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Introduction 9
Cluster Nodes
Table 1-1 lists the hardware requirements for the cluster nodes.
NOTE: For more information about supported systems, HBAs and operating system
variants, see the Dell Cluster Configuration Support Matrices located on the Dell
High Availability Clustering website at dell.com/ha.
Table 1-1. Cluster Node Requirements
Component Minimum Requirement
Cluster nodes A minimum of two identical Dell™ PowerEdge™ servers are
required. The maximum number of nodes that is supported
depends on the variant of the Windows Server operating
system used in your cluster, and on the physical topology in
which the storage system and nodes are interconnected.
RAM The variant of the Windows Server operating system that is
installed on your cluster nodes determines the minimum
required amount of system RAM.
HBA ports Two Fibre Channel HBAs per node, unless the server employs
an integrated or supported dual-port Fibre Channel HBA.
Where possible, place the HBAs on separate PCI buses to
improve availability and performance.
NICs (public and
private networks)
At least two NICs: one NIC for the public network and
another NIC for the private network.
NOTE: It is recommended that the NICs on each public network
are identical, and that the NICs on each private network are
identical.
Internal disk
controller
One controller connected to at least two internal hard drives
for each node. Use any supported RAID controller or disk
controller.
Two hard drives are required for mirroring (RAID 1) and at
least three are required for disk striping with parity (RAID 5).
NOTE: It is strongly recommended that you use hardware-
based RAID or software-based disk-fault tolerance for the
internal drives.