I am trying to find out to what extent Proxmox supports Microsoft Windows failover clustering natively. Or does it require a third-party tool/layer to use in this way. We are currently using iSCSI storage in our VMware environment to create Windows failover clusters. We do not have any interest in using raw devices again. Is there any specific documentation that I can get access to that describes the supported configuration(s) and how that is set up in Proxmox. Thanks in advance for your help.
Support for Windows Failover Clustering
- Thread starter smecklin
- Start date
Hi @smecklin , welcome to the forum.
There were a few discussions about this topic, for example:
https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/proxmox-ha-mssql-failover-cluster.145104/
https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/support-for-windows-failover-clustering.141016/
In summary, compatibility with MS FCS depends on your backend storage and how it integrates with PVE.
Cheers
Blockbridge : Ultra low latency all-NVME shared storage for Proxmox - https://www.blockbridge.com/proxmox
There were a few discussions about this topic, for example:
https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/proxmox-ha-mssql-failover-cluster.145104/
https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/support-for-windows-failover-clustering.141016/
In summary, compatibility with MS FCS depends on your backend storage and how it integrates with PVE.
Cheers
Blockbridge : Ultra low latency all-NVME shared storage for Proxmox - https://www.blockbridge.com/proxmox
Thanks for the quick response @bbgeek17. I had seen your previous post in the 141026 thread where you mentioned "As one data point, it works without issue with Proxmox on Blockbridge (using raw device paths). However, we natively support iSCSI, which simplifies things significantly." As you appear to be an employee for a third-party vendor I have to assume that you are referring to your storage product as natively supporting Windows Failover Clustering as an iSCSI target for the clusters.
As I mentioned above, we already have an iSCSI storage solution in use for clusters in our VMware environment. At this point I'm trying to evaluate whether Proxmox could be an option for migration of those servers to a new platform. I have found nothing online as yet that tells me whether this is a "supported" use case if we were to use the Proxmox platform and purchase a support subscription.
As I mentioned above, we already have an iSCSI storage solution in use for clusters in our VMware environment. At this point I'm trying to evaluate whether Proxmox could be an option for migration of those servers to a new platform. I have found nothing online as yet that tells me whether this is a "supported" use case if we were to use the Proxmox platform and purchase a support subscription.
Hi @smecklin, I don't believe your Proxmox subscription would help support you in running WSFC. WSFC requires specialized storage support (specifically SCSI persistent reservations and managed initiator identities) and does not work "out of the box" with any of the pre-packaged storage types.
If your use case requires that you reuse your existing iSCSI storage solution, you should contact their support team to assist you with deploying WSFC on top of Proxmox. This is not the same as deploying shared storage emulation on VMFS. In absence of guidance from your vendor, I recommend connecting directly to iSCSI volumes from within your Windows Server VMs.
At Blockbridge, we natively support WSFC, and have also set it up on Proxmox in our lab. My understanding is that Proxmox requires special consideration beyond the backend storage's ability to pass the Windows conformance test. This specific deployment mode is tricky! Especially if you want to retain the mobility of the virtual machines that comprise WSFC.
Blockbridge : Ultra low latency all-NVME shared storage for Proxmox - https://www.blockbridge.com/proxmox
If your use case requires that you reuse your existing iSCSI storage solution, you should contact their support team to assist you with deploying WSFC on top of Proxmox. This is not the same as deploying shared storage emulation on VMFS. In absence of guidance from your vendor, I recommend connecting directly to iSCSI volumes from within your Windows Server VMs.
At Blockbridge, we natively support WSFC, and have also set it up on Proxmox in our lab. My understanding is that Proxmox requires special consideration beyond the backend storage's ability to pass the Windows conformance test. This specific deployment mode is tricky! Especially if you want to retain the mobility of the virtual machines that comprise WSFC.
Blockbridge : Ultra low latency all-NVME shared storage for Proxmox - https://www.blockbridge.com/proxmox
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It doesnt.
the better question is, why do you want to use proxmox for a windows cluster- just run the windows cluster... what are you trying to accomplish with the added virtualization layer?
We can use the iSCSI storage we have to connect directly to the VMs. I do not know a thing about Proxmox at this point and don't know what it can't do. We use direct attached iSCSI storage for our current clusters in VMware and have local/OS storage for these servers running on standard VMware Datastores so that they are host failover resilient. I just trying to make sure that Proxmox is capable the same functionality.
Yes
you can do every item on your list with pve.You dont need BOTH of those. if you have a windows guest on a vmware cluster, there really isnt a need to ALSO have Windows failover clustering. That said, you can do the same thing with PVE- I would simply point to the fact you can accomplish the same thing just running windows on metal.
I am not talking about high-availability clustering where a node can failover to another host. That is a service for the resiliency of a single node but application resiliency cannot necessarily suffer the outage associated with a VM failover between hosts. That is where application resiliency via MS failover clustering comes into play. It also allows taking down one of the nodes for patching and maintenance without losing access to the application. That is what the business requires, so both are useful.
... which can be accomplished with just windows. thats my entire point. but you're the one designing and providing support- toolsets are at your disposal.