Step By Step - Clustering SQL Server 2008 R2 - Part II

 

Part I – Before we start
Part II – Creating Windows Cluster
Part III – Clustering MSDTC
Part IV – Installing the first SQL Server Cluster Node
Part V – Adding the second node
Part VI – Post installation tasks
  
Before processing this step by step guide you should ensure that the system requirements described on the part one of this post are meet and use the CLSSetup domain account to open a session on each node.
On this part we will create the Windows Cluster, this action can be  performed on the node owning the shared storage.

	Creating the cluster
1	From the Start menu click Administrative Tools ==> Failover Cluster Manager
2	On the management Section click Validate a Configuration…
3	Click next on Before You Begin page
4	Type the names of the servers that will participate on the cluster and click add for each one. Click Next on the Select Server or a cluster page
5	Check Run all test and then click Next on the Testing Options page
6	On the confirmation page click Next
7	Wait for the test finish and when you see the Summary page ensure that all test are Ok and click finish.
8	On the previous page you can click View Report to explore the test report that was generated by the validation process.
9	If the validation process was successful we can create the windows Cluster by clicking on Create a cluster on the management section.
10	Click Next on the Before You Begin page
11	Type the nodes names and click add for each one and then click Next on the Select  Servers page
12	On the Access Point for Administering the cluster type the Virtual computer name that will be used for this windows cluster and it’s virtual IP address on the LAN segment. this name will be added as computer account on your Active Directory that’s way the user used for the configuration process must have the right to join computers to the domain.
13	On the Confirmation page click Next
14	Wait for the cluster creation
15	On the Summary page click Finish
	Configuring the Quorum
16	By default Windows Cluster process creation will choose the smallest shared disk as the quorum. In some cases we will not use shared disks as Quorum for the cluster but a file share. to configure the quorum of the cluster click on More Actions ==> Configure Cluster Quorum Settings… from the Actions section on the right pane of the Failover Cluster Manager  console
17	Click Next on the Before You begin Page
18	To ensure that our services still available with only one node online we should use Node and Disk Majority or Node and File Share Majority to construct our quorum. for this scenario we will use a disk so you have to check the second option and then click next
19	Ensure the the disk dedicated for the quorum was selected and click Next
20	On the confirmation page click Next
21	On the Summary page click finish
	Configuring the network
22	At this point our Windows Cluster is created and configured, on the next steps we will configure the network settings for the cluster. from the left pane right click Cluster Network 2 ==> Properties
23	Verify that it’s IP address is the one used for the heart beat and than name it Heart Beat uncheck Allow clients to connect through this network and then click on Apply
24	Now we will configure the LAN network interface, Right click it from the left pane then click on Properties
25	Rename it to LAN and ensure that the check box Allow client to connect through this network is checked click Apply