How to Cluster Windows Server 2003

The first choice you must make is the domain the cluster will be in. If you have a single domain, this is an easy choice. If you have more than one domain, select the domain that all of your cluster nodes reside in.

The second choice is the name you will assign the virtual cluster. This is the name of the virtual cluster, not the name of the virtual SQL Server. About the only time you will use this name is when you connect to the cluster with Cluster Administrator. SQL Server 2005 clients will not connect to the cluster using this virtual name.

Once you enter the information, click Next to proceed.

Now, we have to tell the wizard the physical name of the node we want to install clustering on. Assuming that you are running the Cluster Wizard on the primary node of your cluster, then the computer name you see in the above screen will be the name of the physical node you are installing on. If you are installing from one node, but want to install clustering on a different node, you can, but it just gets confusing if you do. It is much easier to install on the same node.

Notice the Advanced button in the screen shot above. If you click on it, you will see the following.

Advanced Configuration Options allow you to choose from between a Typical and an Advanced configuration. In almost all cases, the Typical configuration will work fine, and that is the option we use during this example. The Advanced configuration option is only needed for complex SAN configurations, and is beyond the scope of this article.

So click Cancel to return to the wizard, enter the correct physical node, if need be, and click Next.

This next step is very important. What the Cluster Wizard does is to verify that everything is in place before it begins the actual installation of the cluster service on the node. As you can see above, the wizard goes through many steps, and if you did all of your preparation correctly, when the testing is done, you will see a green bar under Tasks completed, and you will be ready to proceed. But if you have not done all the preliminary steps properly, you may see yellow or red icons next to one or more of the many tested steps, and a green or red bar under Tasks completed.