Storage Spaces : Create a non-clustered storage pool on a cluster instance

Introduction

Today I ran into some issues when creating a storage spaces volume on a cluster instance. I wanted to use the performance benefits of joining multiple Azure storage disks by using storage spaces. Afterwards I wanted to use the volume with SIOS Datakeeper. The issue at hand was that the newly storage spaces would auto register with the cluster. It would then assume that the Azure disks were shared accross the cluster.

Is Windows Failover Cluster supported on Azure? YES!

Is WSFC (Windows Server Failover Cluster) supported on Azure?

 YES

You can find the official support statement at the following location : https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2721672

BUT

Though be aware that there are some considerations…

Requirements for Windows Server Failover Cluster:

• Must Run Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 R2
• For Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2008 R2, KB2854082 is required on all nodes
• Must use a single-cluster IP address resource
• Must use Azure hosted storage using one of the following options:
  Application-level replication for non-shared storage
  Volume-level replication for non-shared storage
  ExpressRoute for remote iSCSI Target shared block storage
  Azure Files for shared file storage
• High availability and disaster recovery for SQL Server in Azure virtual machines
• Can be a third-party clustered role
  Note Third-party clustered roles are supported by the vendor

 

HOWTO

Now how do we do this in reality? (Thanks to Thomas for the links)

• Windows Server Failover Cluster on Azure IAAS VM – Part 1 (Storage)
• Building Windows Server Failover Cluster on Azure IAAS VM – Part 2 (Network and Creation)

So what will your challenges be? First of all the storage replication, as it is not possible to share disks between VMs in a read/write manner. After that you should be carefull with your network design due to the different types/levels of IP.

Anyhow, I hope this article helped you on track for your first WSFC deployment on Azure!