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Windows Failover Clustering, one of the best features available in Windows Server OS!!
February 18, 2022

Windows Failover Clustering, one of the best features available in Windows Server OS!!

Edwin Labirua | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Windows Server Failover Clustering

We utilized Windows Server Failover Clustering as an integral part of a MS SQL cluster setup. We utilized it for almost zero downtime on our Microsoft SQL serving our on prem Sharepoint implementations, as well as several critical IT infrastructure systems that need a SQL database back end. This allows us to perform maintenance and patching without affecting the applications that use the SQL server. It's deployed on a active passive setup. We also set up a test Hyper-V high availability cluster.
  • It allows us to perform maintenance and patching on the passive node without having to shutdown the database and incurring downtime.
  • We are able to repair a failed server but failing the database over if there is a hardware failure on the active node. Minimizing downtime on the database.
  • It provides an automated recovery when there is failure without IT intervention when there is an issue.
  • The setup of the Windows Server Failover Clustering is complex, requiring different networks and multiple network cards.
  • Better integration between the Windows Failover clustering and Hyper-V. Unlike VMWare you have to make changes to two places instead of just one panel.
  • I wish there was a web portal to manage the cluster. Instead you have to remote desktop into the VIP address and go to the Cluster manager.
  • One of the most important features in the high availability of the SQL cluster ensuring we have minimum downtime.
  • The automatic fail over feature. Making sure the database is always up when a failure occurs on the hardware level.
  • The ease of managing the resource in the Failover clustering manager.
  • A positive impact is that we are able to setup the Windows Server Failover Clustering with just the Standard Windows server and SQL license.
  • We have hardware redundancy on our SQL server so we won't have to worry about hardware failures on maintenance windows. We can work on the passive node while the database is up on the active node.
  • We were able to setup a virtualization cluster without having to purchase additional licenses for a test instance.
  • We are able to utilize MS SQL for some of our more critical infrastructure because of the Windows Failover clustering, since the database was always up as long as one node was up.
We fell the Windows Server Failover Clustering was better than the Oracle Real Application Clusters. Although the Oracle Real Application cluster provided an active setup it was more unstable. On more than one occasion a split brain issue had occurred when both nodes thought the other node was down and attempted to take control of the database causing the application to go down. Support pointed to drop pings between the two nodes on the clustering network. We had initially connected the clustering network thru a switch so we changed that to a direct connect crossover cable. Even after that, it would still occasionally have an issue. We never had that issue on the Windows Failover Clustering, it had been very stable and we never had an outage.

Do you think Windows Server Failover Clustering delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Windows Server Failover Clustering's feature set?

Yes

Did Windows Server Failover Clustering live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Windows Server Failover Clustering go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Windows Server Failover Clustering again?

Yes

It works fantastic in conjuncture with the MS SQL cluster setup. When a SQL node had a hardware failure, it failed over to the passive node. No one was the wiser that anything happened to the system until our Operations department realized that node was down. We were able to repair the server and bring it back up without causing issues on the database. Which meant the application was also still up, which we were very happy with. I didn't like it when used with Hyper-V to setup a cluster, although it allowed us to set it up similar to a VMWare cluster, I did not like having to go between the Windows Failover Clustering manager then the Hyper-V manager to work on a VM. It also caused a small issue when one of my colleagues setup a VM, he forgot to add Windows Failover Cluster.