Introduction To Clustering In Windows Advanced Server, Limited Edition - Compaq DL590 - HP ProLiant - 1 GB RAM White Paper

Clustering Tips for Microsoft Windows Advanced Server, Limited Edition on Compaq ProLiant DL590/64 Server
Introduction to Clustering in Windows
Advanced Server, Limited Edition
The Windows Advanced Server operating system offers cluster functionality improvements over
previous Windows versions. Cluster services are no longer provided as an add-on component of
the operating system. Instead, cluster services are installed as part of the base operating system
installation. A cluster can consist of two to four server nodes. Compaq supports a fibre channel
interconnect for cluster storage. New features offered are listed in Table 1.
Table 1: New features of Microsoft Advanced Server, Limited Edition Cluster Services
Feature
64-bit support
Improved Terminal Server installation
Improved print driver installations
Simplified cluster installation wizard
Improved Generic Script resource
4-node cluster support
Cluster Server Extension
Central administration for creating and
adding nodes to a cluster
Feasibility analysis during the cluster
setup process
COM+ 1.x Enhancement: Configure
applications as Windows NT Services
Description
The Limited Edition of the operating system offers support for the Itanium 64
processor architecture.
Terminal Server (also known as Terminal Services in application server
mode) is no longer blocked on servers in a cluster. In Windows 2000, the
installation of Terminal Server was blocked if the server was a member of a
cluster.
In Windows 2000, each printer driver had to be manually installed on every
node of the cluster. This improved feature installs a printer driver on a virtual
cluster and propagates it to all nodes of the cluster.
This feature provides a new Cluster Configuration wizard that simplifies the
process of installing and configuring the cluster.
The cluster scripting feature simplifies the process of clustering applications.
It provides a run-time environment that takes care of complex issues. It also
allows for easy creation of new resource types. Features of this new "generic
script" resource type include the following:
Monitoring of cluster resources and instrumentation for
applications and services
Simplifying the implementation new resource types.
Simplifying scriptable application instrumentation by making the
applications cluster-aware
Allows a run-time hosting environment
Existing COM automation servers may be reused
The Limited Edition operating system supports from two to four cluster
nodes.
This feature provides an extension of the DeviceIOControl call that allows
applications to determine whether a disk is a cluster disk. This call is meant
for applications and services that intend to write to the disk.
The administrator can use the remote console to configure all servers that
form a cluster.
During cluster setup, the installation wizard will provide an analysis of the
system to ensure the system is correctly set up and the installation is
performed properly.
This enhancement of COM+ 1.x allows the ability to configure a COM+
server application as a Windows service and implement the Windows service
as a COM+ server application. This provides control over w hen the COM+
application starts. Marking the application to run as a Windows service
means that the component's Dynamic Link Library (DLL) is loaded into
memory when the system boots.
When the COM+ application is configured as a Windows service, a Generic
Service cluster resource can be configured for the application. Adding the
COM+ application to a cluster makes the application highly available.
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