Product specifications

2 Creating a Microsoft Failover Cluster
This chapter describes the processes for creating a Microsoft failover cluster for automatic server
failover. It is crucial that you follow the instructions given in this chapter completely, otherwise
the automatic server failover will not work.
This chapter covers the following topics:
•
Server Failover Installation Overview
• Before You Begin the Server Failover Installation
• Preparing the Server for the Cluster Service
• Configuring the Cluster Service
Instructions for installing the Interplay Engine are provided in “Installing the Interplay | Engine
for a Failover Cluster” on page 74
.
Server Failover Installation Overview
Installation and configuration of the automatic server failover consists of the following major
tasks:
• Make sure that the network is correctly set up and that you have reserved IP host names and
IP addresses (see
“Before You Begin the Server Failover Installation” on page 29).
• Prepare the servers for the cluster service (see
“Preparing the Server for the Cluster Service”
on page 35
). This includes configuring the nodes for the network and formatting the drives.
• Configure the cluster service (see
“Configuring the Cluster Service” on page 52).
• Install the Interplay Engine on both nodes (see
“Installing the Interplay | Engine for a
Failover Cluster” on page 74
).
• Test the complete installation (see
“Testing the Complete Installation” on page 108).
n
Do not install any other software on the cluster machines except the Interplay Engine. For
example, Media Indexer software needs to be installed on a different server. For complete
installation instructions, see the Interplay | Production Software Installation and Configuration
Guide.