Cluster: A Simple Cluster Storage Setup Guide

In a cluster setting we have a set way to configure our shared storage whether it resides on a SOFS (Scale-Out File Server) cluster or some sort of network based storage.

First, the process to set up the storage itself:

1. Configure the LUN
• LUN ID must be identical for all Hyper-V nodes for SAN/NAS
2. Connect all nodes to the storage
• iSCSI Target for SAN/NAS
3. Format NTFS and set OFFLINE on Node01
4. Node2 and up ignore Initialize in Disk Management and set OFFLINE
• This step is optional depending on the setup

When it comes to the storage we configure the following LUNs for all of our cluster setups;

1. 1.5GB LUN
• Set up for the Witness Disk
• Add to Cluster Storage but NOT CSV
2. ???GB LUN
• Sum of all physical RAM on the nodes plus 150GB
• Add to Cluster Shared Volumes
• All Hyper-V nodes set to deliver VM settings files to this location
• Don’t forget that Hyper-V writes a file that is equivalent in size for _all_ VMs running on the cluster or standalone host!
3. Minimum 50% Storage LUN x2
• Divide the remaining storage into two or more LUNs depending on workload and storage requirements
• A minimum of 2 LUNs allows for storage load to be shared across the SAN’s two storage controllers, the two iSCSI networks, and the two or more Hyper-V nodes

In a SOFS setting we set up a File Share Witness for our Hyper-V compute clusters and deliver the HA shares via SMB Multichannel and a minimum of 10GbE for the VHDX files.

PowerShell

The PowerShell steps for any of the above are here to avoid copy and paste issues.

Set Default Paths:

Set-VMHost -VirtualHardDiskPath “C:\ClusterStorage” –VirtualMachinePath “C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1”

We point the VHDX setting to the CSV root just in case. Our PowerShell scripts for setting up VMs put the VHDX files into the right storage location.

Set Quorum Up:

Set-ClusterQuorum -NodeAndDiskMajority "Cluster Virtual Disk (Witness Disk)"

Philip Elder
Microsoft High Availability MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book