SolutionBase: Windows Server 2003 Cluster Administrator

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Although all editions of Windows Server 2003 include Network Load Balancing, only the Enterprise Edition and Datacenter Edition include server clustering capability through the Cluster Service. The Cluster Service enables you to create highly available server clusters to provide failover capability for general services or for specific applications. The tool included with Windows Server 2003 that enables you to create and manage clusters is the Cluster Administrator.

About clustering
Clustering is a relatively complex topic that requires an understanding of hardware requirements, shared storage, and other concepts. Explaining clustering in detail would take an article of its own, so I'll instead focus on Cluster Administrator, explaining the most important clustering concepts in relation to the console.

Installing Cluster Administrator
Setup installs the Cluster Administrator by default when you install Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition. You can also run the Cluster Administrator on a Windows XP workstation by installing the Windows Server 2003 Administration Pack, available from Microsoft's Web site. To install the Administration Pack on Windows XP, you must have previously installed Service Pack 1 or Hot Fix QFE Q329357 on the Windows XP Professional computer.

What the Cluster Administrator does
In a nutshell, the Cluster Administrator (Figure A) enables you to create and manage server clusters. Unlike many of the other tools in the Administrative Tools folder, the Cluster Administrator is a stand-alone application rather than a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in. However, it looks and functions much like a typical console. The left pane shows the cluster hierarchy and various objects in a cluster such as groups, nodes, resources, and so on. Clicking an object in the left pane displays the contents of the object in the right pane. For example, click the Active Resources object for a particular node, and the right pane lists the active resources for the node along with their state, owner, group, and other properties.

Figure AUse the Cluster Administrator to manage clusters and cluster objects.

The tasks you can accomplish with the Cluster Administrator include the following:

• Create a cluster
• Add and remove nodes in a cluster
• Manage and configure resource groups
• Manage and configure resources
• Bring resources online or take them offline
• Initiate failover of a resource
• Configure failover and failback properties for resource groups
• Move resources to other groups
• Move groups to other nodes
• Configure an application to run in a cluster

Menus
The Cluster Administrator includes four menus:

• File—Use the File menu to do most of the actual cluster-related tasks in the Cluster Administrator. The commands in the File menu vary according to the object you have selected in the left or right pane. In all cases, you can choose Open Connection from the File menu to open a connection to an existing cluster or to create a new cluster. In general, I recommend you right-click specific objects in the interface to work with the context menu for the selected object. Or, click an object to select it and then open the File menu to view the available commands.
• View—Use the View menu to turn on or off the toolbar and status bar, change icon display modes for the right pane (small icons, large icons, list, and details), and refresh the view.
• Window—This is a common menu that enables you to open other cluster windows, switch between them, and tile or cascade the windows.
• Help—Use this menu to view the Cluster Administrator Help content.

The toolbar
The Cluster Administrator also includes a toolbar with the following buttons:

• Open—Open a connection to an existing cluster, create a new cluster, or add nodes to a cluster.
• Bring Online—Available when an offline resource or group is selected; click to bring the selected item back online.
• Take Offline—Available when an online resource or group is selected; click to take the item offline.
• Delete—Click to delete the selected resource.
• Properties—Click to view the properties of the selected item.
• Refresh—Click to refresh the display.
• View Large Icons—Click to view the objects in the right pane as large icons.
• View Small Icons—Click to view the objects in the right pane as small icons.
• View List—Click to view the items in the right pane as a list.
• View Details—Click to view the items in the right pane as a detailed list.

The console tree
Although the Cluster Administrator isn't an MMC snap-in, it looks and functions like one, so I'll use the same terminology for it as for a typical snap-in and refer to the left pane as the console tree. In the console tree, you'll find each open cluster connection displayed in its own hierarchical tree. The tree comprises the following objects:

• Groups—This branch lists all of the resource groups in the cluster. A group is a collection of clustered resources that share common characteristics, such as failover and failback properties. Groups that are offline are represented by a red arrow icon beside the group name.
• Resources—This branch lists all resources in the cluster; resources that are offline are represented by a red arrow icon beside the resource name. Windows Server 2003 includes several standard cluster resource types, including Physical Disk, DHCP Service, Print Spooler, and File Server. When you create a cluster, for example, it contains a Cluster IP Address resource and Cluster Name resource at a minimum. It will likely contain other resources, such as a shared quorum disk. Developers can also create additional cluster resource types.
• Cluster Configuration—This branch contains resource types and associated resource DLLs, public network interfaces for the cluster, and all network interfaces. Sub-branches include Resource Types, which lists the available resource types and the resource DLLs associated with each type; Network, whichlists the client-side network interfaces for each node in the cluster and status information about each; and Network Interfaces, which lists all network interfaces for each node in the cluster and status information about each.
• Node—Each node in the cluster is represented by its own branch in the console tree. The node's server name appears beside the node icon. Sub-branches include Active Groups, which lists all active groups hosted by the node and their status; Active Resources, which lists all active resources hosted by the node and their status; and Active Interfaces, which lists all active network interfaces for the node and their status.

The Details pane
The right pane, or Details pane, shows the contents of the item you have selected in the console tree. The information listed in the pane naturally depends on the type of object selected. For example, click the Cluster Group item in the console tree, and the right pane shows all of the resources in that group (Figure B).

Figure B
The right pane shows the contents of the selected item.

Each cluster object offers certain properties. For example, right-click a group and choose Properties (or choose File, Properties) to display the property sheet for the group (Figure C).

Figure CThe property sheet for a cluster resource group

This property sheet includes three tabs:

• General—This tab lists the group name, optional description, and preferred owners (nodes in the cluster that want to own the group). When a group comes back online, the group attempts to fail back to the preferred owner node.
• Failover—Use this tab to specify the Threshold and Period properties for the group. Threshold specifies the number of times the group can fail in the specified period (in hours). If this threshold is exceeded, the cluster will not try to bring the group back online.
• Failback—Use the Failback tab to specify what should happen when the group comes back online. Choose Prevent Failback to prevent the group from failing back to a failed node that returns to online status. Choose Allow Failback to enable failback, then specify that the failback will either occur immediately or within a specified span of hours.

The property sheet for a resource (Figure D) includes four tabs:

• General—This tab includes the resource name, an optional description, and nodes that can host the resource. You can click the Modify button to change the possible owners lists, adding or removing nodes. Choose the option Run This Resource In A Separate Resource Monitor if you want to run the resource DLL separate from other cluster service resources. Doing so can avoid conflicts between DLLs and when debugging resources.
• Dependencies—One resource can be dependent on one or more other resources. For example, you would make a File Share resource dependent on the underlying Physical Disk resource where the share is hosted. The Dependencies tab lists the resources that the Cluster Service must bring online before bringing up the selected resource. Click Modify to open the Modify Dependencies dialog box (Figure E) to add or remove dependencies.
• Advanced—Use the Advanced tab (Figure F) to configure restart, polling, and timeout properties for the resource. Choose Affect The Group if you want the group to fail over when the resource fails. The Threshold and Period values determine how many times the Cluster Service will attempt to restart the resource in a specified period before the group fails. Use the Looks Alive and Is Alive parameters to specify how often the Cluster Service polls the resource to determine if it is up. Use the Pending Timeout value to specify the amount of time a resource can be in a pending state before the Cluster Service fails the resource.
• Parameters—This tab (Figure G) contains resource-specific parameters for the resource. What the tab displays depends on the resource type. With the File Share resource, for example, the tab displays the share name, path, optional comment, user limit, and buttons to set permissions, the share type, and offline caching. An IP Address resource displays the IP address, subnet mask, network segment, and whether NetBIOS will be enabled on it. Other resources present options specific to that resource type.

Figure DThe property sheet for a cluster resource


Figure EAdd or remove resource dependencies with the Modify Dependencies dialog box.


Figure FConfigure restart, polling, and timeout properties on the Advanced tab.


Figure GConfigure resource-specific settings on the Parameters tab.

Working with wizards
The Cluster Administrator provides some wizards that help you accomplish common tasks such as setting up a cluster, adding nodes, adding groups, and adding resources. I won't cover each in step-by-step fashion, but instead explain how to start the wizard and what information you'll need in each.

Creating a cluster
To start the New Server Cluster Wizard (Figure H), choose File | Open Connection to open the Open Connection To Cluster dialog box. Choose Create A New Cluster from the Action dialog box and click OK.

Figure HThe New Server Cluster Wizard

The wizard prompts for the following information:

Domain and cluster name
All of the servers in the cluster must reside in the same domain. The servers can be either member servers or domain controllers, primarily because the Cluster Service must run in the security context of a domain account. In general, using member servers rather than domain controllers will provide better performance. Specify the domain in which the cluster will reside and a name for the cluster.

Computer name
Specify the computer that will serve as the first node in the cluster.

Configuration method
You can allow the wizard to configure all cluster options or specify many of the options yourself. Even if you allow the wizard to configure the cluster, you can still choose a different quorum disk or type before creating the cluster.

Cluster IP address
Specify the IP address that the cluster tools will use to connect to the cluster. This is the IP address to which the cluster name will resolve. It should be a unique IP address not already in use by any of the servers in the cluster or by other computers on the network.

Cluster Service credentials
Specify the account under which the Cluster Service will run. This can be a regular domain account. With a member server, the wizard will grant the necessary privileges to the account, but if you are clustering a domain controller, keep in mind that the account must have the right to log on locally to domain controllers. Generally, this means you will have to manually assign that privilege through the Default Domain Controllers Policy. The Cluster Service account requires the following privileges:

• Act as part of the operating system
• Adjust memory quotas for a process
• Back up files and directories
• Increase scheduling priority
• Log on as a service
• Restore files and directories

In addition, the account you select must have write permission to the root folder of all cluster disks. If you are just experimenting with clustering in a lab setting, you can use the Administrator account for the Cluster Service. In a real cluster, however, you should create an account specifically for the Cluster Service and set its password to not expire. If this violates your password policies, you will have to periodically reset the account's password. Unlike in Windows 2000, however, you can do so transparently without taking down cluster nodes.

Quorum type
You can choose from three quorum types:

1. Local Quorum—This option stores the quorum database on the server's local hard drive. The wizard chooses this option if it does not detect a shared disk subsystem. A cluster that uses a Local Quorum can contain only a single node and offer no failover capability. However, it can be useful for experimenting with clustering and testing clustered resources and applications.
2. Drive x—Each shared drive is listed in the drop-down list. These drives must be connected to the other nodes through shared SCSI or Fibre Channel devices. Fibre Channel is required if the cluster will contain more than two nodes or if the servers are running the 64-bit version of Windows Server 2003. Approximately 500 MB is sufficient for the quorum disk, and the drive should be used exclusively for the cluster database and quorum log. Dynamic disks, software RAID, GPT disks, and volumes are not supported for shared cluster storage.
3. Majority Node Set—In this configuration, each node in the cluster stores its own copy of the cluster configuration data, typically on a drive local to each node. The quorum traffic travels between nodes over SMB file shares. This model offers the advantage of distributing the quorum data across multiple devices so that if one local quorum disk becomes corrupted, the cluster can still continue to operate. However, in a majority node set quorum, if more than half of the nodes fail, the cluster will lose quorum and fail. In a single quorum device model, the quorum will not fail even if only one node remains.

Adding nodes to the cluster
Unless you are creating a one-node cluster for testing or development, the next step is to add other nodes to the cluster. To do so, open the cluster in the Cluster Administrator and choose File | New, then Node. You can also right-click almost anywhere in the console and choose New, then Node from the context menu. Either action starts the Add Nodes Wizard. The wizard prompts for the following information:

• Nodes—Enter or browse the AD for the computers that will be added as cluster nodes.
• Cluster Service credentials—The account is already entered; you must specify the password and domain.

The additional nodes appear in the Cluster Administrator after the wizard finishes adding them. Each node appears under its own branch in the console tree.

Adding resources
To add a resource, open the Cluster Administrator and expand the node where the resource group resides. Right-click the target group and choose New | Resource or choose File | New | Resource to start the New Resource Wizard (Figure I).

Figure IThe New Resource Wizard

The wizard prompts for the following information:

• Name—This is the name by which the resource appears in the Cluster Administrator.
• Description—This is an optional description for the resource.
• Resource Type—Choose the resource type from a drop-down list of available resource types.
• Group—Choose the group in which the resource will reside.
• Run This Process In A Separate Resource Monitor—Run the resource DLL separate from other cluster service resources.
• Possible Owners—Specify nodes in the cluster that can host the resource.
• Dependencies—Specify other resources that the Cluster Service must start prior to starting the selected resource.
• Resource-specific properties—These properties vary according to the resource type.

Adding groups
To add a resource group, right-click the target node and choose New | Group or choose File | New | Group to start the New Group Wizard.

The wizard prompts for the following information:

• Name—This is the name of the group as it appears in the Cluster Administrator.
• Description—This is an optional description for the group.
• Preferred Owners—Choose the preferred nodes for hosting the group. After you add the nodes to the list, you can change the priority order of the selected nodes.

Task list
Now that you are familiar with the Cluster Administrator, you're ready to start creating and managing clusters. Table A lists common cluster administration tasks and tells how to accomplish them with the Cluster Administrator.
Table A
Task Action Create a cluster Choose File, New, Cluster to start the New Server Cluster Wizard. Add nodes to a cluster Right-click a cluster and choose New, Node to start the Add Nodes Wizard. Repair a node Right-click the node and choose Stop Cluster Service. Configure the Cluster Service for manual startup (if needed) on the node. Repair and reboot the node, reconfigure the service for automatic startup, then right-click the node in the Cluster Administrator and choose Start Cluster Service. Evict a node Verify failover requirements and, if needed, move groups and resources to other nodes. Right-click the node and choose Stop Cluster Service. Right-click the node and choose Evict Node. Pause or resume a node Right-click the node and choose either Pause Node or Resume Node. Stop or start the Cluster Service Right-click the node and choose either Stop Cluster Service or Start Cluster Service. Change the quorum resource Add and prepare (format, etc.) the quorum device. Right-click the cluster in the Cluster Administrator and choose Properties. Click the Quorum tab, then choose the quorum resource and set its properties as needed. Set group failover policy Right-click the group and choose Properties. Click the Failover tab. Set group failback policy Right-click the group and choose Properties. Click the Failback tab. Move group to another node If necessary, take the group offline. Right-click the group and choose Move Group. The group moves based on the order of preferred owners. Rename a group Right-click the group and choose Rename. Create a new resource Right-click a group and choose New, Resource to start the New Resource Wizard. Delete resource Take the resource offline, then right-click the resource and choose Delete. Change resource online status Right-click a resource and choose Take Offline or Bring Online. View/Set resource properties Click the group in which the resource resides, then in the right pane, right-click the resource and choose Properties. Specify resource restart policy, polling, and pending timeout properties Open the properties for the resource and click the Advanced tab. Move resource to another group Click the Active Resources branch where the resource is located. In the right pane, right-click the resource and choose Change Group, then select the group from the cascading menu. Modify resource dependencies Right-click the resources, choose Properties, and click the Dependencies tab. Click Modify to change the dependencies. Specify nodes that can own resource Right-click the resource and choose Properties. On the General tab, click Modify to open the Modify Possible Owners dialog box. Rename resource Right-click the resource and choose Rename. Initiate resource failure Right-click the resource and choose Initiate Failure Connect to different cluster Choose File, Open Connection, choose Open Connection to Cluster, and select the cluster from the list or click Browse to browse for the cluster. Change quorum log size Right-click the cluster, choose Properties, and click the Quorum tab. Change the log size with the Reset Quorum Log At option. Rename a cluster Right-click the cluster and choose Rename. Click the Cluster Group under the Groups branch and, in the right pane, right-click the Cluster Name resource and choose Take Offline. After it is offline, right-click it again and choose Bring Online. Common cluster administration tasks and how to do them with Cluster Administrator

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موضوعات مشابه:

• Windows server 2003 cluster
• SolutionBase: Implementing Windows SharePoint Services on Windows Server 2003
• Deploying an Exchange 2007 SP1 CCR Cluster on a Windows Server 2008 Failover Cluster
• Windows cluster server 2003 64 Bit

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[patris1]

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124215%28EXCHG.65%29.aspx

Topic Last Modified: 2005-04-25
As with standard Windows clusters, you perform most of the configuration tasks, and also the management tasks, associated with Exchange clusters using Cluster Administrator. Cluster Administrator is installed by default on servers that have Cluster Service installed and are running one of the following operating systems: Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Windows 2000, or Microsoft Windows NT® 4.0 Service Pack 3 (or later).
Cluster Administrator

You can also use Cluster Administrator to remotely administer a server cluster. Computers that are used to administer a server cluster remotely must be secure and restricted to trusted personnel. For more information, see "Best practices for securing server clusters" in the Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition Online Help. For detailed instructions, see How to Open Cluster Administrator.

[patris1]

http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb%3Ben-us%3B305813&x=11&y=11

In Windows Clustering for Windows Server 2003, you can change the Cluster service account password on the domain as well as on each local node without having to take the cluster offline. If multiple clusters use the same Cluster service account, you can change them simultaneously. In Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 and Microsoft Windows 2000, to change the Cluster service account password, you have to stop the Cluster service on all nodes before you can make the password change.

To change the password for a Cluster service account in a Windows Server 2003 cluster, the following requirements must be met:

• Mixed clusters with Windows 2000 are not supported; All nodes must be running Windows Server 2003 or later.
• All nodes must be using the same domain account for the Cluster service.
• All nodes must be online or in a paused state.
• The update mechanism is not transactional; If the password change is not completed on all nodes, there may be a partial downtime in getting the passwords updated.
• You must be logged on to an account that has domain access to change the Cluster service account password on the domain controller. You must have local administrator rights to each node to change the Local Service account passwords. This account must also have the ability to traverse directories in the cluster domain. (Note: This privilege is given to every user in the domain by default.)
• This article applies only to the changing of the Cluster service account. If other services are running under the same Cluster service account, you have to change them manually.

Changing the Cluster service account password

To change the Cluster service account password with Cluster.exe, type the following command from a command prompt to list all of the available parameters:

CLUSTER /changepass /?
Samples

Note: In the following samples:

• EASTCLUSTER is a cluster name.
• WESTCLUSTER is a cluster name.
• NEWpassword is the new password.
• OLDpassword is the old password.

To change the Cluster service account password for a single cluster, use the following syntax in which the password for EASTCLUSTER would be changed to NEWpassword from OLDpassword:

cluster /cluster:EASTCLUSTER /changepassword:NEWpassword,OLDpassword

Note: If you do not specify NEWpassword and OLDpassword, you are prompted to enter them after you press ENTER.

To change the Cluster service account password on multiple clusters, you need to reference the additional cluster. For example, to change the password for WESTCLUSTER in addition to EASTCLUSTER, you would use the following syntax:

cluster /cluster:EASTCLUSTER,WESTCLUSTER /changepassword:NEWpassword,OLDpassword

When you use some special characters for the password, you may receive an error that is a bit misleading. For example, when you change the password by using the

cluster /cluster:testcluster /changepass:Password&1234567890,Password1

command , you receive the following error message:

The password does not meet the password policy requirements.           
Check the minimum password length, password complexity and password history           
requirements. '1234567890' is not recognized as an internal or external           
command, operable program, or batch file.

The special character "&" is truncating the rest of the line. This means that the first error is true because you are changing the password to only "Password" which does not follow the password restrictions correctly. Because the "&" is an old MSDOS command that combined commands together, it is trying to run the command "1234567890" which is invalid. The correct command to change the password for this must have the password enclosed in quotation marks. The following command will change the password correctly:

cluster /cluster:testcluster /changepass:"Password&1234567890",Password1

More Information

[patris1]

http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb%3Ben-us%3B281662&x=13&y=15

Note The information in this article addresses a situation that you do not generally encounter in most Information Technology architectures.

Links to all of the articles that are referenced within this article are located in the "References" section.

There are instances when you can deploy Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 cluster nodes in an environment where there are no pre-existing Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, or Windows Server 2003 domain controllers. This scenario requires that you configure at least one of the cluster nodes as a domain controller. However, in a two-node cluster, if one node is a domain controller, the other node must also be a domain controller. If this is a Windows 2000 Datacenter or Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition Server four-node cluster implementation, you do not have to configure all four nodes as domain controllers. However, because it is best practice to have at least one backup domain controller, it is a good idea to configure at least one of the remaining three nodes as a domain controller. Because Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 depend on the Domain Name System (DNS), each domain controller must be a DNS server if there is not another DNS server available that supports dynamic updates or SRV records. (Microsoft recommends that you use Active Directory-integrated zones). For additional information, refer to article 255913.

To have Windows Clustering function properly (where the Cluster service starts on each node) the node that forms the cluster must be able to validate the Cluster service domain account, which is the account that you configure during the Windows Clustering installation. To accomplish this, each node must be able to establish a secure channel with a domain controller to validate this account. If the node cannot validate the account, the Cluster service does not start. This is also true for other clustered programs that must have account validation for services to start, such as Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Exchange.

Note Exchange 2000 and Exchange Server 2003 are not supported in a clustered configuration where the cluster nodes are domain controllers. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 898634 (Active Directory domain controllers are not supported as Exchange Server cluster nodes ) Active Directory domain controllers are not supported as Exchange Server cluster nodes
If you have a cluster deployment in which there is no link with either a Windows NT 4.0 domain, a Windows 2000 domain, or a Windows Server 2003 domain, you must configure the cluster nodes as domain controllers so that the Cluster service account can always be validated to allow for proper cluster functionality.

If the connectivity between cluster nodes and domain controllers is such that the link is either slow or unreliable, consider having a domain controller co-located with the cluster, or configuring the cluster nodes as domain controllers.

Consider the following important points when you are deploying Windows Clustering nodes as domain controllers:

• Some hotfixes or service packs may not be recommened for application to a Windows Clustering enviroment. Make sure that you verify that the hotfix should be applied to a server cluster.
• We do not recommend that you combine the domain controller role and the server clusters role on a single computer.
• If one cluster node in a two-node cluster is a domain controller, all nodes must be domain controllers. It is recommended that you configure at least two of the nodes in a four-node Datacenter cluster as domain controllers.
• There is overhead that is associated with the running of a domain controller. A domain controller that is idle can use anywhere between 130 to 140 megabytes (MB) of RAM, which includes the running of Windows Clustering. There is also replication traffic if these domain controllers have to replicate with other domain controllers within the domain and across domains. Most corporate deployments of clusters include nodes with gigabytes (GB) of memory so this is not generally an issue.
• If the Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 cluster nodes are the only domain controllers, they each have to be DNS servers as well, and they should point to themselves for primary DNS resolution, and to each other for secondary DNS resolution. You must address the problem of the ability to not register the private interface in DNS, especially if it is connected by way of a crossover cable (two-node only). For additional information about how to configure the heartbeat interface, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 258750 (Recommended private "Heartbeat" configuration on a cluster server ) Recommended private "heartbeat" configuration on a cluster server
  However, before you can accomplish step 12 in article 258750, you must first modify other configuration settings, which are outlined in the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 275554 (The Host's "A" Record Is Registered in DNS After You Choose Not to Register the Connection's Address ) The host's "A" record is registered in DNS after you choose not to register the connection's address
• If the cluster nodes are the only domain controllers, they must each be global catalog servers, or you must implement domainlets.
• The first domain controller in the forest takes on all flexible single master operation roles (refer to article 197132). You can redistribute these roles to each node. However, if a node fails, the flexible single master operation roles that the node has taken on are no longer available. You can use Ntdsutil to forcibly take away the roles and assign them to the node that is still running (refer to article 223787). Review article 223346 for information about placement of flexible single master operation roles throughout the domain.
• If a domain controller is so busy that the Cluster service is unable to gain access to the Quorum drive as needed, the Cluster service may interpret this as a resource failure and cause the cluster group to fail over to the other node. If the Quorum drive is in another group (although it should not be), and it is configured to affect the group, a failure may move all group resources to the other node, which may not be desirable. For more information regarding Quorum configuration, please refer to the article 280345 listed in the "Reference" section.
• Clustering other programs, such as SQL or Exchange, in a scenario where the nodes are also domain controllers, may not result in optimal performance due to resource constraints.
• You cannot cluster domain controllers for fault tolerance. You can promote computers to be domain controllers, and then you can install the Cluster service on those computers, but there is no method to store Active Directory on any one of the cluster's managed drives. There is no "failover" of Active Directory.
• You may want to consider making cluster nodes domain controllers (refer to article 171390 for more information), but if a domain controller is already local, or there is a reliable high-speed connectivity to a domain controller available, Microsoft does not recommend implementing them on cluster nodes.
  
  Note You must promote a cluster node to a domain controller by using the Dcpromo tool prior to installing Windows Clustering (refer to article 269229 for more information).
• Cluster nodes cannot be Read-Only Domain Controllers (RODC). This configuration is not supported.

For more information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 255913 (Integrating Windows 2000 DNS into an existing BIND or Windows NT 4.0-based DNS namespace ) Integrating Windows 2000 DNS into an existing BIND or Windows NT 4.0-based DNS namespace
258750 (Recommended private "Heartbeat" configuration on a cluster server ) Recommended private "heartbeat" configuration on cluster server
275554 (The Host's "A" Record Is Registered in DNS After You Choose Not to Register the Connection's Address ) The host's "A" record is registered in DNS after you choose not to register the connection's address
223787 (Flexible Single Master Operation Transfer and Seizure Process ) Flexible single master operation transfer and seizure process
197132 (Windows 2000 Active Directory FSMO roles ) Windows 2000 Active Directory FSMO roles
223346 (FSMO placement and optimization on Active Directory domain controllers ) FSMO placement and optimization on Windows 2000 domain controllers
269229 (How to manually re-create the Cluster service account ) How to manually re-create the Cluster service account
234790 (How To Find Servers That Hold Flexible Single Master Operations Roles ) How to find servers that hold flexible single master operations roles
171390 (Cluster Service May Not Start if Domain Controller Is Unavailable ) Cluster service may not start if domain controller Is unavailable
298570 (BUG: Virtual SQL Server 2000 installations may fail if you try to install SQL Server 2000 to Windows 2000 domain controllers ) Virtual SQL Server 2000 installations may fail if installed to Windows 2000 domain controllers
For additional information about Quorum drive configuration information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 280345 (Quorum Drive Configuration Information ) Quorum drive configuration information
For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 834231 (When a Windows Server 2003 cluster node is a domain controller, you may receive an error message when you add domain users to the cluster file share ) When a Windows Server 2003 cluster node is a domain controller, you may receive an error message when you add domain users to the cluster file share
For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 898634 (Active Directory domain controllers are not supported as Exchange Server cluster nodes ) Active Directory domain controllers are not supported as Exchange Server cluster nodes



APPLIES TO

• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition (32-bit x86)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition (32-bit x86)
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
• Windows Server 2008 Datacenter
• Windows Server 2008 Enterprise