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Clusters with Windows Server 2012 R2
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Windows Server 2012 rolled out a new, easier way to build a high-availability cluster. And, with Windows Server 2012 R2, you can even build the cluster with virtual servers and use virtual disks as shared storage.
This article describes how to set up a cluster with Windows Server 2012 R2. The process is largely the same for virtual servers and physical clusters. The only difference is in the configuration of virtual disks as shared VHDX files [1]. You can, of course, continue to work with other shared storage for your cluster, even if you are running a virtual cluster.
Windows Server 2012 also offers the ability to define VHD disks as iSCSI-based, shared cluster storage on a server. Starting with Windows Server 2012 R2, this feature also works with VHDX hard drives. One advantage of iSCSI targets as shared storage is that you can also integrate physical clusters, whereas shared VHDX disks only support virtual clusters.
Companies that virtualize servers with Hyper-V and want to achieve high availability rely on the live migration of VMs in the cluster. However, you can only achieve live migration with physical shared storage or iSCSI targets. Shared storage on the basis of shared VHDX does not support clusters for live migration with Hyper-V.
If you run Hyper-V in a cluster, you can ensure that all virtual servers are automatically taken over by another host if one physical host fails.
iSCSI Targets
Windows Server 2012 R2 serves up virtual disks based on VHDX files as iSCSI targets on the network (Figure 1). These virtual disks can serve as shared storage for a cluster. To use virtual disks as iSCSI targets, you must install the iSCSI Target Server role service in Server Manager by clicking Add Roles and Features | Server Roles | File and Storage Services | File and iSCSI Services .
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