HyperV Failover Cluster (with/without CSV)
Been browsing a few websites, and it seems right now all hyper-v clusters are build on CSV ( clustered share volume ).
I have a current setup (2 node window failover cluster).
I have 2 vms running on node1 each in its own cluster disk e.g.
- vmA (owner-node1) on clusterdisk1 (owner-node1)
- vmB (owner-node1) on clusterdisk2 (owner-node1)
I have 1 vm running on node2 in its own cluster disk as well.
- vmC (owner-node2) on clusterdisk3 (owner-node2)
q1) can the VMS in node1 run in the same clusterdisk ? (e.g. clusterdisk1) ?
q2) When node1 fail, node2 will take ownership of the clusterdisk1,2 and startup the VM; So what is the difference between using clusterdisk and CSV ?
I am using window server 2012 r2
Solution 1:
Michael Brown already answered it, just wanted to add:
CSV is currently the best practice storage configuration for both Hyper-V, SQL FCI, and SoFS. 99% of the clustered systems I configure for the customers are built on CSV and remaining 1% uses DAG and AlwaysOn AG like BaronSamedi1958 mentioned above.
Also,CSV now has a benefit of ODX (Offloaded Data (X)fer). It's a cool thing to have as it offloads storage commands overhead to the SAN, unlocking more resources to the hypervisor itself. Finally, CSV requires shared storage. Your 2 best candidates here are:
- MS Storage Spaces direct (either 2+witness or 3-node minimum, but it's not yet released and will require datacenter license) https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt126109.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396
- StarWind Virtual SAN (2 nodes w/o witness needed for fault tolerant storage, Free version with production support already available) https://www.starwindsoftware.com/starwind-virtual-san-free
Solution 2:
CSV is layered on top of some physical shared storage so you can have [ cluster ] without shared storage.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluster_Shared_Volumes
You can still have a cluster without shared storage / CSV say Exchange DAG and SQL Server AAG.
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd979799(v=exchg.150).aspx
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff877884.aspx