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10478
August 10th, 2017 05:00
VRTX Cluster and CSV confirmation (Shared storage operation)
Hi,
Can someone please confirm something for me regarding a VRTX and shared storage in how it should operate?
I have a VRTX chassis with 2 blades and 7 disks.
Disk config - 2 virtual, one for the quorum and one for VHD's
Networking similar - one for Quorum and one for core.
I've installed Server 2016, setup clustering and HyperV and configured the PERC drivers etc..
On Host 1 i can have a VM up and running on the shared storage no problem. ON host 2 though i can't see the shared storage on the main machine - it shows up in the Disk Management but offline and i'm led to believe that this is because in a clustered environment only 1 machine can 'own' the storage. I've configured the storage to be a Clustered Shared Volume so my expectation is this:
I want to be able to run multiple VM's on each host all utilising the same shared volume so that i can move the VM's resources from host to host without affecting the disk. Is this expectation correct and if so what am i missing to see the shared storage LUN on both hosts to allow this?
Thanks
Dev Mgr
4 Operator
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9.3K Posts
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August 10th, 2017 18:00
The main basic steps to set up a cluster on VRTX:
- Install Windows on all blades, join a domain and patch them (including drivers from Dell's site)
- add the hyper-v and cluster role
- create virtual switch with the exact same name on both servers
- add MPIO feature (usually requires a reboot)
- add SAS support for MPIO (usually requires a reboot)
- add the registry entry that allows SAS drives to be considered for clustered storage (see VRTX manuals)
- carve out the raid setup for the VRTX' built-in SAN
- change assignment from single to multiple
- assign all disks to all blades
- bring the disks online on 1 single server, initialize them (GPT), partition and format them, then bring them back offline, switch to the other servers (one at a time) and rescan disks, bring online, verify you see the proper disks and match drive letters. Repeat this for all blade servers and after the last blade, bring the disks offline again.
- create the cluster and let it add all available storage
- verify the correct disk was selected to be the quorum
- make the other disk(s) cluster shared volume(s)
- [optional] rename CSV folder to match the volume label and/or virtual disk name to make it easier in the future to identify what is stored where
- build VM in cluster manager (not hyper-v manager)
- test live migration feature
Daniel My
10 Elder
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6.2K Posts
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August 10th, 2017 10:00
Hello
If you share the storage with more than one node it presents the storage to all nodes it is assigned. That is all the controller does. If you use the shared storage feature you need some type of clustering in place to manage the storage.
I suggest reading up on the various clustering options available with server 2016 to see if what you are seeing is normal for the way you have it configured.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/failover-clustering/failover-clustering-overview
Thanks
ITland
2 Posts
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December 9th, 2019 06:00
I have similar setup. Couple of questions though. Since I am migrating existing few physical servers to virtual ones hosted on VRTX 2-blade servers runing as Hyper-V host I wanted to cluster. So after migration is done no other physical servers beside VRTX will exist.
Lets assume I don't have any existing physical servers and purchased VRTX with two M640s that will run as Hyper-v cluster hosts.So questions are:
1. Is it necessary to join Hyper-V hosts to domain? I mean obviously I'd not have a domain yet? Would I be able to setup M640s as Hyper-V hosts and ckluster them together?
2. I have Shared PERC 8 integrated cards. I follow instructions to setup LUN and first Quorum 5GB drive. Assigned them to virtual adapters/M640. But when I login to Hyper-V host windows 2019 server I see 2 Quorums disks that I need to initialize?
3. What do you guys use for backup of VRTX and win hyper-v?
franciscofernandes
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1 Message
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May 27th, 2024 13:21
Hi
I am in the process of setup of Hyper-V cluster for Dell VRTX with m630 blade Servers. I have configured the storage using the CMC by creating virtual disk and those disk I can see on the two blade m630 which I want to cluster.
If I go to the file manager and then volumes and disk and I can see those disk online.
IF I go to the cluster to add the disk, it is saying no disk available ? Please if some can help and guide why the disk which are showing on the Server Manager and also under the disk management are not available to add to the cluster
thank you
FRancisco Fernandes