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Been browsing a few websites, and it seems right now all hyper-v clusters are build on CSV ( clustered share volume ).

I have a current setup (2 node window failover cluster).

I have 2 vms running on node1 each in its own cluster disk e.g.

  • vmA (owner-node1) on clusterdisk1 (owner-node1)
  • vmB (owner-node1) on clusterdisk2 (owner-node1)

I have 1 vm running on node2 in its own cluster disk as well.

  • vmC (owner-node2) on clusterdisk3 (owner-node2)

q1) can the VMS in node1 run in the same clusterdisk ? (e.g. clusterdisk1) ?

q2) When node1 fail, node2 will take ownership of the clusterdisk1,2 and startup the VM; So what is the difference between using clusterdisk and CSV ?

I am using window server 2012 r2

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3 Answers 3

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This link lists the benefits of CSVs

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd759255(v=ws.11).aspx

q1) can multiple VMs on Node1 run in the same clusterdisk?

I don't think that is possible (the article says no). Even if you could add multiple VMs to the same Clusterdisk it would mean if a single VM failed or needed to be moved it couldn't be moved independently. All the other VMs using the same clusterdisk would need to moved as well.

q2) When node1 fail, node2 will take ownership of the clusterdisk1,2 and startup the VM; So what is the difference between using clusterdisk and CSV ?

reduced number of LUNs, Better use of disk space, Reduced complexity. And I have found that failover / move is faster as well.

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Michael Brown already answered it, just wanted to add:

CSV is currently the best practice storage configuration for both Hyper-V, SQL FCI, and SoFS. 99% of the clustered systems I configure for the customers are built on CSV and remaining 1% uses DAG and AlwaysOn AG like BaronSamedi1958 mentioned above.

Also,CSV now has a benefit of ODX (Offloaded Data (X)fer). It's a cool thing to have as it offloads storage commands overhead to the SAN, unlocking more resources to the hypervisor itself. Finally, CSV requires shared storage. Your 2 best candidates here are:

  1. MS Storage Spaces direct (either 2+witness or 3-node minimum, but it's not yet released and will require datacenter license) https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt126109.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396
  2. StarWind Virtual SAN (2 nodes w/o witness needed for fault tolerant storage, Free version with production support already available) https://www.starwindsoftware.com/starwind-virtual-san-free
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CSV is layered on top of some physical shared storage so you can have [ cluster ] without shared storage.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluster_Shared_Volumes

You can still have a cluster without shared storage / CSV say Exchange DAG and SQL Server AAG.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd979799(v=exchg.150).aspx

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff877884.aspx

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