Tuesday, 27 March 2012

Deployed 2 Node 2U Intel Server System Hyper-V Failover Cluster With Pics

Here are some shots of one of the mid-level 2 node cluster configurations we are currently deploying.

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The above configuration is as follows:

  • UPS Structure
    • 3x APC SMT1500RM2U
  • Servers
    • 2x Intel Server System SR2625URLX
      • Dual Intel Xeon E5645 Hex Core, 96GB ECC, Intel RAID, RAID 1 OS, Dual LSI External SAS, Intel RMM3
    • 1x Promise VTrak E610sD RAID Subsystem
      • Dual SAS Controller
      • 12x 300GB 15K Seagate SAS
    • 1x HP MicroServer
      • 8GB with RAC installed.
      • Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard acting as DC and Hyper-V for management VM.
  • Switching
    • Cisco SA520 Security Appliance
    • Cisco 48-Port Gigabit Web managed switch.

There are a few other items involved here including the APC 24U enclosure.

The closet this setup is installed into is climate controlled via Haier 12K BTU twin hose A/C unit. It keeps the space well cooled all year round.

VMs running on this cluster are:

  • SBS 2011 Standard
    • 4 vCPUs, 24GB RAM
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard with RDS
    • 2 vCPUs, 8GB RAM
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard with SQL
    • 4 vCPUs, 16GB RAM
  • Windows 7 and XP VMs
    • Windows 7: 2 vCPUs, 2-4GB RAM
    • XP Pro: 2 vCPUs, 2GB RAM

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

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6 comments:

  1. Anonymous27 March, 2012 17:26

    Awesome! Its like geeky eye candy.
    How much will this set back the customer?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jonas Larsen28 March, 2012 00:17

    Hello Philip. Interesting setup. How are you licensing the windows 7 and windows xp vm's? We where told the only legit way was to have SA on the hosts who access Them and then buy the vda license ( which was quite inpractical for our client)

    Thanks for an always interesting blog

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous28 March, 2012 07:25

    can I set up a Hyper-V Failover Cluster with 2 Windows Server 2008 Standar edition?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Victor C28 March, 2012 07:40

    Very nice config Philip.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous29 March, 2012 08:07

    This is a fascinating and complete solution! I'm curious to know what your intentions are on disaster recovery for it, specifically around backups and offsite backups. Also, was there a 4th UPS up in the top-right corner next to the HP MicroServer? the pic was a little dark up there.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Philip Elder Cluster MVP29 March, 2012 11:47

    Our 1U 1P dual node with Promise VTrak DAS starts around $20K.

    Windows 7 can be set up in a VDI structure with an underlying license (FPP) and Software Assurance which we also add MDOP to.

    We use Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 to run the actual Hyper-V nodes. Licensing is a bit of a bear to manage from there.

    Disaster Recovery: All VMs are backed up to an iSCSI Target that is either hosted on the standalone DC or a separate box with Microsoft's iSCSI Software Target installed. Native WSB or ShadowProtect is used depending on needs.

    There are two SMT1500 UPSs in addition to the RM2U units. One powers the switches and ADSL Modem while the other powers the backup drive dock and standalone DC (HP MicroServer).

    Thanks for all of the comments folks! :)

    Philip

    ReplyDelete

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