Microsoft Cluster Server, MSCS: Windows Clusters/High Availablity (Cluster Consulting and Training)

www.bancu.com /High Availability Windows

Sorting through the explosion of "cluster" offerings for Microsoft Windows^® servers reminds me of a computer lesson Clint Eastwood taught me back in 1982. In the movie Fire Fox, Eastwood plays an American pilot who has to learn to "think in Russian" so he doesn’t confuse the "mind reading" controls of the jet fighter he steals. Years later, a computer science graduate working on their MBA gave me a real world example of Eastwood’s dilemma and how preexisting thoughts can confuse us as we enter new territory such as clustering Windows servers.

While taking an Economics course, the student expressed concern over the use of acronyms such as EPS and CPI. It wasn’t that the concepts behind these acronyms confused her. It was ghosts, or rather definitions, from her past. Every time she heard EPS she thought of Encapsulated PostScript and then had to switch over to the Economics context and the intended Earnings Per Share meaning. The same was true of CPI. Past experiences had her thinking of Characters Per Inch, not Consumer Price Index. At first, I thought this was an isolated case until my own students with medical backgrounds expressed similar concerns with acronym preconceptions. Admittedly, we’re talking about acronyms and crossing discipline boundaries; but the problem extends to the use of words within the same discipline/industry. Movement of Windows based systems into enterprise territory where the concept of clustering has existed on host-based operating systems for over three decades adds to the confusion.

Those with clustering and high availability/scalability solutions on other operating systems will have the Eastwood/graduate student problem of having to think a new way. They are saddled with overcoming preconceived notions from their host-based computing experiences and learning how this technology differs in implementation and functionality in Windows based server environments. These users are cautioned to see Advanced and Datacenter Server with their server cluster (Microsoft Cluster Service - MSCS) availability and Network Load Balancing Service (NLB) scalability features, and other Windows availability/scalability solutions, for what they do and not obsessing over what they do not do. Others just being introduced to high availability/clustering will not only have to sort out what it is, but figure out how clusters can help their business, which Windows offering best fits their requirements, and what they’ll need to implement a solution.

A Microsoft web release, targeted at the European Securities market, makes light of this task by noting, "there are many misleading words and phrases associated with the computer industry but one of the more clear-cut and self-explanatory is that of clustering". With this statement, the writer acknowledges the existence of confusion in our fast paced industry, but then claims that there is universal agreement when it comes to clustering. While several vendors have cluster offerings for Windows, a review of trade publications and product data sheets leaves us with the impression that the words "clustering" or "cluster" are being treated as branding irons and used on products with totally different feature sets.

Instead of letting the term cluster slip into the useless buzzword abyss (keeping company with Intranet), we set forth and refine clustering definitions that guide you towards understanding the capabilities of Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS). We’re very upfront (in your face in fact) about what these solutions can and can not do in your environment today, how to plan for it and how it is the glue that hardware and software vendors should use to bring clustering to the broad, high volume computing market.

Since Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS) and Network Load Balancing Service (NLB) will always be niche offerings relative to the total Windows server market, understanding their features, requirements and direction, will help you identify if they are the best solutions for your company. You may find that other high availability, clustering, fault tolerant or replication solutions with different features and benefits better meet your requirements.

Recommended:
In Search of Clusters;
by Gregory F. Pfister Transaction Processing: Concepts and Techniques;
by Jim Gray and Andreas Reuter

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Sorting through the explosion of "cluster" offerings for Microsoft Windows^® servers reminds me of a computer lesson Clint Eastwood taught me back in 1982. In the movie Fire Fox, Eastwood plays an American pilot who has to learn to "think in Russian" so he doesn’t confuse the "mind reading" controls of the jet fighter he steals. Years later, a computer science graduate working on their MBA gave me a real world example of Eastwood’s dilemma and how preexisting thoughts can confuse us as we enter new territory such as clustering Windows servers. While taking an Economics course, the student expressed concern over the use of acronyms such as EPS and CPI. It wasn’t that the concepts behind these acronyms confused her. It was ghosts, or rather definitions, from her past. Every time she heard EPS she thought of Encapsulated PostScript and then had to switch over to the Economics context and the intended Earnings Per Share meaning. The same was true of CPI. Past experiences had her thinking of Characters Per Inch, not Consumer Price Index. At first, I thought this was an isolated case until my own students with medical backgrounds expressed similar concerns with acronym preconceptions. Admittedly, we’re talking about acronyms and crossing discipline boundaries; but the problem extends to the use of words within the same discipline/industry. Movement of Windows based systems into enterprise territory where the concept of clustering has existed on host-based operating systems for over three decades adds to the confusion. Those with clustering and high availability/scalability solutions on other operating systems will have the Eastwood/graduate student problem of having to think a new way. They are saddled with overcoming preconceived notions from their host-based computing experiences and learning how this technology differs in implementation and functionality in Windows based server environments. These users are cautioned to see Advanced and Datacenter Server with their server cluster (Microsoft Cluster Service - MSCS) availability and Network Load Balancing Service (NLB) scalability features, and other Windows availability/scalability solutions, for what they do and not obsessing over what they do not do. Others just being introduced to high availability/clustering will not only have to sort out what it is, but figure out how clusters can help their business, which Windows offering best fits their requirements, and what they’ll need to implement a solution. A Microsoft web release, targeted at the European Securities market, makes light of this task by noting, "there are many misleading words and phrases associated with the computer industry but one of the more clear-cut and self-explanatory is that of clustering". With this statement, the writer acknowledges the existence of confusion in our fast paced industry, but then claims that there is universal agreement when it comes to clustering. While several vendors have cluster offerings for Windows, a review of trade publications and product data sheets leaves us with the impression that the words "clustering" or "cluster" are being treated as branding irons and used on products with totally different feature sets. Instead of letting the term cluster slip into the useless buzzword abyss (keeping company with Intranet), we set forth and refine clustering definitions that guide you towards understanding the capabilities of Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS). We’re very upfront (in your face in fact) about what these solutions can and can not do in your environment today, how to plan for it and how it is the glue that hardware and software vendors should use to bring clustering to the broad, high volume computing market. Since Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS) and Network Load Balancing Service (NLB) will always be niche offerings relative to the total Windows server market, understanding their features, requirements and direction, will help you identify if they are the best solutions for your company. You may find that other high availability, clustering, fault tolerant or replication solutions with different features and benefits better meet your requirements.

	Recommended:	In Search of Clusters; by Gregory F. Pfister	Transaction Processing: Concepts and Techniques; by Jim Gray and Andreas Reuter