Dell CX4 manual Introduction

Introduction

A Dell™ Failover Cluster combines specific hardware and software components to provide enhanced availability for applications and services that are run on the cluster. A Failover Cluster is designed to reduce the possibility of any single point of failure within the system that can cause the clustered applications or services to become unavailable. It is recommended that you use redundant components like server and storage power supplies, connections between the nodes and the storage array(s), and connections to client systems or other servers in a multi-tier enterprise application architecture in your cluster.

This document provides information to configure your Dell/EMC CX4-series fibre channel storage arrays with one or more Failover Clusters. It provides specific configuration tasks that enable you to deploy the shared storage for your cluster.

For more information on deploying your cluster with Microsoft® Windows Server® 2003 operating systems, see the Dell Failover Clusters with Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Installation and Troubleshooting Guide located on the Dell Support website at support.dell.com. For more information on deploying your cluster with Windows Server 2008 operating systems, see the Dell Failover Clusters with Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Installation and Troubleshooting Guide located on the Dell Support website at support.dell.com.

For a list of recommended operating systems, hardware components, and driver or firmware versions for your Dell Failover Cluster, see the Dell Cluster Configuration Support Matrix on the Dell High Availability website at www.dell.com/ha.

Introduction

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