We’ve covered setting  up a two node failover cluster in Windows Server 2008 and now that we have that running we can start to cluster some services and/or applications.  In this example we’ll cluster File Services to create a highly available file share.  To start we can simply right-click Services and Application under the cluster and choose Configure a Service or Application.

From there we are presented with a list of services and applications that can be clustered.

Simply choose the service or application you want to make highly available…

A quick system check will ensure you have the required components in place.  The proper install order would be:

• Clustering Role
• Role, Service or Application to be clustered

We will choose the File Server role as it is already installed.

You will have to provide a name (used by NetBIOS and DNS) as well as the public IP address you wish to use.  This will be the IP that users connect to gain access to resources.

Next select the disk you wish to assign to this cluster.  This will be the disk that contains the shares and files.

Finish out the wizard and once it is complete you will see the service or application appear in the list as well as it’s status, the type and the current owner (aka the node holding the role at this time).

If you wish to move it to the other node in the cluster simply right-click the name and choose Move this Service or Application to Another Node and choose the node.

The resources will be re-assigned to the other node and after a brief outage be back online for users to access.

For more information see:

TechNet Virtual Lab: Creating a Highly Available Infrastructure

TechNet Virtual Lab: Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Failover Clustering Lab

Step-by-Step Guide for Configuring a Two-Node File Server Failover Cluster in Windows Server 2008

Failover Clustering Resource Center