Verifying Cluster Readiness

Before you install Cluster Service in the PowerEdge cluster nodes and the PowerVault storage systems, check the system and verify that the cluster meets the following conditions:

All cluster nodes are able to log in to the domain.

The shared drives are partitioned, formatted, and named on each node.

All IP addresses and network names for each NIC and each cluster node can communicate with each other.

For example, open a command prompt and use the ping command to verify clus- ter node communications.

Installing and Configuring the Windows 2000 Cluster Service

When you install Windows 2000 Datacenter Server and install the Cluster Service, the Cluster Service configuration files are copied to the system. Before you configure a PowerEdge server as a cluster node, Cluster Service must be configured using the Cluster Configuration wizard.

See Microsoft's online help for configuring the Cluster Service located at http://www.microsoft.com.

The following subsections explain some of the necessary procedures for installing and configuring Windows 2000 Datacenter Cluster Service.

Cluster Quorum Resource

A quorum resource is typically a hard-disk drive in the shared storage system that serves the following purposes in a Cluster configuration:

Provides Windows 2000 with a list of active nodes that can communicate with each other so the operating system can form a working cluster

Acts as an arbiter between the cluster nodes to ensure that the specific data necessary for system recovery is maintained consistently across the nodes

Logs the recovery data sent by the cluster node

Only one cluster node can control the quorum resource at a time, and this cluster node remains running when it cannot communicate with the remaining nodes in the cluster. If the cluster node containing the quorum resource is unable to communicate with another cluster node, the Cluster Service automatically shuts down the node that does not control the quorum resource.

If one of the cluster nodes fails, any changes to the cluster configuration database are logged to the quorum disk. This logging process occurs to ensure that the node that gains control of the quorum disk can access an up-to-date version of the cluster con- figuration database.

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Configuring the System Software 6-13

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Dell FL100, FE100 manual Verifying Cluster Readiness, Installing and Configuring the Windows 2000 Cluster Service

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