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Failover Clustering

The Windows Server 2008 Failover Cluster Configuration Program (FCCP) is designed to deliver tested and validated hardware configurations for your High Availability needs. The program is based on Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering and partner hardware configurations that have been strenuously tested and validated to work. These tests provide you with the assurance and confidence to build a High Availability solution.

Program Details

The Failover Cluster Configuration Program is a vendor partnership program that Microsoft has created to make the acquisition of hardware for Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering very easy and simple. With the Failover Cluster Configuration Program, vendors will position entire cluster configurations that they have tested and validated to work with Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering. This gives you the assurance and confidence that the hardware will deliver the High Availability you require for your infrastructure.

Failover Cluster Validation

Vendor solutions undergo strenuous testing in order to be listed as a supported configuration. Vendors use test tools that are supplied to Microsoft to test the hardware they provide to the end customer. The following is a brief example of the type of testing vendors perform on the configurations they build.

  • BIOS Information for all the nodes in the cluster.

  • Environment Variables, such as the number of processors, the operating system path, and the location of temporary folders.

  • Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapters (HBA), typically a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) card that connects the server to the storage. These support Fibre Channel.

  • iSCSI Host Bus Adapters, usually a PCI card that connects the server to the storage.

  • Memory Information, which is the memory configuration for each node in the cluster.

  • Operating System Information, such as information about the operating system configuration on the node. Items include operating system version, service pack level, installation date, Windows directory location, page file size and location, boot device, and other operating system information.

  • Plug-and-Play (PnP) Devices on each node.

  • Running Processes on each node in the cluster.

  • SAS Host Bus Adapters, which is most often a PCI card that connects the server to the storage. These support Serial Attached SCSI (SAS).

  • Services Information installed on all nodes in the failover cluster.

  • Software Updates, such as hotfixes, that have been installed on the servers.

  • System Drivers that are installed on each node of the cluster.

  • System Information, including computer name, domain, manufacturer, mode, and type.