the cluster. Here is a list of the network configuration options in Cluster Administrator:

  • Enable for cluster use: If this check box is selected, the cluster service uses this network. This check box is selected by default for all networks.

  • Client access only (public network): Select this option if you want the cluster service to use this network adapter only for external communication with other clients. No node-to-node communication will take place on this network adapter.

  • Internal cluster communications only (private network): Select this option if you want the cluster service to use this network only for node-to-node communication.

  • All communications (mixed network): Select this option if you want the cluster service to use the network adapter for node-to-node communication and for communication with external clients. This option is selected by default for all networks.

This white paper assumes that only two networks are in use. It explains how to configure these networks as one mixed network and one private network. This is the most common configuration. If you have available resources, two dedicated redundant networks for internal-only cluster communication are recommended.

To configure the heartbeat

  1. Start Cluster Administrator.

  2. In the left pane, click Cluster Configuration, click Networks, right-click Private, and then click Properties.

  3. Click Internal cluster communications only (private network), as shown in Figure 22 on the next page.

    a633a4c0-7186-4e86-9ee6-cd73ffad1ffbFigure 22. Using Cluster Administrator to configure the heartbeat.

  4. Click OK.

  5. Right-click Public, and then click Properties (shown in Figure 23 below).

  6. Click to select the Enable this network for cluster use check box.

  7. Click the All communications (mixed network) option, and then click OK.

    2fcb51ac-0829-41ba-860b-b4a138401408Figure 23. The Public Properties dialog box.

Heartbeat Adapter Prioritization

After configuring the role of how the cluster service will use the network adapters, the next step is to prioritize the order in which they will be used for intra-cluster communication. This is applicable only if two or more networks were configured for node-to-node communication. Priority arrows on the right side of the screen specify the order in which the cluster service will use the network adapters for communication between nodes. The cluster service always attempts to use the first network adapter listed for remote procedure call (RPC) communication between the nodes. Cluster service uses the next network adapter in the list only if it cannot communicate by using the first network adapter.

  1. Start Cluster Administrator.

  2. In the left pane, right-click the cluster name (in the upper left corner), and then click Properties.

  3. Click the Network Priority tab, as shown in Figure 24 below.

    fa9da46a-3157-4f45-b0c8-88792e06ff79Figure 24. The Network Priority tab in Cluster Administrator.

  4. Verify that the Private network is listed at the top. Use the Move Up or Move Down buttons to change the priority order.

  5. Click OK.

Configuring Cluster Disks

  • Start Cluster Administrator, right-click any disks that you want to remove from the cluster, and then click Delete.

Note

By default, all disks not residing on the same bus as the system disk will have Physical Disk Resources created for them, and will be clustered. Therefore, if the node has multiple buses, some disks may be listed that will not be used as shared storage, for example, an internal SCSI drive. Such disks should be removed from the cluster configuration. If you plan to implement Volume Mount points for some disks, you may want to delete the current disk resources for those disks, delete the drive letters, and then create a new disk resource without a drive letter assignment.

Quorum Disk Configuration

The Cluster Configuration Wizard automatically selects the drive that is to be used as the quorum device. It will use the smallest partition that is larger then 50 MB. You may want to change the automatically selected disk to a dedicated disk that you have designated for use as the quorum.

To configure the quorum disk

  1. Start Cluster Administrator (CluAdmin.exe).

  2. Right-click the cluster name in the upper-left corner, and then click Properties.

  3. Click the Quorum tab.

  4. In the Quorum resource list box, select a different disk resource. In Figure 25 below, Disk Q is selected in the Quorum resource list box.

    2f187308-2634-4039-bae8-57b368556628Figure 25. The Quorum resource list box.

  5. If the disk has more than one partition, click the partition where you want the cluster-specific data to be kept, and then click OK.

For additional information, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q280353 How to Change Quorum Disk Designation

Creating a Boot Delay

In a situation where all the cluster nodes boot up and attempt to attach to the quorum resource at the same time, the Cluster service may fail to start. For example, this may occur when power is restored to all nodes at the exact same time after a power failure. To avoid such a situation, increase or decrease the Time to Display list of operating systems setting. To find this setting, click Start, point to My Computer, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings under Startup And Recovery.