System-Level Fault Tolerance (Clustering/Network Load Balancing) - Maintaining Cluster Nodes

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Applications are clustered due to the critical part they play in a business. Even though the highest availability and fault tolerance are needed, each cluster node will, at one point or another, require maintenance for hardware or software upgrades. To prepare a cluster node for maintenance, a few preliminary and post steps need to occur.

Pre-Maintenance Tasks

Before maintenance is run on a cluster node, several tasks need to be completed. To prepare a cluster node for maintenance, do the following:

1. Whether you're planning a software or hardware upgrade, research to see whether the changes will be supported on a cluster node.

2. Log on to a cluster node that will remain online using an account that has Administrative permissions on the cluster.

3. Click Start, Administrative Tools, Cluster Administrator.

4. If Cluster Administrator does not open to the correct cluster or does not open a cluster, pull down the Cluster Server menu and choose to connect to an existing cluster. Then enter the cluster's fully qualified domain name and click OK.

5. Find the server that will be going offline for maintenance and double-click it.

6. Double-click Active Groups.

7. If there are any active groups, when appropriate (after hours or during a change control session) right-click each active group and choose Move Group. If there are more than two nodes in the cluster, choose the node you are taking offline for maintenance.

8. Repeat step 7 for each remaining active group.

9. In the right pane, right-click the appropriate node and choose Pause Node.

10. Close Cluster Administrator.

Perform necessary maintenance, including any reboots if necessary. Check to see that all updates have been applied successfully and the server hardware and software are running as expected. When all checks are completed, you are ready to make this node available in the cluster.

Post-Maintenance Tasks

After maintenance has been conducted on a cluster, several tasks need to be completed. To perform follow-up maintenance, do the following:

1. Log on to a cluster node that has remained online using an account that has Administrative permissions on the cluster.

2. Click Start, Administrative Tools, Cluster Administrator.

3. If Cluster Administrator does not open to the correct cluster or does not open to any cluster, pull down the Cluster Server menu and choose Connect to an Existing Cluster. Then enter the cluster's fully qualified domain name and click OK.

4. Find the server that is paused for maintenance, right-click it, and choose Resume Node.

5. In the right pane, double-click the cluster name at the top of the window.

6. Double-click Groups.

7. In the left pane, right-click a cluster group that you want running back in the updated node and choose Move Group. (If there are more than two nodes in the cluster, choose the upgraded node.)

8. Repeat step 7 for any additional cluster groups you want running on the upgraded node. When finished selecting the cluster groups, click OK to execute.

This chapter is from Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Unleashed, by Rand Morimoto, et al. (Sams Publishing, 2004, ISBN: 0672326671). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today. Buy this book now.

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