Server 2012 R2 Essentials w/ Server 2012 R2 Stnd 2 Node

[Van Rue]

I did find a post that Server 2012 Essentials is supported for StarWind VSAN, however, it wasn't clear if Win2012 R2 Standard could be added to the Essentials domain and act as second node.

I don't think failover clustering is included with Essentials, although MPIO and iSCSI are.

Is that still possible to use 2 nodes (1 with Essential, 1 with Standard) on a bare metal?

[Vladislav (Staff)]

Hello!

Yes, StarWind can be installed on MSFT Windows Server 2012 Essentials but AFAIK Essentials does not support Failover Clustering. This means Essentials host can only provide dedicated storage instead of being a member of FC.

There is an alternative option though. You can use 2 servers 1 Standard + 1 Free Hyper-V Server 2012. They both can be added to the Failover Cluster in order to create HA environment

[Van Rue]

So let's assume that I do use the 2012 Essentials Version, and 2012 Standard joined to the domain, and the Essentials server failed. Would Starwind Virtual SAN still keep the data available even without Windows clustering? or is Starwind VSAN dependant on the FC feature of MS to function?

[PoSaP]

As far as I know Starwind can be installed on all 64 bit Windows Server editions starting from 2008R2, including 2012R2 Essentials. Other words if 2012R2 Essentials failes, Starwind HA devices will keep working on the 2012 Standard. Starwind HA devices don`t depend on MS functions. Just keep in mind that you can`t add both severs to cluster, due to Essentials license restrictions. Based on this you could loose your VM`s (that use Essential host's storage) when Essentials host falls down. Anyway, you will be able to recreate failed VM`s from the Starwind devices located on partner Server (Windows Standard one), but with down time.

[Van Rue]

Thanks, I think that is what I needed to know. I will run some tests to see how it responds to failure.

[Anatoly (staff)]

@PoSaP, thank you for the correct answer! We really appreciate it!
@Van Rue, please let us know if you need anything else.