14 DAY TRIAL // With the advent of Windows Server 2008, Microsoft is taking failover out of what it referred to as a "dark art" status, and making the technology more mainstream. The software giant's latest Windows server operating system brings to the table streamlined failover clustering management capabilities designed to make the process both practical and accessible. Additionally, Microsoft introduced the Failover Clustering Configuration Program, an initiative aiming at bridging the gap between the server platform and the hardware. The Redmond company is essentially using FCCP in order to get partners to tailor pre-configured cluster configurations to Windows Server 2008.
"Windows Sever 2008 makes clustering simple to set up, deploy, and manage. It features enhancements that simplify the entire clustering workflow - increasing cluster security, providing enhanced stability and facilitating easier setup and management," stated Bob Visse, senior director in the Windows Server Marketing Group at Microsoft.
On top of boosted security, stability and availability, Windows Server 2008 delivers advanced support for storage area networks and for multi-site clustering, improved quorum model, enhanced cluster setup and migration, along with validation toolset and configuration validation Wizard shipping as default components and tweaked management interfaces for increased ease of usage.
With Windows Server 2003, Microsoft was offering consumers a Cluster Hardware Compatibility List, which specified cluster-approved components. With Windows Server 2008, this is no longer the case. The Cluster Hardware Compatibility List has been scraped, and Microsoft delivered a validation program focused on complete configurations rather than just on components.
"We went through the records of calls to our Customer Support Services hotline for the past several years relating to problems setting up clusters. We discovered that more than 55 percent of misconfigured clusters were the result of IT pro error. So we created a cluster configuration validation wizard for Windows Server 2008 that tests all the nodes in a network for proper configuration before they can be set up as a server cluster," explained Ward Ralston, group product manager for Windows Server.