Clustering without RAID Array

#1

Hi,
basically I want to do a proof of concept and get used to setting up
clustering. I am ready to buy 4 cheap boxes and have 2 for the cluster nodes,
a main server and a client. These 2 cluster boxes each have 2 PCI slots free.
What I want is for the 2 nodes to access a central disk just like it was a
RAID array. You see unfortunately I don't have the cash to buy a RAID array
and I'm not too worried about that part anyway. So - how can I do it? Is it
possible to have a central external drive and somehow have it connected to
the 2 cluster nodes via SCSI PCI cards?
TIA.

#2

It is possible, but will likely be more hassle than it's worth. You'd need a
Y-SCSI cable and then you'd need to worry about terminating it properly.

Best bet for a POC would be to use virtual machines and VHD's or iSCSI (if
you've got iSCSI target software).

Regards,
John

Visit my blog: http://msmvps.com/blogs/jtoner

"Cluster Beginner" <ClusterBeginner (AT) discussions (DOT) microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:A3BD81F0-B34D-443A-8971-E2F3DB8A3D52 (AT) microsoft (DOT) com...

Quote:

Hi,
basically I want to do a proof of concept and get used to setting up
clustering. I am ready to buy 4 cheap boxes and have 2 for the cluster
nodes,
a main server and a client. These 2 cluster boxes each have 2 PCI slots
free.
What I want is for the 2 nodes to access a central disk just like it was a
RAID array. You see unfortunately I don't have the cash to buy a RAID
array
and I'm not too worried about that part anyway. So - how can I do it? Is
it
possible to have a central external drive and somehow have it connected to
the 2 cluster nodes via SCSI PCI cards?
TIA.

#3

It is possible, but will likely be more hassle than it's worth. You'd need a
Y-SCSI cable and then you'd need to worry about terminating it properly.

Best bet for a POC would be to use virtual machines and VHD's or iSCSI (if
you've got iSCSI target software).

Regards,
John

Visit my blog: http://msmvps.com/blogs/jtoner

"Cluster Beginner" <ClusterBeginner (AT) discussions (DOT) microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:A3BD81F0-B34D-443A-8971-E2F3DB8A3D52 (AT) microsoft (DOT) com...

Quote:

Hi,
basically I want to do a proof of concept and get used to setting up
clustering. I am ready to buy 4 cheap boxes and have 2 for the cluster
nodes,
a main server and a client. These 2 cluster boxes each have 2 PCI slots
free.
What I want is for the 2 nodes to access a central disk just like it was a
RAID array. You see unfortunately I don't have the cash to buy a RAID
array
and I'm not too worried about that part anyway. So - how can I do it? Is
it
possible to have a central external drive and somehow have it connected to
the 2 cluster nodes via SCSI PCI cards?
TIA.

#4

It is possible, but will likely be more hassle than it's worth. You'd need a
Y-SCSI cable and then you'd need to worry about terminating it properly.

Best bet for a POC would be to use virtual machines and VHD's or iSCSI (if
you've got iSCSI target software).

Regards,
John

Visit my blog: http://msmvps.com/blogs/jtoner

"Cluster Beginner" <ClusterBeginner (AT) discussions (DOT) microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:A3BD81F0-B34D-443A-8971-E2F3DB8A3D52 (AT) microsoft (DOT) com...

Quote:

Hi,
basically I want to do a proof of concept and get used to setting up
clustering. I am ready to buy 4 cheap boxes and have 2 for the cluster
nodes,
a main server and a client. These 2 cluster boxes each have 2 PCI slots
free.
What I want is for the 2 nodes to access a central disk just like it was a
RAID array. You see unfortunately I don't have the cash to buy a RAID
array
and I'm not too worried about that part anyway. So - how can I do it? Is
it
possible to have a central external drive and somehow have it connected to
the 2 cluster nodes via SCSI PCI cards?
TIA.

#5

It is possible, but will likely be more hassle than it's worth. You'd need a
Y-SCSI cable and then you'd need to worry about terminating it properly.

Best bet for a POC would be to use virtual machines and VHD's or iSCSI (if
you've got iSCSI target software).

Regards,
John

Visit my blog: http://msmvps.com/blogs/jtoner

"Cluster Beginner" <ClusterBeginner (AT) discussions (DOT) microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:A3BD81F0-B34D-443A-8971-E2F3DB8A3D52 (AT) microsoft (DOT) com...

Quote:

Hi,
basically I want to do a proof of concept and get used to setting up
clustering. I am ready to buy 4 cheap boxes and have 2 for the cluster
nodes,
a main server and a client. These 2 cluster boxes each have 2 PCI slots
free.
What I want is for the 2 nodes to access a central disk just like it was a
RAID array. You see unfortunately I don't have the cash to buy a RAID
array
and I'm not too worried about that part anyway. So - how can I do it? Is
it
possible to have a central external drive and somehow have it connected to
the 2 cluster nodes via SCSI PCI cards?
TIA.

#6

It is possible, but will likely be more hassle than it's worth. You'd need a
Y-SCSI cable and then you'd need to worry about terminating it properly.

Best bet for a POC would be to use virtual machines and VHD's or iSCSI (if
you've got iSCSI target software).

Regards,
John

Visit my blog: http://msmvps.com/blogs/jtoner

"Cluster Beginner" <ClusterBeginner (AT) discussions (DOT) microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:A3BD81F0-B34D-443A-8971-E2F3DB8A3D52 (AT) microsoft (DOT) com...

Quote:

Hi,
basically I want to do a proof of concept and get used to setting up
clustering. I am ready to buy 4 cheap boxes and have 2 for the cluster
nodes,
a main server and a client. These 2 cluster boxes each have 2 PCI slots
free.
What I want is for the 2 nodes to access a central disk just like it was a
RAID array. You see unfortunately I don't have the cash to buy a RAID
array
and I'm not too worried about that part anyway. So - how can I do it? Is
it
possible to have a central external drive and somehow have it connected to
the 2 cluster nodes via SCSI PCI cards?
TIA.

#7

It is possible, but will likely be more hassle than it's worth. You'd need a
Y-SCSI cable and then you'd need to worry about terminating it properly.

Best bet for a POC would be to use virtual machines and VHD's or iSCSI (if
you've got iSCSI target software).

Regards,
John

Visit my blog: http://msmvps.com/blogs/jtoner

"Cluster Beginner" <ClusterBeginner (AT) discussions (DOT) microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:A3BD81F0-B34D-443A-8971-E2F3DB8A3D52 (AT) microsoft (DOT) com...

Quote:

Hi,
basically I want to do a proof of concept and get used to setting up
clustering. I am ready to buy 4 cheap boxes and have 2 for the cluster
nodes,
a main server and a client. These 2 cluster boxes each have 2 PCI slots
free.
What I want is for the 2 nodes to access a central disk just like it was a
RAID array. You see unfortunately I don't have the cash to buy a RAID
array
and I'm not too worried about that part anyway. So - how can I do it? Is
it
possible to have a central external drive and somehow have it connected to
the 2 cluster nodes via SCSI PCI cards?
TIA.

#8

It is possible, but will likely be more hassle than it's worth. You'd need a
Y-SCSI cable and then you'd need to worry about terminating it properly.

Best bet for a POC would be to use virtual machines and VHD's or iSCSI (if
you've got iSCSI target software).

Regards,
John

Visit my blog: http://msmvps.com/blogs/jtoner

"Cluster Beginner" <ClusterBeginner (AT) discussions (DOT) microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:A3BD81F0-B34D-443A-8971-E2F3DB8A3D52 (AT) microsoft (DOT) com...

Quote:

Hi,
basically I want to do a proof of concept and get used to setting up
clustering. I am ready to buy 4 cheap boxes and have 2 for the cluster
nodes,
a main server and a client. These 2 cluster boxes each have 2 PCI slots
free.
What I want is for the 2 nodes to access a central disk just like it was a
RAID array. You see unfortunately I don't have the cash to buy a RAID
array
and I'm not too worried about that part anyway. So - how can I do it? Is
it
possible to have a central external drive and somehow have it connected to
the 2 cluster nodes via SCSI PCI cards?
TIA.

#9

It is possible, but will likely be more hassle than it's worth. You'd need a
Y-SCSI cable and then you'd need to worry about terminating it properly.

Best bet for a POC would be to use virtual machines and VHD's or iSCSI (if
you've got iSCSI target software).

Regards,
John

Visit my blog: http://msmvps.com/blogs/jtoner

"Cluster Beginner" <ClusterBeginner (AT) discussions (DOT) microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:A3BD81F0-B34D-443A-8971-E2F3DB8A3D52 (AT) microsoft (DOT) com...

Quote:

Hi,
basically I want to do a proof of concept and get used to setting up
clustering. I am ready to buy 4 cheap boxes and have 2 for the cluster
nodes,
a main server and a client. These 2 cluster boxes each have 2 PCI slots
free.
What I want is for the 2 nodes to access a central disk just like it was a
RAID array. You see unfortunately I don't have the cash to buy a RAID
array
and I'm not too worried about that part anyway. So - how can I do it? Is
it
possible to have a central external drive and somehow have it connected to
the 2 cluster nodes via SCSI PCI cards?
TIA.

#10

It is possible, but will likely be more hassle than it's worth. You'd need a
Y-SCSI cable and then you'd need to worry about terminating it properly.

Best bet for a POC would be to use virtual machines and VHD's or iSCSI (if
you've got iSCSI target software).

Regards,
John

Visit my blog: http://msmvps.com/blogs/jtoner

"Cluster Beginner" <ClusterBeginner (AT) discussions (DOT) microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:A3BD81F0-B34D-443A-8971-E2F3DB8A3D52 (AT) microsoft (DOT) com...

Quote:

Hi,
basically I want to do a proof of concept and get used to setting up
clustering. I am ready to buy 4 cheap boxes and have 2 for the cluster
nodes,
a main server and a client. These 2 cluster boxes each have 2 PCI slots
free.
What I want is for the 2 nodes to access a central disk just like it was a
RAID array. You see unfortunately I don't have the cash to buy a RAID
array
and I'm not too worried about that part anyway. So - how can I do it? Is
it
possible to have a central external drive and somehow have it connected to
the 2 cluster nodes via SCSI PCI cards?
TIA.