WS-011 Windows

Server 2019/2022
Administration
Module 6: High availability
in Windows Server
Module overview

High availability is very important for any organization that wants to provide continuous services to its users.
Failover clustering is one of the main technologies in Windows Server 2019 that can supply high availability
for various applications and services.
In this module you will learn about failover clustering, failover clustering components, and implementation
techniques.
Lessons:
 Lesson 1: Planning for failover clustering implementation
 Lesson 2: Creating and configuring failover clusters
 Lesson 3: Overview of stretch clusters
 Lesson 4: High availability and disaster recovery solutions with Hyper-V VMs
Lesson 1: Planning for
failover clustering
implementation
Lesson 1 overview

This lesson describes failover clusters in Windows Server, general high availability concepts, clustering
terminology, and how failover clusters work.
Topics:
 What is failover clustering?
 High availability with failover clustering
 Clustering terminology
 Failover clustering components
 Cluster quorum in Windows Server
 Considerations for planning failover clustering
What is failover clustering?

 Failover clustering is a group of computers that work together to increase the availability and scalability of
clustered roles
o The clustered servers (called nodes) are connected by physical cables and by software
o If one or more of the cluster nodes fail, other nodes begin to provide service in a process known
as failover
o Clustered roles are proactively monitored to verify that they are working properly
o If they are not working, they are restarted or moved to another node
 Failover clustering improvements in Windows Server 2019 include:
o Integration – connects with other systems such as the WAC

o Performance – memory and component enhancements

o Scalability – improvements to scale-out file servers and Azure-aware clusters
o Maintainability – upgrade and maintenance improvements
High availability with failover clustering

Availability is a level of service expressed as a percentage of time

 Highly available services or systems are available more than 99 percent of the time
 High availability requirements differ based on how availability is measured
 Planned outages typically are not included when calculating availability
Clustering terminology

Infrastructure: Failover: Tools and features:

 Active node  Azure Cloud Witness  Cluster performance history
 Cluster resource  Cluster quorum  Cross-domain cluster migration
 Cluster sets  Cluster Storage Volumes (CSVs)  Persistent memory
 Node  Heartbeat  System Insights
 Passive node  Private storage  Windows Admin Center
 Public network or private  Shared disk
network  Storage replica
 Resource group  Witness disk or file share
 Virtual server
Failover clustering components

Shared bus or
Service or iSCSI connection Service or
application application

Cluster storage
The network
connects the The dedicated network
Node 1 Node 2
failover cluster connects the failover nodes
and the clients

Clients
Cluster quorum in Windows Server

In failover clusters, quorum defines the consensus that enough cluster members are available to provide
services.
Quorum:
 Is based on votes in Windows Server
 Enables nodes, file shares, or a shared disk to have a vote, depending on the quorum mode
 Enables the failover cluster to remain online when sufficient votes are available
Considerations for planning failover clustering

 Hardware requirements for failover cluster implementation

 AD DS and infrastructure requirements for failover clusters
 Software requirements for a failover cluster implementation
Lesson 2: Creating and
configuring failover clusters
Lesson 2 overview

This lesson describes preparing for cluster implementation, requirements for Windows Server 2019 failover
clusters, and using the Validate a Configuration Wizard.
Topics:
 The Validate a Configuration Wizard and cluster support policy requirements
 Create a failover cluster
 Demonstration: Create a failover cluster
 Configure storage
 Configure networking
 Configure quorum options
 Demonstration: Configure a quorum
 Configure roles
 Manage failover clusters
 Configure cluster properties
 Configure failover and failback
The Validate a Configuration Wizard and cluster support policy
requirements
The Validate a Configuration Wizard is used to perform a variety of tests to ensure the cluster components
are configured in a supportable manner.
Before creating a new failover cluster, confirm the configuration to ensure all validation tests are passed.
Cluster validation is intended to:
 Ensure clustering is working properly
 Find hardware or configuration issues
 Perform diagnostic tests
 Ensure requirements for:
o Hardware

o Network/Infrastructure
o Software
Create a failover cluster

To create a failover cluster, you’ll need to:

 Verify the prerequisites
 Install the Failover Clustering feature on each node
 Run the Validate a Configuration Wizard
 Create the cluster using:
o The Create Cluster Wizard, or
o Windows Admin Center
 Create clustered roles to host cluster workloads
Demonstration:
Create a failover
cluster
 Validate and create a failover cluster
Configure storage

Failover clusters require shared storage to provide consistent data to a virtual server after a failover
Shared storage options include:
 SAS
 iSCSI
 Fibre Channel
 Shared .vhdx
 Scale-Out File Server
Clustered storage spaces can also be implemented to achieve high availability at the storage level
Configure networking

To configure networking:
 The network hardware must be compatible with Windows Server
 If you use iSCSI, the network adapters must be dedicated to either network communication or iSCSI
 In the network infrastructure that connects your cluster nodes, avoid having single points of failure
Configure quorum options

Use dynamic quorum mode with:

 A disk witness
 A file share witness
 The Azure Cloud Witness

Use all other quorum modes only in specific use cases

The default and recommended best practice is to always use dynamic quorum
Demonstration:
Configure a quorum
 Configure the quorum
Configure roles

To configure roles:
1. Install the Failover Clustering feature
2. Verify the configuration
3. Create a cluster
4. Install the role on all cluster nodes by using Server Manager
5. Create a clustered application by using the Failover Clustering Management snap-in
6. Configure the application
7. Test the failover
Manage failover clusters

To manage failover clusters:

 Add nodes after you create a cluster
 Pause nodes, which prevent resources from running on that node
 Evict nodes from a cluster, which removes the node from the cluster configuration
These actions are available in the Failover Cluster Management Console, in the Actions pane
Configure cluster properties

Each failover cluster object has a set of properties that define its identity and behavior in the cluster. Cluster
properties are available to applications via an API or through Windows PowerShell.
The following sets of properties are available:
 Cluster Common Properties
 Groupset Common Properties
 Group Common Properties
 Network Common Properties
 Network Interface Common Properties
 Node Common Properties
 Resource Type Common Properties
 Virtual Machine Common Properties
Configure failover and failback

To control how the cluster responds, adjust the failover and failback settings
Include preferred owners
Considerations for using preferred owners:
 Set preferred owners are set on the clustered role
 Set multiple preferred owners can be set in an ordered list
 Setting preferred owners gives control over:
o The order in which a role selects a node to run

o The roles that can be run on the same nodes

 Options to modify failover and failback settings:
o Setting the number of times the Cluster service restarts a clustered role in a set period

o Setting or preventing failback of the clustered role to the preferred node when it becomes
available
Lesson 3: Overview of
stretch clusters
Lesson 3 overview

This lesson describes

Topics:
 What is a stretch cluster?
 Overview of Storage Replica
 Prerequisites for implementing a stretch cluster
 Synchronous and asynchronous replication
 Select a quorum mode for a stretch cluster
 Configure a stretch cluster
What is a stretch cluster?
A stretch cluster is a cluster that has been extended so that different nodes in the same cluster reside in
separate physical locations

Site A Site B
Overview of Storage Replica

Storage Replica is Windows Server technology that enables replication of volumes between servers or
clusters for disaster recovery. It also creates stretch failover clusters that span two sites, with all nodes staying
in sync.
Storage Replica supports synchronous and asynchronous replication:
 Synchronous replication mirrors
 Asynchronous replication mirrors
Prerequisites for implementing a stretch cluster

 Active Directory Domain Services forest

 2-64 servers running Windows Server 2019 or Windows Server 2016, Datacenter Edition
 Two sets of shared storage
 Network between servers with enough bandwidth
Synchronous and asynchronous replication

 In synchronous replication, the host receives a write complete response from the primary storage after
the data is written successfully to both storage locations
 In asynchronous replication, the host receives a write complete response from the primary storage after
the data is written successfully on the primary storage
Select a quorum mode for a stretch cluster

When creating a stretch cluster across geographically dispersed nodes, it is recommended that you use an
Azure Cloud Witness when possible. In cases where this is not possible, it may be more practical to use a file
share witness.
Compare the following:
 File share witness:
o Requires three or more datacenter locations

 Azure Cloud Witness:

o Requires two datacenter locations
o Requires an Internet connection for all nodes
o Is available only in Windows Server 2016 and newer versions

 No witness:
o Is not recommended
o Is used for manual failover (disaster recovery site)
Configure a stretch cluster

When implementing stretch clusters in disaster recovery scenarios, consider the following:
 Failover time
 The services for failover
 Quorum maintenance
 The storage connection
 Published services and name resolution
 Client connectivity
 The failback procedure
Lesson 4: High availability
and disaster recovery
solutions with Hyper-V VMs
Lesson 4 overview

This lesson covers virtual machine (VM) migration and available migration options.
Topics:
 High availability options for Hyper-V VMs
 Overview of live migration
 Live migration requirements
 Provide high availability with storage migration
High availability options for Hyper-V VMs

Available options for moving virtual machines are:

 Virtual machine and storage migration
 Quick migration
 Live migration
 Hyper-V Replica
 Export or import of a virtual machine
Overview of live migration

 Live migration is a Hyper-V feature in Windows Server

 Used to move running VMs from one Hyper-V host to another without downtime
 Live migration can be performed using the following methods:
o The Failover Cluster Management console
o The Virtual Machine Manager Administrator console
o Hyper-V Manager
o Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)
o Windows PowerShell
Live migration requirements

All types of live migrations have these common requirements:

 Two (or more) servers running Hyper-V that support hardware virtualization and the same CPU model.
 It is recommended to use an isolated network for live migration traffic
Additional requirements may be needed depending on if the servers are clustered or using shared storage.
Provide high availability with storage migration

Hyper-V in Windows Server provides support for moving VM storage without downtime by making it
possible to move the storage while the VM remains running.
Perform a storage migration using one of the following:
 Live Migration Wizard in Hyper-V Manager
 Windows PowerShell Hyper-V cmdlets
Instructor-led lab:
Implementing
failover clustering
 Configuring iSCSI storage
 Configuring a failover cluster
 Deploying and configuring a highly available
file server
 Validating the deployment of the highly
available file server
Thank you.