Below are the few steps to use a cluster as file server or as print server. These are just the basic’s

Start the wizzard choose the file server option and add a IP to the netbios name

  

select the disk that you want to use for file sharing

  

Now I make a share in this cluster , select the disk and if you want to change the permissions do this here. because I had the quorum disk on this disk the cluster folder is on the data disk.

  

  

This I like a lot below is the enable access based enumeration I made a post on how to do this in windows 2003.

Clustering Access-based Enumeration (ABE) - Windows Live

and now it is just a setting

  

You can create a DFS link if you want. This will I do in a next session.

    

As you can see it is much next next I agree just the basics are easy to do. the next blog items are all about R2 RC.

I have almosted everything clusterd , so get some hardware and use R2 !

 

For a demo I did setup a windows 2008 R2 RC x64 server with HV. Because the demo hardware was not on the FCCP list. It takes more time to setup the server. So a Hint use hardware that is on the FCCP list !.

So I used a x64 OS and still I hate this the drivers is always an issue , even a 3com nic won’t run these cards where very popular but no driver. so I was looking for some other elcheapo nics but almost every nic is not supported with x64 software. Why !!

If the industry want us to use x64 software just make sure that there are drivers for x64, and not the crapy once.

So In this senario I used the rocketdivision software for ISCSI. This week you can also use the windows 2008 Storage server with the microsoft ISCSI target software. You can also download the ISCSI software from teched but remember it runs only on storage server.

It is a MSI file so maybe you can adjust it so that it runs on other servers, not that I tried this ;-)

Ok my POC config.

here are my 3 nic’s   Open de failover MMC

So first we start the validate configuration.

So fill in the node names as I added the second node, and as you can see the wizzard tells me that the failover services is not installed

I installed the feature on the second node and rerun the wizzard

    

As you can see the node1 and node2 are added.

  

The validation configuration wizzard is success full

Now that We know that I can make a cluster , we added some disk to the nodes.

one disk as Witness disk and one for data

  

  

On node the was no mpio installed so I did this to, remember node1 and node2 needs to be the same if you want to use the services in a cluster

Now We create cluster

  

 

Now that the cluster is in place and you want to remove the cluster is can be done with powershell quick and easy.

Now we do it by powershell

cluster /destroy /cleanup

The mmc is not refreshing

So what we didn’t do is configuring the cluster network .

So I do not want that my iscsi nic is doing clustering.

  

The one thing I hate after the wizzard is to reconfigure the quorum disk.

       

Now the cluster is in place

 

Many of you ask about the cheapest way to deploy your own cluster. We all know that the hardware requirements are very flexible, so long as the components have a Windows Server logo and the complete solutions passes Validate (support policy) … but what about storage?

Clustering does have a few storage requirements. The storage must be shared between the cluster nodes so that when a node fails and the other node picks up the workload, it will be able to access the same data which is on that shared disk. You may use Fibre Channel, Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) or iSCSI, and the device must support persistent reservations (hardware requirements). But networked storage can be expensive…until now!

Windows Storage Server 2008 (WSS 2008) with the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.2 is now available to all MSDN and TechNet Plus subscribers. A version for evaluation (TechNet Plus or MSDN), demonstration (MSDN), development (MSDN) or test (MSDN) is now being provided to MSDN and TechNet Plus subscribers for the first time. Rather than using expensive shared storage you simply run Storage Server on another machine. All communication is done over regular Ethernet cables, so HBAs or an expensive SAN are not needed. With just any three computers (2 cluster nodes and 1 iSCSI Target / DC) and a hub you can have your own Failover Cluster! Now there are no excuses for not trying out clustering.

Full details and a FAQ are available at: http://blogs.technet.com/josebda/archive/2009/05/12/windows-storage-server-2008-with-the-microsoft-iscsi-software-target-3-2-available-to-msdn-and-technet-plus-subscribers.aspx

Source : http://blogs.msdn.com/clustering/archive/2009/05/14/9613924.aspx

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: I tried to install the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.2 on Windows Server 2008 (or Windows Server 2008 R2) and I got an error saying “Installation is not supported on this operating system”. What’s the problem?
A: The Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.2 can only be installed on Windows Storage Server 2008 Standard, Enterprise or Workgroup. It cannot be installed on other OS version, like Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2.

So you need Storage Server !

If you don’t want storage server but you do want to use ISCSI take a peek at Starwind.

The is a trail version.

The amount of data supported within the organization continues to grow every year. Regulatory requirements, archival demands and data availability push storage requirements to their limits. As the datacenter grows, so does power consumption, physical space requirements and the need for improved hardware to handle the massive volume of data. Administrators need more than just raw storage capacity, but to implement the storage techniques and strategies that help them prioritize data and provide a standard of service. Storage demands will continue to grow and a storage solution is needed that can grow with the demand. Windows Storage Server 2008 can enable your organization to optimize your datacenter storage requirements.

It is finally here – the Windows Storage Server 2008 release based on Windows Server 2008 is ready for OEM embedded partners to develop dedicated NAS and block appliances. Learn about the new improvements in the OS, including OEM extensibility, Single Instance Storage (SIS), Java-based remote desktop features and the new iSCSI Software Target package

Get more info here

Or See the webcast :  TechNet Webcast: Introducing Windows Storage Server 2008 (Level 300)

The microsoft Skydrive is very handy 25 gb lots of space, easy to put 25000 pictures in the drive.

But how do you get them off , one by one ;-( pictures are easy with the live photo manager but what about files ??

Well I found the tool for this. my cloud desktop  http://www.gladinet.com/ 

You can mount you skydrive as a windows drive.

 

*Gladinet Beta testers may receive a free license with one year free upgrade
*Some features may be disabled during Beta testing
*Please check the product for the exact list of integrated cloud storages/applications

There are 3 versions Check it out !

http://www.gladinet.com/p/download_professional.htm