Post-Configuration of the S2D Nodes

With the nodes now fully turned on we can connect the S2D nodes to complete their final configuration tasks. It normally takes less than 1 hour to complete the entire post configuration. You can further automate this entire process by using the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) or SCCM. Our nodes were pre-configured with an evaluation build of Windows Server 2016 Data Center Edition trial.

 

At a high level the remaining tasks are as follows:

• Change the names of the HyperConverged nodes
  
• Join the S2D nodes to a Domain (this is required if the nodes will be clustered using Microsoft Windows Failover Cluster)
  
• Install the required Roles and Features (Hyper-V, Failover Clustering, Data Center Bridging)
  
• Enable Datacenter Bridging
  
• Configure the SET Team and Virtual Adapters
  
• Configure an IP Addresses for the Virtual Adapters
  
• Run all Windows Updates
  
• Build the Cluster
  
• Enable Storage Spaces Direct
  
• Present the Storage
  
• Test
  

 

We will continue this blog series at the point that Windows Updates have been run on all the nodes and now it is time to build our Failover Cluster.

Assuming that the nodes are powered off step 1 – Turn on the Power

Powering on the S2D Nodes

 

Now because we want to do configure as much of this remotely as possible we are going to use the onboard IPMI ports.

Our configuration looks like this.

IPMI Configuration

When we ordered the HyperConverged Appliances we asked to have the IPMI (Itelligient Platform Mangement Interface) pre-configured. The IP Addresses for the IPMI Interfaces on each of the nodes are shown in the table below:

Note: IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface) is similar to Hewlett Packard (HP) ILO (Integrated Lights-Out) or Dell’s IDRAC (Integrated Dell Remote Access)

 

Note: To access the IPMI interface simply open your web browser to https://<IPMIAddress> Default logon for the Supermicro servers is UserID = ADMIN Password = ADMIN

If the IPMI Addresses haven’t been configured their DHCP address will show up during the power on and posting.

 

Building a 2-Node S2D Cluster

The following steps will demonstrate how to build out a 2-Node S2D Cluster. We will take 2 of the nodes that were purchased as part of the above solution to demonstrate this. This configuration is ideal for Small Office / Home Offices (SOHO) or Remote Office / Branch Offices (ROBO)

 

Install Core Windows Roles and features

 

The base Windows Server Roles and features required for S2D are listed below:

 

• File Services
• Failover Clustering (including Management Tools)
• Hyper-V (Including Management Tools)

 

You can install these via the GUI or with PowerShell. For the purposes of this book we will only be showing the configuration via PowerShell.

Install-WindowsFeature -Name File-Services
Install-WindowsFeature -Name Failover-Clustering -IncludeManagementTools
Install-WindowsFeature -Name Hyper-V -IncludeAllSubFeature -IncludeManagementTools -Restart 

 

 

You can complete the Installation of the core roles on the remaining nodes by using the following PowerShell script.

Invoke-Command -ComputerName S2DNode2 -ScriptBlock {

Install-WindowsFeature -Name File-Services
Install-WindowsFeature -Name Failover-Clustering -IncludeManagementTools
Install-WindowsFeature -Name Hyper-V -IncludeAllSubFeature -IncludeManagementTools -Restart 
} 
 

 

 

Now that we have our Failover Cluster roles installed the next post in the series is going to take a step back. I had a lot of feedback on Part 3 of the blog that people wanted more information on the Network Configurations. So, we will take a deeper dive into the networking in the post #5 before continuing.

 

Thanks,

 

Cristal

 

Cristal Kawula

Cristal Kawula is the co-founder of MVPDays Community Roadshow and #MVPHour live Twitter Chat. She was also a member of the S2D Technical Advisory board and is the President of TriCon Elite Consulting. Cristal is also only the 2nd woman in the world to receive the prestigious Veeam Vanguard award.

 

BLOG: http://www.checkyourlogs.net

Twitter: @supercristal1