They are quite different. The members are active at the same time. An NLB array allows load to be spread amongst all the participating machines. It’s not really suitable for Exchange, because you can’t have multiple Exchange servers using the same datastores (although I believe you can NLB the frontend servers if you have a frontend / backend Exchange setup).
A failover cluster provides high availability and redundancy, but doesn’t spread the load. Only one server is live at any time, but the clustered application(s) can be moved to the other server very quickly. (There is a little downtime – our clustered SQL takes about 40 secs to move nodes). A failover cluster also required shared (very reliable) storage that is independent of the clustered servers, e.g. a SAN.
The importance of server cluster
The server cluster has proven to be more reliable, scalable and efficient than using a single computer. Server clusters are primarily created for an application that regularly updates its data and for applications that run in a long-term memory state. Typically, server clusters are used for servers including files, publications, databases, and messages. The server group is able to handle failures such as:
Application software failures and related service failures.
Failures in hardware systems such as CPU, memory, power supply, etc.
The server cluster has proven to be more reliable, scalable and efficient than using a single computer. Server clusters are primarily created for an application that regularly updates its data and for applications that run in a long-term memory state. Typically, server clusters are used for servers including files, publications, databases, and messages. The server group is able to handle failures such as:
Application software failures and related service failures.
Failures in hardware systems such as CPU, memory, power supply, etc.
Site failure due to natural relapses, power outages, etc.
The main advantages of setting up a server cluster in an organization are three times:
Availability: Availability. … Simply put, availability is the proportion of time a system is in a functioning condition. This is often described as a mission capable rate. Mathematically, this is expressed as 100% minus unavailability.
Scalability: Scalability is an attribute that describes the ability of a process, network, software or organization to grow and manage increased demand. A system, business or software that is described as scalable has an advantage because it is more adaptable to the changing needs or demands of its users or clients.
Reliability: He ability of an apparatus, machine, or system to consistently perform its intended or required function or mission, on demand and without degradation or failure. … Often expressed as mean time between failures (MTBF) or reliability coefficient. also called quality over time.
Server groups meet availability by providing different applications and services to customers in order to meet their organization’s uptime goals. A server farm can provide reliability by contributing to fault tolerance in the event of a system failure by eliminating the specified failure point through redundancy. Scalability is the capacity of a network for future growth.
How does the server farm work?
Server clusters work well for applications that cannot be customized between multiple servers. Each server included in the server farm is said to own and control its local machines. Each server also maintains a copy of the specific operating system, its applications, and services that are designed by the cluster. Each cluster contains common devices such as disks in the shared disk source. There is also a connection medium that can provide access to these disks, etc., and is controlled by one server at a time.
In a server cluster, only one node will run at a time. The reason is that each node receives its updates separately. Other nodes are usually kept in standby. If any active node fails, it will take over the other backup nodes immediately. This process is possible because all nodes in a cluster are
connected to a shared storage system. This shared storage system used by server clusters is called a quorum. It is said to be the database configuration of the server cluster. A quorum resource typically contains data such as information about the cluster configuration, and it keeps a record of the current changes to that configuration.
What is cluster quorum Disk ?
A cluster quorum disk is the storage medium on which the configuration database of the cluster computing network is stored. The cluster configuration database, also called a quorum, tells the cluster that the physical servers must be active at any time. Quorum disk includes a shared cluster device that allows simultaneous read / write access by all nodes in a cluster.
In networks, aggregation is the use of multiple servers (computers) to form what users seem to be as one highly available system. A webpage request is sent to the “manager” server, which then determines which of the other servers to forward the processing request. Cluster computing is used to balance traffic load on high-traffic websites. Load balancing involves splitting work between multiple servers so that a faster service is provided to users.
Although clusters have multiple servers, other users or computers see any particular cluster as one virtual server. The physical servers themselves are called cluster nodes. The quorum tells the cluster that the node must be active at any given time, and intervenes if communications between cluster nodes fail by determining which set of nodes you get to run the application at hand. The node group with the quorum continues to run the application, while the other group is removed from the service.
Related Topic: Step by Step : Implementing & Configuring Failover Clustering in Windows Server 2012 R2
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