clustering in Windows 2000.

[firefox]

I came across this term called clustering in Windows 2000 and am really interested in knowing all you can about it. Can anybody help me out?

[Moby-Dick]

To Cluster in Windows 2000, you need to be running advanced server and above for a start

Clustered applications can be run in active/passive mode or active / active ( In a 2 node cluster )

only applications designed for clustering can be run in this way.

In an active/passive cluster , two servers would share a common file store ( such as a SAN or NAS unit ) but onyl one of them would be runing the application at a time.

You run a heartbeat process , and if that heartbeat breaks , then the 2nd server takes over the application. Virtual IP addresses are used so that the rest of the network only ever see the cluster as a single unit.