Step-by-Step: Configuring Windows Server 8 Beta iSCSI Target Software for Use in a Cluster

If you just download the bits for Windows Server 8 Beta and you are anxious to try out all the great new features including Windows Storage Spaces, Continuously Available Fail Servers and Hyper-V Availability. Many of those new features are going to require you become familiar with Windows Server Failover Clustering. In addition, things like Storage Spaces are going require that you have access to additional storage to simulate JBODS. Windows iSCSI Target Software is a great way for you to provide storage for Failover Clustering and Spaces in a lab environment so you can play around with these new features.

This Step-by-Step Article assumes you have three Windows Server 8 servers running in a domain environment. My lab environment consists of the following:

Hardware
My three servers are all virtual machines running on VMware Workstation 8 on top of my Windows 7 laptop with 16 GB of RAM. See my article on how to install Windows Server 8 on VMware Workstation 8.

Server Names and Roles
PRIMARY.win8.local – my cluster node 1
SECONDARY.win8.local – my cluster node 2
WIN-EHVIK0RFBIU.win8.local – my domain controller (guess who forgot to rename his DC before I promoted it to be a Domain ControllerJ)

Network
192.168.37.X/24 – my public network also used to carry iSCSI traffic
10.X.X.X /8– a private network defined just between PRIMARY and SECONDARY for cluster communication

This article is going to walk you through step-by-step on how to do the following:

The article consist mostly of screen shots, but I also add notes where needed.

Install the iSCSI Target Role on your Domain Controller

Click on Add roles and features to install the iSCSI target role.

You will find that the iSCSI target role is a feature that is found under File And Storage Servers/File Services. Just select iSCSI Target Server and click Next to begin the installation of the iSCSI Target Server role.

Configure the iSCSI Target

The iSCSI target software is managed under File and Storage Services on the Server Manager Dashboard, click on that to continue

The first step in creating an iSCSI target is to create an iSCSI Virtual Disk. Click on Launch the New Virtual Disk wizard to create a virtual disk.

Connect to the iSCSI Target using the iSCSI Initiator

Format the iSCSI Target

Connect to the shared iSCSI Target from the SECONDARY Server

Configure Windows Server 8 Failover Clustering

BIZTALK TIPS: How to Cluster Message Queuing / How to Cluster MSDTC

Cluster support is provided for the BizTalk Server MSMQ adapter by running the MSMQ adapter handlers in a clustered instance of a BizTalk Host. If the BizTalk Server MSMQ adapter handlers are run in a clustered instance of a BizTalk Host, a clustered Message Queuing (MSMQ) resource should also be configured to run in the same cluster group as the clustered BizTalk Host when using the Send adapter or the Receive adapter for BizTalk Server 2006 R2 and earlier. This should be done for the following reasons:

• MSMQ adapter receive handler – The MSMQ adapter receive handler for BizTalk Server 2006 R2 and earlier does not support remote transactional reads; only local transactional reads are supported. The MSMQ adapter receive handler on BizTalk Server 2006 R2 and earlier must run in a host instance that is local to the clustered MSMQ service in order to complete local transactional reads with the MSMQ adapter.
• MSMQ adapter send handler – To ensure the consistency of transactional sends made by the MSMQ adapter, the outgoing queue used by the MSMQ adapter send handler should be highly available, so that if the MSMQ service for the outgoing queue fails, it can be resumed. Configuring a clustered MSMQ resource and the MSMQ adapter send handlers in the same cluster group will ensure that the outgoing queue used by the MSMQ adapter send handler will be highly available. This will mitigate the possibility of message loss in the event that the MSMQ service fails.

Many BizTalk Server operations are performed within the scope of a Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MSDTC) transaction.

A clustered MSDTC resource must be available on the Windows Server cluster to provide transaction services for any clustered BizTalk Server components or dependencies. BizTalk Server components or dependencies that can be configured as Windows Server cluster resources include the following:

• BizTalk Host
• Enterprise Single Sign-On (SSO) service
• SQL Server instance
• Message Queuing (MSMQ) service
• Windows File system

Windows Server 2003 only supports running MSDTC on cluster nodes as a clustered resource.

Windows Server 2008 supports running a local DTC on any server node in the failover cluster; even if a default clustered DTC resource is configured.

To configure Message Queuing for high availability (Windows Server 2008)

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1. To start the Failover Cluster Management program, click Start, Programs, Administrative Tools, and then click Failover Cluster Management.
2. In the left pane, right-click Failover Cluster Management, and then click Manage a Cluster.
3. In the Select a cluster to manage dialog box, enter the cluster to be managed, and then click OK.
4. To start the High Availability Wizard, i the left pane, click to expand the cluster, right-click Services and Applications, and then click Configure a Service or Application.
5. If the Before You Begin page of the High Availability Wizard is displayed, click Next.
6. On the Select Service or Application page, click Message Queuing, and then click Next.
7. On the Client Access Point page, enter a value for Name, enter an available IP address under Address, and then click Next.
8. On the Select Storage page, click a disk resource, and then click Next.
9. On the Confirmation page, click Next.
10. On the Summary page, click Finish.
11. To create a clustered MSDTC resource on the cluster so that there is transaction support for the clustered MSMQ resource, follow this steps:

 

To configure the Distributed Transaction Coordinator (DTC) for high availability (Windows Server 2008)

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1. To start the Failover Cluster Management program, click Start, Programs, Administrative Tools, and then click Failover Cluster Management.
2. In the left hand pane, right-click Failover Cluster Management, and then click Manage a Cluster.
3. In the Select a cluster to manage dialog box, enter the cluster to be managed, and then click OK.
4. To start the High Availability Wizard, in the left pane click to expand the cluster, right-click Services and Applications, and then click Configure a Service or Application.
5. If the Before You Begin page of the High Availability Wizard is displayed, click Next.
6. On the Select Service or Application page, click Distributed Transaction Coordinator, and then click Next.
7. On the Client Access Point page, enter a value for Name, enter an available IP address under Address, and then click Next.
8. On the Select Storage page, click to select a disk resource and then click Next.
9. On the Confirmation page, click Next.
10. On the Summary page, click Finish.

 

To configure the MSDTC transaction mode as Incoming Caller Authentication Required (Windows Server 2008)

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1. To open the Component Services management console, click Start, Programs, Administrative Tools, and then click Component Services.
2. Click to expand Component Services, click to expand Computers, click to expand My Computer, click to expand Distributed Transaction Coordinator, click to expand Clustered DTCs, right-click the clustered DTC resource, and then click Properties.
3. Click the Security tab.
4. If network DTC access is not already enabled, click to enable the Network DTC Access option. Network DTC access must be enabled to accommodate transactional support for BizTalk Server.
5. Under Transaction Manager Communication, enable the following options:
   • Allow Inbound
   • Allow Outbound
   • Incoming Caller Authentication Required
6. After changing security settings for the clustered distributed transaction coordinator resource, the resource will be restarted. Click Yes and OK when prompted.
7. Close the Component Services management console.

 

To add an MSMQ resource to an existing cluster group (Windows Server 2003)

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1. To start the Cluster Administrator program, click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Cluster Administrator.
2. Click to select a cluster group other than the quorum group that contains a Name and Disk resource.
3. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Resource.
4. Enter a value for the Name field of the New Resource dialog box, for example, MSMQ.
5. In the Resource type drop-down list, click Message Queuing, and then click Next.
6. In the Possible Owners dialog box, include each cluster node as a possible owner of the message queuing resource, and then click Next.
7. In the Dependencies dialog box, add a dependency to a network name resource and the disk resource associated with this group, and then click Finish.
8. Click OK in the dialog box that indicates that the resource was created successfully.
9. To create a clustered MSDTC resource on the cluster so that there is transaction support for the clustered MSMQ resource, follow this steps:

 

To add an MSDTC resource to an existing cluster group (Windows Server 2003)

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1. To start the Cluster Administrator program, click Start, Programs, Administrative Tools, and then click Cluster Administrator.
2. Click to select a cluster group other than the quorum group that contains a Physical Disk, IP Address, and Network Name resource. To create a group with a Physical Disk, IP Address, and Network Name resource if one does not already exist.
3. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Resource.
4. Enter a value for the Name field of the New Resource dialog box, for example, MSDTC.
5. In the Resource type drop-down list, click Distributed Transaction Coordinator, and then click Next.
6. In the Possible Owners dialog box, include each cluster node as a possible owner of the distributed transaction coordinator resource, and then click Next.
7. In the Dependencies dialog box, add a dependency to a network name resource and the disk resource associated with this group, and then click Finish.
8. In the dialog box that indicates that the resource was created successfully, click OK.

 

To configure the MSDTC transaction mode as Incoming Caller Authentication Required (Windows Server 2003)

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1. To open the Component Services management console, click Start, Programs, Administrative Tools, and then Component Services.
2. Click to expand Component Services, and then click to expand Computer.
3. Right-click My Computer, and then select the Properties menu item to display the My Computer Properties dialog box.
4. Click the MSDTC tab.
5. To display the Security Configuration dialog box, click Security Configuration .
6. If network DTC access is not already enabled, click to enable the Network DTC Access option. Network DTC access must be enabled to accommodate transactional support for BizTalk Server.
7. Under Transaction Manager Communication, enable the following options:
   • Allow Inbound
   • Allow Outbound
   • Incoming Caller Authentication Required
8. Stop and restart the Distributed Transaction Coordinator service.