Windows Server 2008 R2 high-availability and recovery features : Installing and Administering Failover Clustering (part 4) - Verifying cluster configuration using the Cluster Validation Wizard

5. Verifying cluster configuration using the Cluster Validation Wizard

The Cluster Validation Wizard will perform a series of rigorous tests to ensure that you storage, nodes, and network are configured properly to support a Windows Server 2008 R2 failover cluster. Using this wizard, you can validate that your nodes are ready to be used to create a new cluster. You can also run this wizard against an existing cluster to validate that it is properly configured. To validate your configuration, perform the following on either node of the cluster:

1.	Open Server Manager.
2.	Select the node Features | Failover Cluster Manager.
3.	Click the Validate Configuration link in the middle pane (see Figure 15). This will launch the Validate a Configuration Wizard. Figure 15. Validate Configuration link.
4.	Click Next to begin.
5.	Select all nodes that will participate in the cluster configuration. This can be done by typing their FQDN or by browsing for them, using the Browse button (see Figure 16). After selecting all nodes to be used by the cluster, click Next. Figure 16. Select Cluster nodes.
6.	Select the option to Run All Tests. Then click Next.
7.	Verify that the correct nodes are selected on the Confirmation page. Then click Next to begin the validation process.
8.	You will see a series of tests begin to run as seen in Figure 17. It may take several minutes for all the tests to be completed. When the validation process is complete, click View Report to view the results of the validation tests. Figure 17. Testing nodes.
9.	Review the report for any warnings or errors (see Figure 18). You will need to correct any errors before creating a cluster. Warnings may require an issue to be resolved in some cases and in others they can be safely ignored. For example, if using iSCSI storage, the report will list a network warning for the iSCSI network adapters, stating that they are on the same subnet. Figure 18. Validation Wizard Report.

After reviewing the validation report, you can close it and click Finish to close the wizard. If you need to correct any errors and warnings, you will need to run the Validation Wizard again after correcting the errors. After verifying whether your configuration is cluster ready, you can create a new Failover Cluster.