Create a file server failover cluster on Windows Server 2012 / 2012 R2

4. Connecting cluster servers to the iSCSI server

For your cluster to be highly available, we recommend using MPIO.
Hence, we allowed 2 IP addresses per server when configuring the iSCSI target.

In short, on each server (which will be a member of your cluster), launch the iSCSI Initiator and go to the "Discovery" tab.
Then, click on : Discover Portal.

Enter one of the IP addresses of your iSCSI server and click OK.

In the "Targets" tab, select the target displayed and click on Login.

Note : if no target is displayed, your server could not connect to your iSCSI server.
Check the network configuration of the iSCSI server and the one used as the client, as well as the configuration of your iSCSI server. Make sure you have authorized the IP addresses of your client servers.

Check the "Enable multi-path" box and click Advanced.

Select a 1st path with the options at the top :

• Local adapter : Microsoft iSCSI Initiator
• Initiator IP : 10.0.20.1
• Target portal IP : 10.0.20.3 / 3260

Then, if you have enabled CHAP authentication, check the "Enable CHAP log on" box and configure :

• the name : CHAP username
• the target secret : the associated password

Finally, click OK 2 times.

Select the displayed target and click Properties.
In the "Connect to Target" window that appears, check the "Enable multi-path" box and click Advanced.

Define another path through the top options, and configure the CHAP logon information (if needed).

Install the MPIO (Multipath I/O) feature and enable iSCSI support in the MPIO properties.

To do this, launch the "MPIO" program available from the Windows Server 2012 / 2012 R2 home screen and go to the "Discover Multi-Paths" tab.
Then, check the "Add support for iSCSI devices" box and click "Add".
A small "Restart required" window will appear, click "Yes" to restart now your server.

5. Partitioning iSCSI disks

On one of the servers of your future cluster, open the "Computer Management" console and go to Disk Management.
You should see 2 new disks appear as "Offline".

Note : if the same iSCSI virtual disks appear multiple times in Windows Server 2012 / 2012 R2 Disk Management, iSCSI devices support for MPIO has not been enabled. In this case, check that the "Add support for iSCSI devices" box is checked in the "MPIO" program (see previous image).

Put these disks online and partition them from one of your servers.
For the names of the partitions, we used the same as for the name of the associated iSCSI virtual disk.