File Server Cluster HA setup with VSAN

matt001 · Tue Sep 19, 2017 11:00 pm

Hi

I am new to StarWinds Virtual SAN and I am wanting some guidance on how to setup the following

Two Physical Servers Windows 2016 Standard Server with StarWinds VirtualSAN and Hyper V

I was wanting to create two VMs FS01 and FS02 in a HA Cluster that allowed all file shares to be accessed by \\fileserver then if FS01 had to go offline for windows updates or goes offline for some reason then FS02 would take over and users will still be able to access the Fileshares by \\fileserver

Or is their a better way to set this up

Thanks

Matthew

Wed Sep 20, 2017 2:52 pm

matt001,
For your purpose, please consult the following document https://www.starwindsoftware.com/techni ... Out_FS.pdf and implement Scale Out File Server in your environment, which would meet the requirements you stated.
Let us know if you encounter any difficulties when implementing this.

matt001 · Sun Oct 01, 2017 12:14 pm

Hi

I have read the HA Scale Out FS Technical Document, But I don't understand how this is meant to work for me.

I have two physical servers PSERVER01 and PSERVER02 with Windows 2016 Server installed with the Hyper V Role and the StarWinds VSAN Software.
I configure them as per the guide with ISCSI Targets, Failover Cluster.

But I want to build a 2node virtualised Windows 2016 HA File Server Cluster to be used as a File Server.

I assume I build a VM called FS01 on PSERVER01 in Hyper V pointing to the VHD to the Storage on PSERVER01 and build FS02 on PSERVER02 in Hyper V pointing to the Storage on PSERVER02 and I install the File Server Roles but how do I install / Configure the Failover Cluster for these 2 VMs FS01 and FS02 to be in a Cluster so all File Shares point to \\FS and then I can failover either FS01 or FS02.

If I can have some guide on best way to do this?

Regards

Matthew

Mon Oct 02, 2017 10:44 am

Mathew,

What is your benefit when setting this up and running on VMs instead of the physical hosts?

matt001 · Mon Oct 02, 2017 12:07 pm

Hi

I am also wanting to put 1 or 2 very small vm's on the same box as well.

Matthew

Tue Oct 03, 2017 9:09 am

Putting a couple of VMs along with the SOFS is not a problem at all. You can run this configuration smoothly. You do not need virtualized StarWind hosts.

matt001 · Tue Oct 03, 2017 10:25 am

Hi Boris,

I may not have explained myself very well, I do not want to virtualise the StarWinds Hosts at all.

I have two Physical Servers PServer1 and Pserver2

I have installed StarWindows VSAN on both PServer 1 and PServer 2 and have the Cluster Installed and working.

Now I want to build 2 hyper V Virtual Machines to be used as a HA File Server Cluster FS01 lives on PServer1 and FS02 lives on PServer2.

I know I can create the 2x Virtual Machines but how do I get these to work with the Cluster so the failover

Matthew

Tue Oct 03, 2017 3:01 pm

Matthew,

I got your your idea from the very first message.
In return, I say there is no obvious reason why you would like to have two VMs for the SOFS role. What I told you was putting StarWind onto bare metal servers (done at your side by now), make a cluster (done by now) and configure SOFS inside the cluster as one of its roles. You do not need anything more than you already have. The documents I gave you a link to explains how to setup SOFS in your cluster.