Creating a DataKeeper Volume Resource in WSFC

Automatic Creation of a Mirror in WSFC

1. Use the SIOS DataKeeper GUI to configure a mirror.

2. At the completion of the mirror creation operation, the following dialog box will pop up which will allow you to automatically add the mirror as a DataKeeper volume resource into WSFC.

If Yes is selected, then the DataKeeper mirror will be added as a DataKeeper volume resource to “Available Storage” in WSFC. However, if No is selected or an error is encountered, follow the steps in the section Manual Creation of a Mirror in WSFC, to create the mirror manually.

*Note: When the DataKeeper Volume is listed as Available Storage, it does NOT make DataKeeper Highly Available. The DataKeeper Volume resource(s) only becomes Highly Available after it has been assigned to a Windows Server Failover Cluster role (i.e. SQL, Oracle, SAP, File Server, Hyper-V or Generic Service).

If you need to perform a switchover of the Available Storage resource (before it is added to a Role), remove the Available Storage from WSFC. In the DataKeeper GUI, the Switchover Mirrors option in the Action Panel will then be bold and available for switchover.

Whether the mirror is created automatically or manually, the DataKeeper volume resource(s) is placed in “Available Storage.” The DataKeeper volume resource(s) can now be utilized just as if it were a physical disk resource. While clustering some applications (SQL for example), the DataKeeper volume resource is recognized and treated exactly the same as a physical disk resource. This means that during the cluster create process, the DataKeeper volume resource will be pulled automatically into the cluster resource and the dependencies will be created automatically. Other applications, notably the Hyper-V “Virtual Machine” resource, are hard-coded to look for a physical disk resource and will not automatically pull the DataKeeper resource into the cluster configuration. In these circumstances, the DataKeeper volume resource can be easily added to the cluster resource and the dependencies can be created manually through the WSFC GUI.

Use the DataKeeper GUI to monitor the mirroring states. It provides more information than the Failover Cluster manager UI.