Synchronise Primary Server

[Guest]

I was wondering if it's possible to synchronise a primary server to a secondary server in case the primary server goes offline for whatever reason. 

So the primary server will be running Server 2016 With Hyper-V and file sharing. Within Hyper-V it will have three Servers as followed:

 

1.Virtual Server 01:

• Domain Controler
• DNS
• DHCP

2. Virtual Server 02

• Web Server
• MS SQL

3. Virtual Server 03

• Printer Services.

 

I was thinking maybe, It might be easier to implement a SAN that's attached to both servers that will be directed to the VHDX files so if the primary server goes offline the secondary server can kick in.

[dalekphalm]

3 minutes ago, Fallen Soul said:

I was wondering if it's possible to synchronise a primary server to a secondary server in case the primary server goes offline for whatever reason. 

So the primary server will be running Server 2016 With Hyper-V and file sharing. Within Hyper-V it will have three Servers as followed:

 

1.Virtual Server 01:

• Domain Controler
• DNS
• DHCP

2. Virtual Server 02

• Web Server
• MS SQL

3. Virtual Server 03

• Printer Services.

 

I was thinking maybe, It might be easier to implement a SAN that's attached to both servers that will be directed to the VHDX files so if the primary server goes offline the secondary server can kick in.

I know for sure you can do this with ESXi. You create a cluster with ESXi of two or more physical servers (nodes).

 

You have the VM's and associated VHD's stored on a Datastore accessible to all nodes. You can do this via a SAN, a NAS, or a third physical server dedicated to storage.

 

Then you can configure failover protection (either automatic or manual), so that when a node goes offline, you can bring the VM back up on another node. ESXi provides this with the HA (high availability) Cluster feature:

https://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-4-esx-vcenter/index.jsp?topic=/com.vmware.vsphere.availability.doc_41/c_useha_works.html

 

However, I'm fairly sure that this feature is locked behind one of the paid licenses. Yep, just confirmed:

https://www.thomas-krenn.com/en/wiki/VMware_vSphere_6_Editions_Overview

 

Looks like you need Essentials Plus (or higher, eg: Standard) to get HA Cluster support. The cheapest license (Essentials) does not support HA, nor does the free base ESXi license.

 

There is likely a similar feature for Hyper-V. Here's one particular overview of it:

https://www.altaro.com/hyper-v/failover-cluster-manager/

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

I know for sure you can do this with ESXi. You create a cluster with ESXi of two or more physical servers (nodes).

 

You have the VM's and associated VHD's stored on a Datastore accessible to all nodes. You can do this via a SAN, a NAS, or a third physical server dedicated to storage.

 

Then you can configure failover protection (either automatic or manual), so that when a node goes offline, you can bring the VM back up on another node. ESXi provides this with the HA (high availability) Cluster feature:

https://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-4-esx-vcenter/index.jsp?topic=/com.vmware.vsphere.availability.doc_41/c_useha_works.html

 

However, I'm fairly sure that this feature is locked behind one of the paid licenses. Yep, just confirmed:

https://www.thomas-krenn.com/en/wiki/VMware_vSphere_6_Editions_Overview

 

Looks like you need Essentials Plus (or higher, eg: Standard) to get HA Cluster support. The cheapest license (Essentials) does not support HA, nor does the free base ESXi license.

 

There is likely a similar feature for Hyper-V. Here's one particular overview of it:

https://www.altaro.com/hyper-v/failover-cluster-manager/

Thanks at least I know it can be done. 

Would anyone know if something similar to this is possible with hyper-v?

[dalekphalm]

Just now, Fallen Soul said:

Thanks at least I know it can be done. 

Would anyone know if something similar to this is possible with hyper-v?

Check the bottom of my post above. Last link in the post.

[Guest]

Just now, dalekphalm said:

Check the bottom of my post above. Last link in the post.

oops my apologies, I missed that link.

 

[Guest]

55 minutes ago, Fallen Soul said:

I was wondering if it's possible to synchronise a primary server to a secondary server in case the primary server goes offline for whatever reason. 

So the primary server will be running Server 2016 With Hyper-V and file sharing. Within Hyper-V it will have three Servers as followed:

 

1.Virtual Server 01:

• Domain Controler
• DNS
• DHCP

2. Virtual Server 02

• Web Server
• MS SQL

3. Virtual Server 03

• Printer Services.

 

I was thinking maybe, It might be easier to implement a SAN that's attached to both servers that will be directed to the VHDX files so if the primary server goes offline the secondary server can kick in.

Yes - what you're looking at is disaster recovery: products like Veeam Backup & Replication do this quite well; down to 15 minute intervals. There is also Zerto as an option too. However, for AD, DNS and DHCP you're better putting those services as highly available rather than the server itself. In VM3, add those services to it as slaves of the other. 

[Jarsky]

You're talking about HA (High Availability) or DRS (Disaster Recovery). 

 

In the Hyper-V world its called Failover Clustering I believe. 

You can use SCVMM to migrate a VM if you find you need to balance the load between the nodes. 

[NelizMastr]

3 hours ago, Jarsky said:

You're talking about HA (High Availability) or DRS (Disaster Recovery). 

 

In the Hyper-V world its called Failover Clustering I believe. 

You can use SCVMM to migrate a VM if you find you need to balance the load between the nodes. 

In server 2016 failover clustering with automatic and live migration is standard. You don’t need scvmm for that. Just enable clustering on both hosts, and make sure they’re identical hardware wise and that the VMs are on shared storage.