Windows Server 2012 R2: Failover Clustering (DHCP)

In this article I`m going to explain how to configure Failover Clustering Service in Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard.

Before starting let me define LAB that I set for this test:

Domain: test.local, DC name: DC2012, IP address 10.10.10.3

iSCSI target server 1: Name: Role1 IP address: 10.10.10.6 disk: 2GB

iSCSI target server 2: Name: Role2 IP address: 10.10.10.7 disk:2GB

For this LAB I installed Starwind FreeSAN as iSCSI Target since it gives me HA for iSCSI Target.

Cluster Node 1: Name: Node 1 IP address LAN: 10.10.10.8 Private: 192.168.2.10

Cluster Node 2: Name: Node 2 IP address LAN: 10.10.10.9 Private: 192.168.2.11

Failover Cluster: Name: FailCluster IP address: 10.10.10.15

DHCP Cluster: Name: DHCPCluster IP address: 10.10.10.16

 

LAB needs to have configured domain, iSCSI target has to be set up and set to both Cluster Nodes via iSCSI initiator and MPIO.

I will not describe here domain setup, iscsi target setup, and iSCSI initiator and MPIO setup.

iSCSI Target tips:

For your LAB (or production) you can configure iSCSI Target with Windows Server iSCSI Target or use Starwind Virtual SAN if you don`t want iSCSI to be single point of failure. I described Starwind Virtual SAN in my other articles, so you can see there how to set it up.

LAN tips:

Create two separate physical networks and subnets for LAN and private communication between cluster nodes.

In this lab we`ll be installing Failover Clustering Feature and configuring DHCP cluster
Server Manager | Manage | Add Roles and Features | Click Next until you reach Features tab on the left menu | click on Failover Clustering |Additional window will pop up – Add Features | Next

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Install

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Installing…

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Installation successful. Repeat this procedure on second Node!

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Server Manager | Tools |Failover Cluster Manager |under Management choose Validate Configuration

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Before Validating Cluster be sure you set network configuration (LAN and private network should be in different subnets) and attached disks via iSCSI initiators and MPIO to both nodes.

Next

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Add both of your cluster nodes under Selected servers and click Next

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Run all tests |Next

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Next

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Everything is ok, we are ready for creating Failover Cluster

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Failover Cluster Management |Create Cluster

Next

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Add servers that are prepared for Failover Clustering. In my case Node 1 and Node 2

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Give Cluster a name (mine will be FailCluster) and IP address (mine is 10.10.10.15) |Next

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I will untick “Add all eligible storage to the cluster” and add it manually later | Next

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Finished. Since I chose not to add a disk to Cluster, I got a warning. I`ll resolve disk issue in a minute

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First step is to add Storage to created Cluster | Failover Cluster Manager | name of Cluster (FailCluster) | Storage |Disks | Add Disk

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Add Disks dialog is offering disk that I prepared via iSCSI Target software | OK

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Disk is online, currently on Node2

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If you are planning to add virtual machines to clustering, Cluster Shared Volumes might be good idea
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluster_Shared_Volumes

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In order to achieve Cluster Shared Volume disk, iSCSI target that you are planning to use needs to have iSCSI 3 support.

Next step is adding DHCP to Failover Cluster

First we need to install DHCP via Server Manager. Installation is needed on all nodes.

I won`t be going through installation of a server role. Procedure is same as for Failover Cluster feature we installed in the beginning.

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When Role is installed, no configuration is needed. Everything will be done through Failover Cluster Manager

Failover Cluster Management | choose Cluster (FailCluster)| Roles | Configure Role

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Next

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Choose DHCP Server | Next

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Enter name for DHCP Cluster along with IP address |Next

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I`ll be using disk that I already added to Cluster |Next

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Next

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Success |Finish

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Created DHCP Cluster can be found under Failover Cluster Management | choose Cluster (FailCluster)| Roles

You`ll probably want to configure DHCP, so you`ll need to click on Manage DHCP Server and configure DHCP service through Failover Cluster Manager.

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With this step we finished creating Failover Cluster service and adding DHCP service to it. Adding any other service or app to Failover Cluster is similar to this procedure.

 

Disclaimer