Windows Server 2008 includes a new, easy-to-use management interface. The previous cluster administration interface has been replaced with a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) 3.0 snap-in, CluAdmin.msc. This new interface is accessible from within Administrative Tools. It is also possible to open a blank MMC and then add this snap-in along with any others.
The Failover Cluster Administration Console is designed to be task oriented instead of cluster resource oriented, as it was in previous versions of failover clustering. Instead of playing with “knobs and dials,” failover cluster administrators now select the clustering task that they want to undertake (such as making a file share highly available) and supply the necessary information via the wizard. Administrators can even manage Windows Server 2008 clusters from Windows Vista® client computers by installing the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT).
In previous versions of cluster administration, the procedure for creating a highly availability file share was a complex process. The administrator had to create a group, a disk resource, an IP address resource, resource name (Network Name), configure IsAlive/LookAlive, configure preferred services and set dependencies. There were a lot of opportunities to get something wrong.
In contrast, Windows Server 2008 failover clustering asks if you want to create a highly available file share and does all the work for you. You never have to deal with resources or dependencies. Instead, you launch the File Share High Availability wizard. You are then asked for a client access point name (the Network Name). You do not even need to assign an IP address, as Windows Server 2008 failover clustering supports DHCP (and DHCP addressing for resources is the default in the wizard).
What happens under the hood is that the wizard creates a group, takes a disk from available storage (which is automatically detected), and moves it to that group. It then creates an IP address resource and creates a network name resource (based on client access point entry). Then it defines resources owners, preferred owner, and dependencies automatically.
In addition, you can manage multiple clusters throughout the organization from a single MMC. And since the Windows Server 2008 MMC is a true MMC (unlike the interface available in previous versions), you can create custom management consoles that include the failover cluster snap-in in addition to other management snap-ins.
In addition to the powerful and easy to use failover cluster management console, experienced cluster server administrators may want to get full access to all the commands they had available in the command-line interface. Administrators can access all the knobs and dials that failover clustering has to offer to fine-tune their clusters by using the cluster.exe command-line interface. Moreover, Windows Server 2008 Failover Clusters are fully scriptable with Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).
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