One cooperation issue about Windows 2012 R2 Failover cluster and SF cluster shared disk group

[david_zhang1]

Hi, I wanna use the SFW6.1 new feature as cluster shared disk group in Windows server 2012 R2. I can create the cluster share disk group and volume, and cluster nodes can import the dg and mount the volume at the same time. But I can not add the disk group in failover cluster as symantec docs. The problem is the diskgroupname.

[Marianne]

The problem is the diskgroupname.

What exactly is the problem with the diskgroup name? 

Do you have SFW Enterprise license with support for Microsoft Cluster?

[Wally_Heim]

Hi David,

It sounds like you have done things in the wrong order and are trying to manually configure the wrong resource.

With the 6.1 product you can create cluster shared disk group.  This diskgroup is automatically imported on the node when SFW services start up.  If you have a cluster created and you create a volume in the cluster shared disk group, SFW will automatically create a "Volume Manager Shared Volume" resource to manage which cluster node has access to the volume.  This resource should show up in Cluster Manager under Storage -> Disks.  Then it can be moved to the needed cluster role (service group) as needed.

If you are going to create a Volume Manager Shared Volume resource manually, it only has 3 attributes, DiskRunChkDsk, MountPoint and DeviceName.  You can get the device name by running the following command:

   vxvol -v volinfo <driveletter/mount path>

Look thru the output to find "DeviceName".

There is no specific property for diskgroup name for the Volume Manager Shared Volume resource.

Please let us know if you have any other problems.  Keep in mind that Symantec Technical Support is avaialble to assist you if needed.

Thank you,

Wally

[david_zhang1]

Hi,

    Thanks.

    The failover cluster can find my volume which is created with cluster shared disk group, and works fine. But if I enable the live migration function for hyper-v VMs, must add Disk group resource manually in cluster management console. So, I need to change the properties for the disk group resource,the system error when I change the disk group name. Our document shows that the disk group name is the SFW disk group name,but it can not works fine.

[david_zhang1]

“With the 6.1 product you can create cluster shared disk group.  This diskgroup is automatically imported on the node when SFW services start up. ”

The failover cluster can noly automatically import volume information as disk or available storage, no any diskgroup information in the failover cluster console.

[Wally_Heim]

Hi David,

There is no need to use the Volume Manager Diskgroup resource when using the Volume Manager Shared Volume resource.  As I stated, SFW will automatically import the Cluster Shared Diskgroup on startup on every node in the cluster.  If for whatever reason the Cluster Shared Diskgroup is not imported, the online operation of the Volume Manager Shared Volume resource will trigger a import for the Diskgroup that the volume resides in.  The diskgroup is determined by the DevicePath of the Volumen Manager Shared Volume resource.

The Volume Manager Shared Volume resource is seen as type "Storage" by Windows 2012/2012 R2 failover clusters.

Keep in mind that only 1 Cluster Shared Diskgroup is supported in a single Windows Failover cluster.  This is not a problem since failover is at the volume level and not at the diskgroup level with this type of configuration.

You can open a case with Symantec Technical Support and we can help you this issue directly.

Thank you,

Wally

[david_zhang1]

The document Veritas Storage Foundation™and Disaster Recovery Solutions for Microsoft Hyper-V™ shows following:

■ Select the General tab to change the default name of the New Volume Manager Disk Group to a name of your choice. Say, for example: VMDg1
■ Now select the Properties tab and perform the following steps:
■ In the DiskGroupName box enter the dynamic cluster disk group name
created earlier in this document. Say, for example GuestDG1. See “Creating dynamic cluster disk groups” on page 34.
■ Edit the LiveMigrationSupport attribute value to TRUE. Displayed default value is FALSE.

As the words, I need to add one disk group resource and change the properties, but I can not do this with error message.

[Wally_Heim]

Hi David,

I think I now see the issue.  You mentioned that you were using the new Clustered Shared Diskgroup option that is in the 6.1 release.  However, the document that you mention is from a special feature release on the 6.0 product.  The Hyper-V DR feature from 6.0 was not brought forward to the 6.1 product line.  What that document is having you do does not apply to the 6.1 product and would not be compatible with the Clustered Shared Diskgroups even if it were brought forward.

The 6.1 release did introduce Application HA product to Hyper-V VMs and the 6.1 release introduced Clustered Shared Diskgroups that works with Live-Migration of Hyper-V Failover Clusters.  These are technically 2 different products with one being installed on the guest VMs and the other being installed on the physical Hyper-V servers.

Can you provide more details on what exactly you are trying to accomplish and what version of the product that you are going to use?

Thank you,

Wally