Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V clustering with HP BladeSystem and HP StorageWorks Enterprise Virtual Array

Executive summary............................................................................................................................... 2 Introduction......................................................................................................................................... 2

Operating system support ................................................................................................................. 2 Hardware assistance ........................................................................................................................ 3 Installation....................................................................................................................................... 3

HP BladeSystem infrastructure ............................................................................................................... 3 HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure ...................................................................................................... 3 Components .................................................................................................................................... 4

Interconnect modules .................................................................................................................... 4 Networking ................................................................................................................................. 5 Cooling....................................................................................................................................... 5 SAN connectivity.......................................................................................................................... 5 More information ......................................................................................................................... 5

HP ProLiant BL460c server blade ........................................................................................................... 6 HP StorageWorks EVA storage ............................................................................................................. 7

EVA8000 disk array ........................................................................................................................ 7 Hardware components.................................................................................................................. 7

HP StorageWorks FC switches........................................................................................................... 9 Zoning............................................................................................................................................ 9 HP StorageWorks Command View EVA software................................................................................. 9 Multipath I/O................................................................................................................................ 10

High-availability clustering solution for Hyper-V ..................................................................................... 11 Hardware requirements .................................................................................................................. 11

Cluster node .............................................................................................................................. 11 SAN ......................................................................................................................................... 12

Software requirements .................................................................................................................... 12 Configuring Failover Clustering........................................................................................................ 13

Logical design............................................................................................................................ 13 Physical layout ........................................................................................................................... 14 Setup and deployment ................................................................................................................ 16

Summary .......................................................................................................................................... 27 Appendix 1 – Implementing a proof-of-concept ..................................................................................... 28

Implementation services .................................................................................................................. 28 HP Factory Express ..................................................................................................................... 28

For more information.......................................................................................................................... 29

Executive summary This document presents a general-purpose architecture designed for the high-availability deployment of Microsoft® Windows® Server 2008 Hyper-V (Hyper-V) on an HP BladeSystem infrastructure with HP StorageWorks Enterprise Virtual Array (EVA) storage.

Hyper-V server virtualization technology helps you maximize the return on your server hardware investments by consolidating multiple server roles on separate virtual machines (VMs) running on a single physical server (host). Hyper-V also allows you to run different operating systems in parallel on a single host and fully leverage the power of x64 computing.

In a virtualized environment, VMs run on top of the host, which may become a single-point-of-failure for multiple applications – should the host lose power or suffer a hardware failure, the VMs would go out-of-service. To mitigate this risk, you should consider clustering hosts to enhance availability.

This document describes how to cluster Hyper-V hosts and outlines a reference solution for implementing a scenario using HP ProLiant server blades and an HP StorageWorks EVA-based storage array network (SAN).

Target audience: The intended audience for this white paper includes solutions architects and/or technical consultants interested in enhancing the availability of a virtualized infrastructure. Familiarity with HP BladeSystem technology, HP StorageWorks EVA Arrays, and the Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V feature is required. This document does not provide detailed information about Hyper-V, nor does it describe the deployment of applications on top of Hyper-V.

Note The architecture described in this document only applies to a Hyper-V deployment on an HP BladeSystem infrastructure with HP StorageWorks EVA storage. Descriptions of HP products and test scenario are current as of December 2008. HP regularly updates existing hardware technologies and software products and periodically develops new hardware technologies and software products. The reader is advised to check the HP website for the most current information on HP hardware technologies and software products.

Introduction Included with Windows Server 2008, Hyper-V is next-generation, hypervisor-based server virtualization technology that allows you to make the best use of your hardware investments by consolidating servers. Hyper-V supports the implementation of different server roles on VMs hosted by a single physical server.

Hyper-V can be enabled within either a full or Server Core1 installation of Windows Server 2008; use the Server Manager2 Administration console to enable and configure the Hyper-V role. Support for remote management is provided through the Hyper-V Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in.

Hyper-V provides host-to-host connectivity, along with cluster support for all VMs.

Operating system support The Hyper-V role is built into the following x64 editions of Windows Server 2008:

1 The Server Core installation option for Windows Server 2008 provides a minimal environment to support a specific server role. 2 Server Manager, a Windows Server 2008 tool, helps you install, configure, and manage server roles and features.

2

• Standard Edition • Enterprise Edition • Datacenter Edition

Hardware assistance Hyper-V requires hardware assistance, which, in HP ProLiant servers, is provided by the following processors:

• AMD Opteron™ processor – AMD Virtualization™ (AMD-V™) • Intel® Xeon® processor – Intel Virtualization Technology (Intel VT)

Hardware-assisted virtualization is typically disabled on HP ProLiant servers and must be enabled prior to installing Hyper-V.

Installation The following HP documents provide information on installing Windows Server 2008 and Hyper-V on HP ProLiant servers:

• “ HP documents Implementing Microsoft® Windows® Server 2008 Service Pack 2 beta on HP ProLiant servers”

• “Implementing Microsoft® Windows® Server 2008 Hyper-V on HP ProLiant servers”

HP BladeSystem infrastructure This section outlines elements of the HP BladeSystem infrastructure that can be used to support a high-availability Hyper-V deployment featuring a SAN based on an HP StorageWorks EVA disk array.

HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure A single HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure can house an entire adaptive infrastructure created from HP BladeSystem components such as server blades, interconnects, management modules, power supplies, and fans. The c7000 enclosure provides an integrated Insight Display screen that enables easy set-up and configuration from the front of the rack; HP Onboard Administrator supports local and remote administration of the enclosure.

Optimized for large data center or enterprise environments, the c7000 enclosure, shown in Figure 1, can support eight full-height server blades, 16 half-height blades, or a combination of full- and half-height blades. Both server and storage blades may be used.

3

Figure 1. Front and rear views of a typical HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure

For more information on the c7000 enclosure, refer to HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure – specifications.

Components To provide the functionality you need, an HP BladeSystem c-Class enclosure supports a broad range of components, including interconnects, fans, and power modules.

Note The number of power modules you need depends on the number of blades deployed. The selection of power modules is outside the scope of this document; refer to the HP BladeSystem Power Sizer for specific guidance on enclosure power configurations.

Interconnect modules While specific information on installing interconnects modules in a c-Class enclosure is beyond the scope of this document, HP recommends using one of the following modules in a Hyper-V deployment:

Ethernet:

• Cisco Catalyst Blade Switch 3020 for HP c-Class BladeSystem • HP GbE2c Ethernet Blade Switch for c-Class BladeSystem

• HP 1/10G Virtual Connect Ethernet Module for c-Class BladeSystem

4

Fibre Channel:

• Brocade 8Gb SAN Switch for HP BladeSystem c-Class • Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch for HP BladeSystem c-Class • Cisco MDS 9124e Fabric Switch for HP c-Class BladeSystem

Whichever you choose, a pair of modules is recommended for the high-availability Hyper-V solution described in this document.

Networking Microsoft offers the following recommendations for the deployment of clustering the Hyper-V hosts:

• Use identical network adapters for the networks • Use identical communication settings on those adapters • Make the host nodes part of the same “Domain Controller and Active Directory”

While a specific network topology is not required, HP recommends setting up at least two networks segments in a failover clustering implementation – one dedicated to managing Hyper-V host servers; the second dedicated for external communication attached to virtual machines. This topology can be achieved using two blade switches; additional components are required to provide redundancy.

Cooling To support c-Class blades, a minimum of four fans must be installed in the enclosure. Since the enclosure supports up to ten fans, its cooling capacity can scale as your needs change.

Note that the more fans you install, the slower they are required to spin to move the same volume of air; as a result, each fan uses less power. A total of eight fans are typically more power-efficient than four; as flow rate increases, ten fans can be even more efficient. As an added bonus, slower-spinning fans create less noise.

In general, HP recommends installing at least eight fans in each c7000 enclosure. For a high-availability Hyper-V solution, eight – 10 fans are recommended, depending on the particular usage scenario.

SAN connectivity HP recommends setting up a Fibre Channel (FC) host bus adapter (HBA) on each server blade that is connected to the external SAN storage.

HP recommends the following FC HBAs for a high-availability Hyper-V solution:

• Emulex LPe1105-HP 4Gb FC HBA for HP c-Class BladeSystem • QLogic QMH2462 4Gb FC HBA for HP c-Class BladeSystem

Each of these HBAs can support up to two FC ports.

In addition, to provide redundancy, HP recommends setting up two FC networks segments for a failover clustering scenario. You should use one of the interconnect modules mentioned above for each segment

More information For more information on deploying and operating a c-Class enclosure, refer to the following HP white papers:

• “HP BladeSystem c7000 Enclosure” • “Managing HP BladeSystem c-Class systems” • “HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure Maintenance and Service guide”

5

• “HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure Setup and Installation Guide” • “Power Supply Installation Instructions for HP BladeSystem c7000 Enclosures” • “HP BladeSystem Onboard Administrator User Guide” • “HP Thermal Logic technology: An HP BladeSystem innovation primer”

Additional information is available on the HP BladeSystem web page.

HP ProLiant BL460c server blade The half-height, two-socket HP ProLiant BL460c server blade, shown in Figure 2, is a good fit for virtualized environments, especially Hyper-V deployments where performance and scalability requirements can often be satisfied by scaling up (that is, by adding more processor and memory resources to accommodate a growing virtualized workload). Up to 16 of these blades can be installed in a single c7000 enclosure.

Figure 2. HP ProLiant BL460c server blade

The features of the HP ProLiant BL460c server blade include:

• Up to two dual- or quad-core Intel Xeon processors with Intel VT • Two embedded Multifunction Gigabit Server Adapters; two mezzanine slots provide support for

additional network interface cards or FC storage connectivity • HP Smart Array E200i controller with optional battery-backed write cache (BBWC) enabler • Up to two internal, hot plug, small form factor, Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) or Serial ATA (SATA)

drives • Up to 64 GB of memory, supported by eight PC2-5300 Fully Buffered DIMMs at 667 MHz;

advanced Error Correcting Code (ECC) memory support

For more information on processor speed and core configurations options, along with additional technical specifications, refer to HP ProLiant BL460c server – overview.

6

HP StorageWorks EVA storage The SAN architecture is used to connect servers to external storage devices (such as disk arrays, tape libraries, and optical jukeboxes) in such a way that these devices appear to the server’s operating system to be locally attached. The SAN used in this high-availability Hyper-V solution features an HP StorageWorks Enterprise Virtual Array disk array; its features include:

• Up to 240 TB of storage on specific EVA models • Support for storage virtualization • Capacity optimization capabilities • Easy storage management

For more information on EVA configurations, storage models, and software management, refer to HP StorageWorks Enterprise Virtual Array family (EVA).

EVA8000 disk array The EVA80003 is a high-performance, high-capacity, high-availability virtualized RAID (Vraid) storage solution. This disk array has been designed to satisfy the following business requirements:

• Satisfy a critical need to improve storage utilization and scalability • Meet application-specific demands for consistently high transaction I/O and MB data rate

performance • Provide seamless capacity expansion, instantaneous replication, and simplified storage

administration

This section provides more information on the hardware and software components of the EVA8000 disk array.

Hardware components An EVA8000 disk array includes the following components:

• Maximum number of disks: Based on the particular configure to order (CTO) model: – 2C2D: Two 14-bay enclosures (28 FC disks) – 2C6D: Six 14-bay enclosures (84 FC disks) – 2C12D: 12 x 14-bay enclosures (168 FC disks)

• Controllers: Two Hierarchical Storage Virtualization 210 (HSV210) controllers, providing redundancy

• Disk drive interface: Dual-port, 2 Gbps, FC-Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) topology • Loop switches: Up to four • Cache per controller pair: 2 GB • RAID support: Vraid0, Vraid1, and Vraid5

Figure 3 demonstrates the logical design of a SAN that can be used in a high-availability Hyper-V solution.

3 The currently shipping equivalent EVA storage arrays include the EVA8100. It is reasonable to assume that the newer storage arrays will, at a minimum, provide the same level of performance as the older arrays, which means that the data in this paper can even be used as a guideline for planning EVA6100 and EVA8100 storage deployments for clustering of Microsoft Hyper-V

7

Figure 3. SAN design

server1

FC1 FC2

SMASAN

Appliance

server2

FC1 FC2

server3

FC1 FC2

server4

FC1 FC2

server5

FC1 FC2

server5

FC1 FC2

FC-Switch 1

0

5

1

6 7 8 9

42 3

Controller A Controller BBackendFCLoop

LoopswitchLoopswitch LoopswitchLoopswitch

BackendFCLoop

BackendFCLoop

BackendFCLoop

BackendFCLoop

BackendFCLoop

BackendFCLoop

BackendFCLoop

IO M

odul

e

IO M

odul

e

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

IO M

odul

e

IO M

odul

e

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

MP

IO M

odul

e

IO M

odul

e

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

IO M

odul

e

IO M

odul

e

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

EVA8000

MP

FP4WWNxB

FP3WWNxA

FP1WWNx8

FP2WWNx9

FP4WWNxF

FP1WWNxC

FP2WWNxD

FC-Switch 2

0 34

5 6 7 8 9

1 2

FP3WWNxE

server1

FC1 FC2

server1

FC1 FC2

SMASAN

Appliance

SMASAN

Appliance

server2

FC1 FC2

server2

FC1 FC2

server3

FC1 FC2

server3

FC1 FC2

server4

FC1 FC2

server4

FC1 FC2

server5

FC1 FC2

server5

FC1 FC2

server5

FC1 FC2

server5

FC1 FC2

FC-Switch 1

0

5

1

6 7 8 9

42 3

FC-Switch 1

0

5

1

6 7 8 9

42 3

Controller A Controller BBackendFCLoop

LoopswitchLoopswitch LoopswitchLoopswitch

BackendFCLoop

BackendFCLoop

BackendFCLoop

BackendFCLoop

BackendFCLoop

BackendFCLoop

BackendFCLoop

IO M

odul

e

IO M

odul

e

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

IO M

odul

e

IO M

odul

e

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

IO M

odul

e

IO M

odul

e

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

IO M

odul

e

IO M

odul

e

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

MP

IO M

odul

e

IO M

odul

e

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

IO M

odul

e

IO M

odul

e

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

IO M

odul

e

IO M

odul

e

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

IO M

odul

e

IO M

odul

e

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

FC D

isk

EVA8000

MP

FP4WWNxB

FP3WWNxA

FP1WWNx8

FP2WWNx9

FP4WWNxF

FP1WWNxC

FP2WWNxD

FC-Switch 2

0 34

5 6 7 8 9

1 2

FC-Switch 2

0 34

5 6 7 8 9

1 2

FP3WWNxE

Note The SMA shown in Figure 3 refers to HP OpenView Storage Management Appliance software.

8

External storage is provided by an HP StorageWorks EVA8000 disk array. Hyper-V host servers (server1 – server5) connect to the array through HBAs (FC1 and FC2); in turn, the HBAs connect through FC switches (FC-Switch 1 and FC-Switch 2) to FC controllers (Controller A and Controller B) on the EVA.

For more information on the HP EVA8000 disk array, refer to HP StorageWorks EVA8000 – Specifications.

HP StorageWorks FC switches HP StorageWorks FC switches can provide high-performance connectivity for your SAN.

The HP StorageWorks 4/16 SAN Switch was selected for the high-availability Hyper-V solution. This switch can support a throughput of 4 Gbps with a maximum of 16 FC ports; simple Web Tools software can remove some of the complexity involved in the installation and management of a SAN.

For more information about this product, refer to the HP StorageWorks 4/16 SAN Switch – Overview and features.

Zoning Zoning technology may be used in a FC SAN to help isolate data. This technology can be based on World Wide Name (WWN) zoning – whereby each HBA is uniquely identified by a WWN – or port zoning.

HP recommends the use of WWN zoning when deploying external storage for Hyper-V. The use of zoning identifies the Hyper-V servers in the SAN isolating the LUNs for the Hyper-V servers from others.

Zones can be configured through the HP StorageWorks Fabric OS of the HP StorageWorks 4/16 SAN Switch. For more information, refer to HP StorageWorks Fabric OS 6.2 administrator guide.

HP StorageWorks Command View EVA software Command View EVA is a comprehensive software suite designed to simplify array management and provisioning. If desired, you can use Command View EVA to proactively manage multiple EVA disk arrays along with a variety of networked storage devices in a distributed SAN.

Figure 4 shows the Command View EVA graphical user interface (GUI).

9

Figure 4. Web-based SAN management via Command View EVA

For more information on Command View EVA, refer to HP StorageWorks Command View EVA Software – Overview and Features.

Multipath I/O Based on the Microsoft Multipath Input/Output (MPIO) framework, HP MPIO Full Featured DSM (Device Specific Module) software for EVA disk arrays provides multipathing support for the high-availability Hyper-V solution.

The capabilities of HP MPIO Full Featured DSM include I/O load balancing, path failover, and path recovery/failback. It contains the following components:

• Command line interface (CLI) • Performance Provider dynamic link library (DLL) for Windows Performance Monitor • Persistent Reservations Clear utility

You can download HP MPIO for Windows Server 2008 x64 from the HP website. For more information, refer to the product’s release notes, "HP MPIO Full Featured DSM for EVA4x00/6x00/8x00 family of Disk Arrays 3.01.00."

10

High-availability clustering solution for Hyper-V Since the failure of a VM’s host may be critical, businesses are typically looking for ways to eliminate single points of failure. Failover clustering represents a viable option for high-availability VM hosting.

The Enterprise and Datacenter Editions of Windows Server 2008 introduce cluster service support for Hyper-V, allowing VMs to fail over between hosts running the cluster service. This section describes how to deploy Hyper-V failover clustering in an HP BladeSystem-based infrastructure with HP StorageWorks EVA storage.

Hardware requirements Minimum hardware requirements are suggested for cluster nodes and the SAN.

Important The recommendations provided in this section refer to a minimum configuration and may change based on the applications to be virtualized.

Cluster node Table 1 shows the minimum hardware requirements for each Hyper-V host cluster node.

Table 1. Minimum server requirements

Component Minimum HP recommendation

Memory 4 GB 8 GB

Processor x64 architecture, with virtualization support (AMD-V or Intel VT)

Two CPUs; either AMD Opteron processors with AMD-V (HP ProLiant BL465c server blade) or Intel Xeon processors with Intel VT (HP ProLiant BL460c)

Storage 40 GB To support the Hyper-V host: two Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) disk drives, 72 GB each, in a RAID 1 set

Network interconnect 10/100 Mbps Ethernet Two network adapters, one dedicated to Hyper-V management, the second configured for external VM communications

Note: HP ProLiant server blades can support up to 16 network port adapters, depending on the model and configuration

FC HBA 4 Gb FC Two FC ports, each configured for redundancy

11

SAN Table 2 shows the hardware components used to implement external storage for the cluster.

Table 2. SAN requirements

Component Description

Disk array HP StorageWorks EVA8000

Capacity 7.2 TB

FC controller Two HSV210 controllers

Software HP StorageWorks EVA XCS Controller Software 6.2

Switches Two HP StorageWorks 4/16 SAN Switch

Note The use of Hyper-V with Failover Clustering is not limited to HP ProLiant c-Class server blades but may be configured on any x64 HP ProLiant server platform that can provide hardware assistance for virtualization (that is, AMD-V or Intel VT). For more information about Hyper-V support on HP ProLiant servers, refer to the Windows support for HP ProLiant Servers web page. Furthermore, the use of Hyper-V with Failover Clustering is not limited to solutions featuring EVA products but may be configured on other HP SAN platforms. For more information, refer to the Microsoft Hyper-V support for HP StorageWorks web page.

Software requirements HP recommends installing the following software on the Hyper-V host:

• Windows Server 2008 x64 Enterprise or Datacenter Edition (required to support Hyper-V Failover Clustering)

• Hyper-V Update for Windows Server 2008 (KB950050); this feature may also be downloaded via the Windows Update feature

• HP BladeSystem Firmware Deployment Tool, a CD-ROM that delivers a collection of firmware specifically for your HP ProLiant c-Class server blades and options

• HP ProLiant Support Pack for Microsoft Windows Server 2008 x64 Editions, 8.15 (B) or later, provides operating system-specific bundles drivers, utilities, and management agents that have been optimized for HP ProLiant servers

• HP MPIO Full Featured DSM for EVA4x00/6x00/8x00 families of Disk Arrays • HP ProLiant Essentials Rapid Deployment Pack (RDP) 3.8 or later, to deploy Windows Server 2008

x64.

In addition, it’s required to include a server which functions as a SAN Appliance Server – SMA for EVA8000 Administration. It should be configured with at least Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition x86, and HP StorageWorks Command View EVA version 8.0. Also, it’s required that the HSV 210 Controllers in the EVA8000 have installed the XCS 5.1 or the latest firmware.

12

Configuring Failover Clustering Windows Server 2008 provides a streamlined High Availability wizard to help configure Failover Clustering with host-based servers. This wizard can automatically create resources for a high-availability service or application.

Note In this context, “host-based” implies server node(s) running Windows Server 2008 with the Hyper-V role enabled.

The layout and procedures for set-up and deployment described in this section apply to a Failover Clustering configuration with two HP ProLiant BL460c server blades acting as Hyper-V hosts. An HP StorageWorks EVA8000 disk array is used for storage.

This cluster is configured in active-passive mode. One server node actively hosts VMs; the other is passive.

Four VMs are created, each running Windows Server 2008 with the Web Server (IIS) role enabled. Each VM is composed of files – configuration files in Extensible Markup Language (XML) format and a Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) file – that are stored in its assigned LUN.

Note To enhance performance and manageability, HP recommends dedicating a LUN to each VM.

Each fixed-size VHD is attached to the virtual IDE controller. VHD size is based on the size of the LUN and takes into consideration the space reserved within the LUN for memory paging.

The disk array provides LUNs for each VM, all owned by the active cluster node. The array also includes a witness disk that is only used to store cluster configuration information; it helps to establish a quorum in this even-numbered cluster. Node and Disk Majority quorum mode is used so that, as long as the witness disk is online, the cluster would be able to sustain the failure of one node. If the active cluster node were to fail due to hardware or software issues, the passive node would take over, automatically bringing the VMs online and assuming control of cluster resources such as disks and applications.

Logical design Figure 5 represents the logical design of this host-based configuration. Server-side SAN connectivity is achieved through HBAs and FC switches. In turn, the switches connect through FC controllers to the disk array.

Note HP recommends using HBAs with the same characteristics on each cluster node.

13

Figure 5. Logical representation of the high-availability Hyper-V solution

Physical layout Figure 6 shows the physical layout of the host-based configuration, which includes a cluster of two identically-configured HP ProLiant BL460c server blades, each equipped with a FC HBA mezzanine card that can support up to two FC ports.

There are two network segments, each controlled by an HP GbE2c Ethernet Blade Switch. One segment is used to support management traffic, it’s required by Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering that Hyper-V host servers authenticate permissions on an established Microsoft Domain Controller and Active Directory. The second segment is used to setup a virtual switch and external virtual network for the VMs.

Connections from the HBAs to the SAN are achieved using HP 4Gb Brocade Switches cascaded with HP StorageWorks 4/16 SAN Switches. In turn, the SAN switches connect directly to HSV210 controllers in the HP EVA8000.

14

Note HP recommends configuring the HBAs for redundancy.

Figure 6. Host-based failover clustering – physical design and connections

15

Setup and deployment This section provides guidelines for setting up and deploying the high-availability Hyper-V solution:

1. Install Windows Server 2008 Enterprise or Datacenter Edition on the HP ProLiant BL460c server blades; enable the Hyper-V role on each blade. The deployment of Hyper-V is outside the scope of this document. For more information, refer to the HP integration note, “Implementing Microsoft® Windows® Server 2008 Hyper-V on HP ProLiant servers.”

As with any HP ProLiant server deployment, HP recommends installing the latest HP ProLiant Support Packs so that the infrastructure can be administered and monitored using HP Systems Insight Manager (HP SIM). HP SIM allows you to monitor the hardware performance of both Hyper-V hosts and VMs; you can receive pre-failures alerts via email or pager.

Note You can utilize a dedicated HP ProLiant server to host HP Insight Control management tools and, though SMA – Command View EVA, administer the disk array. RDP, part of HP Insight Control suite, can be used to deploy Windows Server 2008. Alternatively, you can deploy Windows Server 2008 through the server blade’s HP iLO 2 virtual CD option.

2. Set up multipathing. Each HBA mezzanine card supports two FC ports, with each port representing a potential access path to LUNs in the SAN. HP MPIO Full Featured DSM software should be installed on the cluster nodes to manage these paths.

The MPIO Properties dialog box (Figure 7) shows the MPIO devices found on one of the cluster nodes. HSV210 represent the FC controllers of the HP EVA8000.

16

Figure 7. HP MPIO Full Featured DSM – Properties

3. Configure zoning.

Zoning is used to isolate SAN data (LUNs) from others servers in the SAN. HP recommends setting up mixed zoning for the FC SAN switches.

Use the FC SAN switch’s management tool console to set up zoning. Click on Zone Admin, enter your user name and password, create the zone, add the WWNs of the cluster nodes, and configure and enable the zone. It’s recommended enable zones on both FC SAN Switches.

For example, as part of this high-availability Hyper-V solution, HP created a zone named hvzone for the first FC SAN switch, with configuration hvtest, as shown in Figure 8.

17

Figure 8. Zone Admin console

4. Create virtual disks in the SAN – EVA8000.

A virtual disk (called a Vdisk in the user interface) is a simulated disk drive created within a disk group. You can define a number of characteristics for a virtual disk, such as its name, redundancy level, and size. Use Command View EVA to create virtual disks and assign LUNs.

The data on each virtual disk is distributed across a group of FC hard drives in the EVA8000 disk array.

In this high-availability Hyper-V solution, HP created five virtual disks. Four 50 GB virtual disks were allocated to VMs; a single 10 GB virtual disk was allocated to the cluster quorum, as shown in Figure 9.

Note The selection of an appropriate Vraid level for these virtual disks is outside the scope of this document. Vraid 1 was used for the cluster quorum; Vraid 5 for VMs.

18

Figure 9. Creating a virtual disk

5. Add hosts to the SAN – EVA8000

The following types of hosts may be configured:

– FC: FC hosts connect to a fabric through FC HBAs and access storage directly through array controllers

– iSCSI: iSCSI hosts connect to the array through an HP StorageWorks mpx100 Bridge

In this high-availability Hyper-V solution, HP used the Command View EVA console to create FC hosts named N3 and N4, which represent the connections to the two HP ProLiant BL460c server blades, as shown in Figure 10.

To provide support for Windows Server 2008 as the operating system in the host, select the Microsoft Windows LH option in the Operation System list.

19

Figure 10. Using the Command View EVA console to add a host with support for Windows Server 2008

6. Present the virtual disks to a host.

After adding a host, you can present virtual disks to it.

You can present a virtual disk during or after the virtual disk creation process. If you choose to present the virtual disk while it is being created, the management server cannot complete any other task until that virtual disk has been created and presented. Thus, HP recommends waiting until the virtual disk has been created before presenting it to a host.

Figure 11 shows a virtual disk being presented to host N3.

20

Figure 11. Using the Command View EVA console to present a virtual disk to a host

Note For more information on creating and presenting virtual disks, refer to the “HP StorageWorks Command View EVA user guide.”

7. Configure the virtual disks. This task must be performed on both nodes of the cluster. Virtual disks can be configured using the Windows Server 2008 Server Manager console (Server Manager Storage Disk Management).

For this high-availability Hyper-V solution, HP configured five virtual disks with NTFS file systems, as shown in Figure 12.

21

Figure 12. Using the Server Manager console to configure virtual disks

8. Install and configure Failover Clustering.

After virtual disks have been configured, you can use the Add Features wizard to install Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering feature on each server blade. On completion, run Windows Update to apply update KB9513084 for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition and then restart the server blades.

This update increases the functionality and VM control capabilities provided by the Failover Cluster Management console, which is located under Administration Tools. Open this console and select the Validate a Configuration option to run a failover clustering validation test. Follow the steps specified by the wizard, checking for any warnings. On successful completion, return to the Failover Cluster – Management console.

Select the Create a Cluster option and follow the steps specified by the wizard. Make sure you select Disk 1 for the quorum. For this high-availability Hyper-V solution, HP created a failover cluster with nodes N3 and N4.

Figure 13 shows the storage available to the cluster. Cluster Disks 1 – 4 represent the fixed-size 50 GB LUNs created on the SAN to support VMs; Cluster Disk 5 represents the 10 GB quorum disk.

4 “Increased functionality and virtual machine control in the Windows Server 2008 Failover Cluster Management console for the Hyper-V role.” This may also be downloaded here.

22

Figure 13. Using the Failover Cluster Management console to view the storage available to the cluster

23

9. Create the VMs. You can create VMs using the New Virtual Machine Wizard, which is invoked in the Hyper-V Manager console. This task must perform on one of the cluster nodes. Fox example, Figure 14 shows a VM named WS4 being connected to virtual disk Vm_WS4.vhd, which was created in Step 4. For this high-availability Hyper-V solution, HP also created VMs named WS1, WS2, and WS3.

Figure 14. Using the Virtual Machine Wizard to connect virtual hard disks

24

10. Add the VMs to the cluster. Figure 15 shows the four VMs that have been created on one of the cluster nodes and configured with Windows Server 2008.

Figure 15. Four VMs shown in the Server Manager console

For high availability, use the Failover Cluster Management console to add VMs to the cluster. Select the cluster in the left panel and then click on Services and Applications Configure a Service or Application in the right panel to launch the High Availability wizard. .

Highlight the Virtual Machine option, select the VMs you wish to add to the cluster; bring the VMs online as show in Figure 16.

Once the process is done, the highly-available VMs appear in the Failover Cluster Management console as show in Figure 17.

25

Figure 16. Application selection for high availability – Virtual Machine

26

Figure 17. The four VMs have been added to the cluster

Summary In a Hyper-V environment, it can be challenging to configure high availability for host servers. This document provides guidance and recommendations for creating and configuring a Hyper-V host-based cluster using an HP BladeSystem infrastructure with HP ProLiant server blades and an HP StorageWorks EVA8000-based SAN.

27

28

Appendix 1 – Implementing a proof-of-concept The high-availability Hyper-V solution presented in this document was designed to accommodate particular applications and workloads and, thus, may not exactly match your specific business needs. HP recommends performing a proof-of-concept deployment to validate a solution that can satisfy your particular requirements.

Implementation services To help you plan, implement, and maintain your high-availability Hyper-V solution, HP Services offers the following value-added services for HP servers and storage:

• Recommended HP BladeSystem c-Class Services • Storage Solutions for Microsoft Windows • Server Services

Additional services are available through HP Factory Express.

HP Factory Express The HP Factory Express portfolio includes packaged services for customized configuration, factory racking, on-site installation, complex solution configuration, and system design. Other customized solutions are also available.

For more information, visit http://h71028.www7.hp.com/enterprise/cache/97688-0-0-225-121.html.

For more information HP BladeSystem www.hp.com/go/bladesystem

Hyper-V server virtualization http://h71019.www7.hp.com/ActiveAnswers/cache/604725-0-0-0-121.html

HP Insight Control suite http://www.hp.com/go/ice

“How to install Microsoft Hyper-V on HP ProLiant c-Class server blades”

http://h20195.www2.hp.com/V2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA1-7906ENW&cc=us&lc=en

HP ProLiant Support Packs

http://h18013.www1.hp.com/products/servers/management/psp/?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

HP StorageWorks Enterprise Virtual Array Family

http://h18006.www1.hp.com/storage/disk_storage/eva_diskarrays/index.html

HP ProLiant BL460c G5 server blade http://www.hp.com/servers/bl460c

Additional resources

Business and IT services www.hp.com/hps

HP BladeSystem c-Class Portfolio http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/blades/components/c-class-components.html

HP BladeSystem Planning Tools http://h71028.www7.hp.com/enterprise/cache/80364-0-0-0-121.html

To help us improve our documents, please provide feedback at http://h20219.www2.hp.com/ActiveAnswers/us/en/solutions/technical_tools_feedback.html.

Technology for better business outcomes © Copyright 2009 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

Microsoft and Windows are U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. AMD Opteron, AMD Virtualization, and AMD-V are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Intel and Xeon are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.

4AA2-4999ENW, March 2009