Sample Planning Worksheets

Plan Your Network Load Balancing

Is the application or service running on all hosts in the cluster or does each host maintain its own application or service?

Application or service runs on one host __
All hosts share one application or service __

Does your application use a TCP or UDP port? TCP port __ UDP port __

Number of hosts in the cluster (1-32): ______________________

Note

Always be sure that there is enough extra server capacity so that if one server fails, the remaining servers can accommodate the increased load.

When using a router, which mode will you operate in? Unicast __ Multicast __

Making Specific Choices for Network Load Balancing

Have you implemented the following over TCP/IP?

Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) __
Named pipes __
Remote procedure call __

Choosing a Server Role

Do you want the nodes in your cluster to be:

Member servers __ Domain controllers __ Global catalogs __

Note

If you choose domain controllers, be certain that you have the hardware to support them. For more information, see "Ensuring the Availability of Applications and Services"in this book.

Choosing a Cluster Model

Are you implementing a:

Single-node cluster (failover not available) __
Cluster with a dedicated secondary node __
High-availability configuration (resource availability using virtual servers):
Clustering a single application type __

Clustering multiple applications __

Complex hybrid configuration __

Planning Resource Groups

Which type of resource does this cluster require?

IP address __

Network name __

Physical disk __

A generic or customer application or service __

Specify: ________________________________________________________

List all the server-based applications in each resource group:

_________________________________________________________________

How many virtual servers will you run in your environment? ________________

What other software will you run independently of these groups?

_________________________________________________________________

Which hardware, connections, and operating system software can this server cluster protect in your network environment? List all nonapplication resources.

_________________________________________________________________

List all the dependencies for each resource (including all resources that support the core resources):

_________________________________________________________________

What failover policies are required by each resource?

_________________________________________________________________

Create administrative convenience when making grouping decisions. For example:

Combine file-sharing resources and print-spooling resources into a single group.
Place applications that depend on a particular resource in a single group.