Setting group properties

Using the group Properties dialog box, you can:

• View the state of the group (whether it is online or offline) and view which node currently owns the group.

• Change the group name, description, and preferred owner.

• Set the failover policy (using the Failover tab).

• Set the failback policy (using the Failback tab).

Do not update the properties of a cluster object on multiple nodes simultaneously. For more information on multiple and simultaneous property updates, see the Microsoft Platform Software Development Kit (SDK).

Setting failover policy

Use the Failover tab to set failover policy for the group. You can set the following:

• The failover threshold
• The failover period
• Whether or not a failure of one resource affects other resources in the group.

  By default, if one or more resources fail in a group, the Cluster service fails all other resources in the group.

The failover threshold is the number of times the group can fail over within the number of hours specified by the failover period. For example, if a group failover threshold is set to 5 and its failover period to 3, the Cluster service will fail over the group at most five times within a three-hour period. The sixth time a resource in the group fails, the Cluster service fails all other resources in the group and leaves the entire group offline instead of failing over the group. If the Effect the Group failover option is disabled, and a resource in the group fails for a sixth time, the Cluster service leaves the resource in the offline state instead of failing all other resources in the group. For example, if the Effect the Group option was disabled and a Network Name resource failed six times in three hours, on the sixth failure the Network Name would be left offline. An IP Address resource, however, would be left online.

Setting failback policy

By default, groups are set not to fail back. Unless you manually configure your group to fail back after failing over, it continues to run on the alternate node after the failed node comes back online.

When you configure a group to automatically fail back to the preferred node, you specify whether you want the group to fail back as soon as the preferred node is available or to fail back only during specific hours that you define. This option is useful if you want the failback to occur after peak business hours or if you want to make sure the preferred node is able to support the group when it does come back online.

The group must be configured to have a preferred owner to fail back. You can specify a preferred owner on the General tab of the group Properties dialog box.

For instructions on how to open the Properties dialog box, see To change the properties of a group.