HP Windows Server 2012 Cluster Pre-Planning Guide

4 Considerations when Planning Failover Clusters
There are many factors to consider when building large-scale clusters with Windows Server 2012.
It is important to understand the capabilities of the storage array and how those capabilities may
influence the implementation of the cluster. The following sections discuss important factors and
capabilities that must be considered when planning a large failover cluster using Windows Server
2012.
The Number of Nodes within the Cluster
See the HP Single Point of Connectivity Knowledge (HP SPOCK) website for the maximum number
of supported cluster nodes for a given HP storage array:
HP SPOCK
The Number of Initiator Logins per Port or Array
A single initiator may login to multiple target ports and a single target port may be logged into by
multiple initiators. Each initiator-target-LUN connection (ITL nexus) will designate a path from the
host to the LUN. Because of this, the number of initiator logins per port or array must be considered.
The following equations can be used to calculate the number of initiator logins per port:
Table 1 Initiator Login Capabilities per Storage Array
Initiator Logins per ArrayInitiator Logins per PortHP Storage
6464HP P2000 G3 MSA Array Systems
6432HP MSA2000 G2
6464HP MSA 2040 Storage
FC: 1024FC: 1024HP EVA P6000 Storage
iSCSI: 1024iSCSI: 1024
iSCSI/FCoE: 1024iSCSI/FCoE: 1024
10241024HP EVA 4400/6400/8400
32,768256HP XP P9000 Storage
(70-04-52-00/00 or greater)
32,768256HP XP 20000/XP24000
512 per node pair64HP 3PAR StoreServ 7000
Mixed Protocol: 1024 (2 nodes), 2048
(8 nodes)
64HP 3PAR StoreServ 10000
FC: 1024 (2-6 nodes), 2048 (8 nodes)
iSCSI: 512 (2 nodes), 1024 (>2 nodes)
Mixed Protocol: 102464HP 3PAR T-Class Storage Systems
HP 3PAR OS 3.1.1 MU2 or later
FC: 1024
iSCSI: 512 (2 nodes), 1024 (>2 nodes)
8 Considerations when Planning Failover Clusters