Hi,
Can someone clarify the below text that was pulled out of the SD 6.3 admin guide.
"Microsoft virtual machine clusters cannot be part of a VMware cluster." - We have a 5 node esxi cluster. If we wanted to implement 2008r2 clustering w/SD, we would have to build two separate esxi servers that sits outside of the vsphere cluster? Am i interpreting this correctly?
"A single initiator group must be created for both nodes in the cluster." - Currently we have a 5 node esxi cluster and a single igroup. Does this mean I have to create a separate igroup for the esxi nodes that's hosting the 2008r2 clusters?
Any clarification on this is greatly appreciated. My interpretation of what's in the admin guide and also the release notes means that I would have to have two dedicated ESXi hosts just for a 2 node 2008r2 cluster (hosting sql). If this is the case then what's the point of setting up two dedicated esxi servers for clustering vs setting up two physical servers.
This is also in the release notes for 6.3
"SnapDrive also has the following ALUA support requirements and limitations:
• You can use SnapDrive to create LUNs and then map them manually to existing ALUA-enabled
igroups.
• You cannot use the same FC initiator for both ALUA enabled and ALUA disabled igroups.
• ALUA is not supported on a VMware MSCS cluster.
If SnapDrive is used to create a shared disk on an ESX 4 VMware MSCS cluster, ALUA is
disabled on the igroup that SnapDrive automatically creates.
If you use SnapDrive to create a shared disk in a VMware MSCS cluster when an FC igroup
already exists with ALUA enabled, SnapDrive automatically creates an igroup with ALUA
14 | SnapDrive 6.3 for Windows Release Notes
disabled, and logs an error in the Event Viewer indicating that ALUA is enabled for one of the
initiators on the storage system."
admin guide pg. 52
Microsoft virtual machine clusters cannot be part of a VMware cluster.
• You must use VCenter credentials and not ESX credentials when you install SnapDrive for
Windows on virtual machines that will belong to a Microsoft cluster.
• A single initiator group must be created for both nodes in the cluster.
You can create the initiator group automatically during disk creation or connection using the
SnapDrive MMC. SnapDrive automatically selects an FC initiator from each of the ESX servers
in the cluster. You can also create the initiator groups manually. If initiator groups do not already
exist, you must create one manually on the storage system.
Message was edited by: daniel_kaiser