How to Configure Hyper-V to anable switch over between two hosts.
My customer has installed two servers, both share an external NAS storage unit. Both hosts are installed with Windows server 2008R2 Standard, with the Hyper-V role.
We have created two iSCSI targets, one for each virtual server to be run on each host. We created the virtual computers, and put the configuration files and the vdisk all on the iSCSI targets. All is working well.
However, last week we had a hardware error on one of the hosts, so we wanted to manually switch over the virtual servers to run on the other host. We attached to the iSCSI targets, and could see the config files and the vDisks, but we could not find a way to import or use the virtual server. We ended up have to create a new virtual server and attaching the vdisks. Whilst this works, i have a feeling I missed something, and that I should be able to open the vserver on the alternate host.
Also, windows detected this was a different vserver, and cancelled the activation, and forced me to reactivate it. All of this seems not so easy and straight forward as the hype would have you believe, or am I missing something.
Does anyone else have experience of this situation? and how do you switch the vservers between hosts?
I know using clusters would be a better solution, but they do not want to pay for that level of service, i.e. Enterprise licences.
We have created two iSCSI targets, one for each virtual server to be run on each host. We created the virtual computers, and put the configuration files and the vdisk all on the iSCSI targets. All is working well.
However, last week we had a hardware error on one of the hosts, so we wanted to manually switch over the virtual servers to run on the other host. We attached to the iSCSI targets, and could see the config files and the vDisks, but we could not find a way to import or use the virtual server. We ended up have to create a new virtual server and attaching the vdisks. Whilst this works, i have a feeling I missed something, and that I should be able to open the vserver on the alternate host.
Also, windows detected this was a different vserver, and cancelled the activation, and forced me to reactivate it. All of this seems not so easy and straight forward as the hype would have you believe, or am I missing something.
Does anyone else have experience of this situation? and how do you switch the vservers between hosts?
I know using clusters would be a better solution, but they do not want to pay for that level of service, i.e. Enterprise licences.
ASKER
Not helpful, I know clusters would be a great solution, but the customer is happy with manual fail-over. So will not pay for the enterprise licenses.
That aside, I am not sure why I cannot open the VM on another host without creating a new one. Seems to defeat the whole point of virtualisation. With VMWare, I just get access to the file and open them, and I am running. Why can't I do the same with Hyper-V?
That aside, I am not sure why I cannot open the VM on another host without creating a new one. Seems to defeat the whole point of virtualisation. With VMWare, I just get access to the file and open them, and I am running. Why can't I do the same with Hyper-V?
You can use Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 SP1 to get a cluster without paying for Windows Enterprise. You still need to license your hosts properly.
ASKER
The hosts all have full 200R2 Standard licenses. Are you saying int 2008R2 SP! clustering is now a standard edition feature? If it is true I would find that pretty amazing, and good news.
No, clustering is not in Windows Standard. Clustering is in Hyper-V Server 2008 R2, which is a separate product based upon Windows 2008 R2 Enterprise Core with the Hyper-V role installed.
ASKER
So, if I understand you correctly, I would still need to buy two Enterprise licenses? Which again defeats the whole point of thi discussion.
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ASKER
Ok, now I understand. As the customer has already purchased his 4 standard licenses the cost of licenses is a moot point. But I will download and checkout the Hyper-V server you mentioned.
If I understand your initial question correctly you are runing Server 2008R2 with Hyper-V on 2 independent servers and you want to be able to failover between systems. Is that correct? Without shared storage (iSCSI or SAN), Cluster Shared Volumes and the Failover Cluster component of Enterprise/Datacenter I do not believe this is possible. Additionally, I suspect attempting to share the virtual disks amongst multiple hosts without the proper layers would surely cause some type of data corruption to the vdisks. I believe your answer will be the solution you implemented in your initial workaround. Best of luck and keep us posted.
ASKER
We have shared storage, as I believ I mentioned, we use an external NAS unit with one iSCSI target per VM.
Ok, so the hosts machines connect to the NAS using iSCSI and your vm's reside within the iSCSI target. If this is correct you will still have the issue with the physical machines sharing the same storage space. Correct me if I am wrong but I believe your iSCSI target can only be read by one physical machine at a time.
ASKER
That is correct, and I don't want to change that.
What I want is, if Host1 fails, I manually connect host 2 to the iSCSI target, HOST1 already off, and start the VM from Host2. I have done this, but the problem is, firstly I must create a new VM and attach the vdisks, because Host2 does not recognise the Host1 VM config files. This recreating the VM causes windows server to think this is a new installation, and deactivates windows. Hence I must reactivate it. Which sort of defeats the whole point of virtualization.
What I want is, if Host1 fails, I manually connect host 2 to the iSCSI target, HOST1 already off, and start the VM from Host2. I have done this, but the problem is, firstly I must create a new VM and attach the vdisks, because Host2 does not recognise the Host1 VM config files. This recreating the VM causes windows server to think this is a new installation, and deactivates windows. Hence I must reactivate it. Which sort of defeats the whole point of virtualization.
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ASKER
Thanks for that, I owuld clasify that as good and bad news. Good that they are doing it the same ways that I have tried, but bad, as it still sucks that it is so difficult and long winded. Why can't MS come up with a simple approach like VMWare, just point at the vmx files, add to the inventory, then run, aand you are up and running in seconds.
It is pretty awesome b/c when one server fails; it will automatically switch to the other server.