Failover cluster File Server role best practices

We recently implemented a Hyper-V Server Core 2012 R2 cluster with the sole purpose to run our server environment. I started with our file servers and decided to create multiple file servers and put them in a cluster for high
availability. So now I have a cluster of VMs, which I have now learned is called a guest cluster, and I added the File Server role to this cluster. It then struck me that I could have just as easily created the File Server role under my Hyper-V
Server cluster and removed this extra virtual layer.
I'm reaching out to this community to see if there are any best practices on using the File Server role. Are there any benefits to having a guest cluster provide file shares? Or am I making things overly complicated for no reason?
Just to be clear, I'm just trying to make a simple Windows file server with folder shares that have security enabled on them for users to access internally. I'm using Hyper-V Core server 2012 R2 on my physical servers and right now I have Windows
Server Standard 2012 R2 on the VMs in the guest cluster.
Thanks for any information you can provide.

Hi,
Generally with Hyper-V VMs available, we will install all roles into virtual machines as that will be easy for management purpose.
In your situation the host system is a server core, so it seems that manage file shares with a GUI is much better.
I cannot find an article specifically regarding "best practices of setting up failover cluster". Here are 2 articles regarding build guest cluster (you have already done) and steps to create a file server cluster.
Hyper-V Guest Clustering Step-by-Step Guide
http://blogs.technet.com/b/mghazai/archive/2009/12/12/hyper-v-guest-clustering-step-by-step-guide.aspx
Failover Cluster Step-by-Step Guide: Configuring a Two-Node File Server Failover Cluster
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc731844(v=ws.10).aspx
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Similar Messages

Windows 2012 Failover Cluster - File server role (vCO)

Hi,
I wonder if anybody can shed some light on a query i have.
A windows 2012 failover cluster will be built in AD domain example.uk. Cluster File server roles will be created and will reside in this domain also.
We also have a requirement to run a cluster file server role in the child domain off secure.example.uk. Is this possible? or do the file server roles and related vCO's have to reside in the same domain as the cluster (CNO).
I know the CNO can be used to create the VCO but could a prestage a VCO in the child domain of secure.example.uk.
Mark

Hi Mark,
By default CNO will create
VCO automatically in default domain computer OU, we generally use the
KISS principle to place the CNO and VCO to the same OU, and as far as I know there no known design document indicate the VCO can be placed in different domain, therefore I suggest you place the CNO and V CO at same OU.
More information:
When Creating a New Resource or Role in Windows Server 2012 R2 Failover Cluster, the Network Name Fails to Come Online or Failed to Create Associated Computer Object in Domain
http://blogs.technet.com/b/askpfeplat/archive/2014/11/17/when-creating-a-new-resource-or-role-in-windows-server-2012-r2-failover-cluster-the-network-name-fails-to-come-online-or-failed-to-create-associated-computer-object-in-domain.aspx
CNO Blog Series: Increasing Awareness around the Cluster Name Object (CNO)
http://blogs.technet.com/b/askcore/archive/2012/09/25/cno-blog-series-increasing-awareness-around-the-cluster-name-object-cno.aspx
How to Create a Cluster in a Restrictive Active Directory Environment
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/clustering/archive/2012/03/30/10289577.aspx
Prestage Cluster Computer Objects in Active Directory Domain Services
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn466519.aspx
I’m glad to be of help to you!
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Migrating single file server to failover cluster file server

Hi,
Currently we have one file server which is our Domain controller also. File Server data stored in SAN storage lun. Users home folders also resides at file server.Now we want to create 2 node failover cluster file server.
Questions:
1)Can we assign same storage lun to failover cluster?
2)Do we need to assign all permissions and storage quota again?
What is the best option to achieve this goal.

Hi,
if you attach the same LUN to the failover cluster the NTFS permission (security tab) are retained because they are stored in the LUN itself
Share permission are lost because they are stored in the registry of the file server. If you have few share with a simple share permission structure, simply recreate them in the cluster. If you have a lot of shares and complex permission tree, you have to
export registry hives related to lanmanserver\shares

Selecting VHDx as storage for File Server Role (Failover Cluster 2012 R2)

Is it possible to select an already existing (offline) VHD or VHDX as storage when creating the "File Server" role? Reason I want to do that is because I already have a file server setup as a virtual machine and causing issues so my company
decided to make the change towards a File Server role.
Thank you
David

Hi David,
Do you mean you configured it to file server failover cluster via "High Availability Wizard" ?
I think you need to choose a shared volume between two nodes to achieve high availability .
Please refer to following link :
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc731844(v=WS.10).aspx
If you do not select a shared volume , I think there is no difference than sharing a mounted VHDX file on a standalone file server .
I would suggest to copy these files to CSV and share them .
Hope it helps
Best Regards
Elton Ji
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Cannot Add File Share to (any) File Server Role of a Cluster in Windows Server 2012

Cannot Add File Share to (any) File Server Role of a Cluster in Windows Server 2012...
Get this message in the Operational Log in "FileServices-ServerManager-EventProvider" section of MS-Windows Eventlogs:
Exception: Caught exception Microsoft.Management.Infrastructure.CimException: The xsi:type attribute (MSCluster_Property_Resource_Network_Name) does not identify an existing class.
   at Microsoft.Management.Infrastructure.Internal.Operations.CimSyncEnumeratorBase`1.MoveNext(Boolean discardResultsAndErrors)
   at Microsoft.Management.Infrastructure.Internal.Operations.CimSyncEnumeratorBase`1.MoveNext()
   at Microsoft.FileServer.Management.Plugin.Services.FSCimSession.PerformQuery(String cimNamespace, String queryString)
   at Microsoft.FileServer.Management.Plugin.Services.ClusterEnumerator.BuildNodes(ICimSession session, ClusterRole scopeType, String query, IDictionary`2 groupNameToTypeMap)
   at Microsoft.FileServer.Management.Plugin.Services.ClusterEnumerator.GetClusterClientAccessPointNames(ICimSession session, IDictionary`2 groupNameToTypeMap)
   at Microsoft.FileServer.Management.Plugin.Services.ClusterEnumerator.RetrieveClusterConnections(ComputerName serverName, ClusterMemberTypes memberTypeToQuery)
Thanks for help...(everything else works fine in other type of cluster roles).
Thomas.

This issue also happens in fresh Windows 2012R2 installations, not just upgrades from 2008R2!
I have the issue where I cannot modify any settings on SMB shares. Here is the stacktrace. It appears to be WMI related.
Error: ERROR: Task 'TEST.xxxxxxx.COM-ClusterStorage$-SmbShareUpdate-46bcabf6-1dd4-4a48-a525-5e5d374596c7' has failed: Microsoft.FileServer.Management.Plugin.FSACException: Error occurred while updating an SMB share: The requested operation is not supported.
---> Microsoft.Management.Infrastructure.CimException: The requested operation is not supported.
   at Microsoft.Management.Infrastructure.Internal.Operations.CimSyncEnumeratorBase`1.MoveNext()
   at System.Linq.Enumerable.SingleOrDefault[TSource](IEnumerable`1 source)
   at Microsoft.Management.Infrastructure.CimSession.ModifyInstance(String namespaceName, CimInstance instance, CimOperationOptions options)
   at Microsoft.FileServer.Management.Plugin.Services.FSCimSession.ModifyInstance(ICimInstance instance)
   at Microsoft.FileServer.Management.Plugin.Services.FSCimSession.ModifyInstance(ICimInstance instance, IEnumerable`1 propertiesWithKeys)
   at Microsoft.FileServer.Management.Plugin.Providers.WmiUpdateTaskBase.DoUpdateInstance(ICimSession session, ICimInstance instance)
   at Microsoft.FileServer.Management.Plugin.Providers.WmiUpdateTaskBase.DoWork(Object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
   --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
   at Microsoft.FileServer.Management.Plugin.Providers.WmiUpdateTaskBase.DoWork(Object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
   at System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker.WorkerThreadStart(Object argument)

Cluster File Server Migration

Dears,
I have my source cluster based on WIndows 2008 R2 with SP1, and my new target cluster is Windows 2012 R2.
when I run the copy wizard it validate if I can migrate the file server, however, it is giving me those in yellow mark:
File Server IP Address is not eligible to be copied. (Failed to read 'EnableDhcp' property)
FileServer01 is not eligible to be copied.
Is this normal?
How to continue migrating file server role?

Hi Jean M,
Could you try to manually configure the IPs by referring to the previous 2008 R2 node, then and bring the new file-servers online?
More related information:
Best practices for migration of cluster windows 2008 R2 / 2012 - As melhores Praticas para migrar um Cluster de Windows 2008 para Windows 2012
http://blogs.technet.com/b/hugofe/archive/2012/12/06/best-practices-for-migration-of-cluster-windows-2008-r2-2012-as-melhores-praticas-para-migrar-um-cluster-de-windows-2008-para-windows-2012.aspx
How to Move Highly Available (Clustered) VMs to Windows Server 2012 with the Cluster Migration Wizard
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/clustering/archive/2012/06/25/10323434.aspx
Migration Paths for Migrating to a Failover Cluster Running Windows Server 2012 R2
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn530781.aspx
I’m glad to be of help to you!
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SCCM 2007 Distribution Point Share on a Failover Clustered File Server.

Is SCCM 2007 Distribution Point Share supported on a Windows 2008 R2 Failover Clustered File Server? I can get the packages to copy to the DP Share. But if I create them on a non clustered server it works fine. Are there any special settings that need top
be configured for clustered shares?
Thanks,
Steve
Steve

Hi Steve,
As far as I know this scenario is not supported scenario, In Windows Server® 2008 R2, the Cluster Shared Volumes feature included in failover clustering is only supported for
use with the Hyper-V server role.
The creation, reproduction, and storage of files on Cluster Shared Volumes that were not created for the Hyper-V role, including any user or application data stored under the
ClusterStorage folder of the system drive on every node, are not supported and may result in unpredictable behavior, including data corruption or data loss on these shared volumes. Only files that are created for the Hyper-V role can be stored on Cluster Shared
Volumes. An example of a file type that is created for the Hyper-V role is a Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) file.
More information:
Deploying Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV) in Windows Server 2008 R2 Failover Clustering
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/clustering/archive/2009/02/19/9433146.aspx
Backing Up Cluster Shared Volumes in a Failover Cluster in Windows Server 2008 R2
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff182356(WS.10).aspx
I’m glad to be of help to you!
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Adode premiere pro cc + server shared, best practices

Where to place projects, media caches, preview files ...... ?
A project can be opened on different stations ( not simultaneously , of course ) during the day ....
I obtients no information about my interlocutor Adobe.
Regards, Vince

thank you very much for the explanation. I have a request: 6 emissions
first assembly room, 2 technical stations for Backup and indgest and
finally 2 deruhs stations prelude. each subject is in a directory with the
name of the subject with the project, the media, provided files. by against
the caches is also on the server in a directory caches common to all
machines. there is there a max number of file caches has not exceeded? is
that each machine must have its own cache directory?
Le 25 nov. 2014 14:24, "Vinay Dwivedi" <[email protected]> a écrit :
Adode premiere pro cc + server shared, best practices created by Vinay
Dwivedi <https://forums.adobe.com/people/Vinay+Dwivedi> in Premiere Pro
- View the full discussion
<https://forums.adobe.com/message/6960713#6960713>

License type of SQL Server 2005 Best Practices Analyzer

Hi everybody.
I need to install in my organization the software "SQL Server 2005 Best Practices Analyzer" but I need to know if this application it's free licensing. I have seen on several web sites about this tool it's free but not in official microsoft
web page. So, where can I find the official microsoft information about the type of licensing of "SQL Server 2005 Best Practices Analyzer" ?
Thanks of your support

Hello Erland.
I followed your advice and I have read the terms of use of this software. I stop at point 3 (which I highlighted). Based on this point, I doubt it is about using this application. Furthermore nowhere says that this software is free to use.
Would appreciate if someone can clarify this to me.
=============================================================
MICROSOFT SOFTWARE LICENSE TERMS
MICROSOFT SQL SERVER 2005 BEST PRACTICES ANALYZER:
These license terms are an agreement between Microsoft Corporation (or based on where you live, one of its affiliates) and you.
Please read them. They apply to the software named above, which includes the media on which you received it, if any.
The terms also apply to any Microsoft
* updates,
* supplements,
* Internet-based services, and
* support services
for this software, unless other terms accompany those items.
If so, those terms apply.
BY USING THE SOFTWARE, YOU ACCEPT THESE TERMS.
IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THEM, DO NOT USE THE SOFTWARE.
If you comply with these license terms, you have the rights below.
1.
INSTALLATION AND USE RIGHTS. You may install and use any number of copies of the software on your devices.
2.
INTERNET-BASED SERVICES. Microsoft provides Internet-based services with the software.
It may change or cancel them at any time.
3.
SCOPE OF LICENSE. The software is licensed, not sold. This agreement only gives you some rights to use the software.
Microsoft reserves all other rights.
Unless applicable law gives you more rights despite this limitation, you may use the software only as expressly permitted in this agreement.
In doing so, you must comply with any technical limitations in the software that only allow you to use it in certain ways.
You may not
* work around any technical limitations in the software;
* reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble the software, except and only to the extent that applicable law expressly permits, despite this limitation;
* make more copies of the software than specified in this agreement or allowed by applicable law, despite this limitation;
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You may use it only to reinstall the software.
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You must comply with all domestic and international export laws and regulations that apply to the software.
These laws include restrictions on destinations, end users and end use.
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ENTIRE AGREEMENT. This agreement, and the terms for supplements, updates, Internet-based services and support services that you use, are the entire agreement for the software and support services.
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APPLICABLE LAW.
a. United States. If you acquired the software in the United States, Washington state law governs the interpretation of this agreement and applies to claims for breach of it, regardless of conflict of laws principles.
The laws of the state where you live govern all other claims, including claims under state consumer protection laws, unfair competition laws, and in tort.
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YOU BEAR THE RISK OF USING IT. MICROSOFT GIVES NO EXPRESS WARRANTIES, GUARANTEES OR CONDITIONS.
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It also applies even if Microsoft knew or should have known about the possibility of the damages.
The above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you because your country may not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental, consequential or other damages.
Please note: As this software is distributed in Quebec, Canada, some of the clauses in this agreement are provided below in French.

SQL Server 2008 - Best Practices Analyzer

Is there a version of SQL Server 2008 Best Practices Analyzer available for download? If not, can I use BPA for SQL Server 2005 to run a DB assessment on a SQL Server 2008 database? Please let me know what your recommendation is?
Thanks

Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer has been released for few months.
More details here
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=0fd439d7-4bff-4df7-a52f-9a1be8725591

Failover cluster server - File Server role is clustered - Shadow copies do not seem to travel to other node when failing over

Hi,
New to 2012 and implementing a clustered environment for our File Services role. Have got to a point where I have successfully configured the Shadow copy settings.
Have a large (15tb) disk. S:
Have a VSS drive (volume shadow copy drive) V:
Have successfully configured through Windows Explorer the Shadow copy settings.
Created dependencies in Failcover Cluster Server console whereby S: depends on V:
However, when I failover the resource and browse the Client Access Point share there are no entries under the "Previous Versions" tab.
When I visit the S: drive in windows explorer and open the Shadow copy dialogue box, there are entries showing the times and dates of the shadow copies ran when on the original node. So the disk knows about the shadow copies that were ran on the
original node but the "previous versions" tab has no entries to display.
This is in a 2012 server (NOT R2 version).
Can anyone explain what might be the reason? Do I have an "issue" or is this by design?
All help apprecieated!
Kathy
Kathleen Hayhurst Senior IT Support Analyst

Hi,
Please first check the requirements in following article:
Using Shadow Copies of Shared Folders in a server cluster
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc779378(v=ws.10).aspx
Cluster-managed shadow copies can only be created in a single quorum device cluster on a disk with a Physical Disk resource. In a single node cluster or majority node set cluster without a shared cluster disk, shadow copies can only be created and managed
locally.
You cannot enable Shadow Copies of Shared Folders for the quorum resource, although you can enable Shadow Copies of Shared Folders for a File Share resource.
The recurring scheduled task that generates volume shadow copies must run on the same node that currently owns the storage volume.
The cluster resource that manages the scheduled task must be able to fail over with the Physical Disk resource that manages the storage volume.
If you have any feedback on our support, please send to [email protected]

Failover Cluster - GHOST VMS / ROLES

I mean Ghost as in mysterious non-existent machine, not the old Norton program. I've periodically had random cluster crashes, mainly due to my own negligence. 99%
of the time everything comes back up normally. However periodically a machine will have very strange symptoms that i'm unable to resolve. The only resolution I've found is to create a new VM and link to the the old VHD. A description of the
machines with this issue:
Shown in Failover Cluster role as Running but cannot Connect, turn off, shutdown, etc.
Login to Host machine for the VM and open Hyper-V Manager the machine does not exist. The only place this machine seems to exist is in Failover cluster.
No details available on the Summary Tab, machine doesn't actually appear to be running despite what the console says.
Under the resources tab for that Machine is shows the VM as running, but the VM Configuration as failed.
Unable to bring the configuration back online. Error is "The group or resource is not the correct state to perform the requested operation"
I've seen other vague areas about null context pointers or something alone those lines. I've tried researching the users methods to no avail. How can I fix these? Or at least remove them when i've recreated the machine.

Hi,
Unfortunately, the available information is not enough to have a clear view of the occurred behavior.Could you provide more information about your environment. The server version of the problem on, when this problem occurs the system log record information,
screenshots is the best information.
If you are using Server 2012R2 failover cluster please install the following update:
Recommended hotfixes and updates for Windows Server 2012 R2-based failover clusters
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2920151
More information:
Event Logs
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc722404.aspx
Thanks.
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Site System Roles - Best Practices

Hi all -
I was wondering if there wwere any best practice recommendations for how to configure Site System Roles? We had a vendor come onsite and setup our environment and without going into a lot of detail on why, I wasn't able to work with the vendor. I am trying
to understand why they did certain things after the fact.
For scoping purposes we have about 12,000 clients, and this how our environment was setup:
SERVERA - Site Server, Management Point
SERVERB - Management Point, Software Update Point
SERVERC - Asset Intelligence Synchronization Point, Application Catalog Web Service Point, Application Catalog Website Point, Fallback Status Point, Software Update Point
SERVERD - Distribution Point (we will add more DPs later)
SERVERE - Distribution Point (we will add more DPs later)
SERVERF - Reporting Services Point
The rest is dedicated to our SQL cluster.
I was wondering if this seems like a good setup, and had a few specific questions:
Our Site Server is also a Management Point. We have a second Management Point as well, but I was curious if that was best practice?
Should our Fallback Status Point be a Distribution Point?
I really appreciate any help on this.

The FSP role has nothing to do with the 'Allow
fallback source location for content' on the DP.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg681976.aspx
http://blogs.technet.com/b/cmpfekevin/archive/2013/03/05/what-is-fallback-and-what-does-it-mean.aspx
Benoit Lecours | Blog: System Center Dudes

Error while adding file share for File Server role

I'm getting this error when trying to add a file share on a Server 2012 R2 failover cluster:
"Unable to retrieve all data needed to run the wizard. Error details: Cannot retrieve information from server. Error occurred during enumeration of SMB shares: WinRM cannot complete the operation. Verify that the specified computer name is valid, that
the computer is accessible over the network, and that a firewall exception for the WinRM service is enabled and allows access from this computer. By default, the WinRM firewall exception for public profiles limits access to remote comptuers within the same
local subnet."
Despite the message, I can still create the share and it seems to work, but I'm concerned there may be an issue and I'd like to resolve it before putting the service into production. TIA!

Hi,
Your error often caused by the WinRM can’t communication to the others node, please confirm all the node “Windows Remote Management” service is running or try to disable your
firewall and AV soft then monitor it again.
More information:
WinRM (Windows Remote Management) Troubleshooting
http://blogs.technet.com/b/jonjor/archive/2009/01/09/winrm-windows-remote-management-troubleshooting.aspx
WINRM
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/powershell/archive/2007/10/30/winrm-exe.aspx
Installation and Configuration for Windows Remote Management
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384372(v=vs.85).aspx
Hope this helps.
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Quorum location for Failover cluster file share witness

So, I've done quite a bit of searching for what I'm about to propose and I've been able to find nothing.
I currently have a multi site failover cluster hosting separate 2-node SQL clusters at each site connected through an Availability Group. For the failover cluster I am using a file share witness hosted on a server at the primary site. Both sites
are built entirely on vSphere 5.5 and have full replication for the production servers. If the primary site goes down (disaster), I'll need to force quorum in the secondary site to a new file share witness.
Well, I got to thinking...
Why not just replicate the server hosting the file share? I completely understand the reasoning behind not putting the file share witness on DFS, but a replicated virtual server, why not? If the primary site fails, the replicated server hosting
the file share witness is brought online with the rest of the production servers in the DR site. In that case, the only thing that changes is the server IP address, but ultimately, the server name and share where quorum is hosted all stays the same.
Ultimately this prevents needing to find a 3rd geographical/cloud location to host a quorum/witness at. I can't imagine it's this "simple", but maybe it is. If this is possible, and there's not something I'm missing, this essentially
makes the quorum file share witness site agnostic, meaning it could live or be moved anywhere that replication is allowed.
Ideas, thoughts? Am I missing something?
Thanks!
Chris Miller

Most likely it would be better to put this question to the High Availability forum -
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/home?forum=winserverClustering
But, might need a more complete definition of your environment. Are you saying that you have multiple 2-node clusters, each with one node in the primary and the second node in the DR site? And you have a single file share server located in primary that
is used to host the file share witnesses for all these clusters? You want to use VMware to replicate the file share server to the DR site so that it can be made available should the primary site fail?
It should work, but it will not be automatic. After all, the replicated VM will need to be brought online at the DR site so the SQL cluster will recognize it. That is not an automatic process. So the cluster will be down until
you bring the file share server online so it can be recognized. Not a whole lot different that simply forcing the DR SQL host to run without quorum.
. : | : . : | : . tim

Failover cluster File Server role best practices

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