Windows Server - DHCP service with 2-node Majority Node Set cluster?

Asked By DVN888

19-Nov-09 10:14 PM

Hello there!

I have one Windows Server 2003 R2 running DHCP service which is
located at Building A.  Now I want to have a high availability for
DHCP service, by installing a Windows 2003 server at Building B which
is ~ 300m away.  I want the DHCP service to failover to the server at
Building B in case there is disaster at Building A.

The issue is that in Windows I will need a geographically dispersed
Windows cluster for that, but we can not afford a shared storage
required by MSCS (NetApp box with MetroCluster is quite expensive).

I read that in RedHat Linux with ISC DHCP, you can simply set the DHCP
daemon to enable the failover feature. The thing is that my company
does not want to spend on Linux support and its operational cost.

I read that it is possible to create a 2-node Majority Node Set
cluster
(http://msmvps.com/blogs/clustering/archive/2006/07/09/Majority-Node-Set-_2800_MNS_2900_-with-only-2-nodes_3F00_.aspx)
but I do not have real experience on MNS cluster.

Could anyone shed me a light the pros and cons of using 2-node MNS
cluster for DHCP service?

Or is there a way to make Windows DHCP service capable of failingover
like the ISC DHCP daemon?

23-Nov-09 08:59 PM

)

Host based replication that integrates with WSFC will be less
expensive then array based replication.  I just wrote an article on my
blog that discusses DHCP clustering across data center, aka, DHCP
multi-site cluster using SteelEye DataKeeper Cluster Edition.

http://clusteringformeremortals.com/2009/11/23/dhcp-cluster-without-shared-=
storage-andor-across-data-centers/

24-Nov-09 10:54 PM

Thanks for the article, Dave!

It seems this WSFC  is only for Windows Server 2008?
Is the DHCP working as Active-Active cluster?
On your demo, client points to a single IP address of DHCP server. Is
this means that Building A and Building B has to have the same IP
subnet?

Can you tell me the estimated price of SteelEye DataKeeper Cluster
Edition?

25-Nov-09 06:15 PM

t
...)

There is also a DHCP resource in Windows 2003 MSCS.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc785356(WS.10).aspx

If your second site is a different subnet, does it really make sense
to have a multi-site DHCP cluster?  Why not just put up a DHCP server
that gives out address for this other subnet?  So yes, a DHCP cluster
assumes that all of the nodes are in the same subnet.

You can request a quote here...

http://www.steeleye.com/getinfo/