As soon as you add the failover clustering feature and create a cluster in Windows Server 2008, you can migrate some resources from a Windows Server 2003 server cluster to the Windows Server 2008 failover cluster. One of the resources that you can migrate is the physical disk resource.
During the migration process, you must decide about storage. If you decide to reuse the storage that is being used by the Windows Server 2003 server cluster that is being migrated, you must know the information in this article. However, if you migrate to new storage, the information in this article does not apply.
To migrate settings from a Windows Server 2003 server cluster to a Windows Server 2008 failover cluster, you use the "Migrate a Cluster" wizard in the Failover Cluster Management snap-in. This wizard gives you a step-by-step process to connect to a Windows Server 2003 server cluster that is being migrated. The wizard also lets you make selections before you perform the migration. You can preview a pre-migration report that outlines what resources in which resource groups are eligible for migration.
In this report, a Windows Server 2003 cluster resource group that contains a physical disk (that is, a GPT disk) is shown as being eligible for migration. The migration process will finish successfully, and the resources will be in an "offline" state until the following actions occur:
- The Windows Server 2003 server cluster is de-commissioned.
- The storage is re-mapped to the Windows Server 2008 failover cluster.
However, after the storage is re-mapped and the resources are brought online in the Failover Cluster Management snap-in, the physical disk resource does not come online. Additionally, the dependent resources do not come online. These resources should appear in a "failed" state. However, these resources appear only to be offline.
When this occurs, events that resemble the following events are logged in the System log:
Event Level: Error
Event Source: FailoverClustering
Event ID: 1069
Description: Cluster resource �ResourceName� in clustered service or application �Service\ApplicationName� failed.
Event Level: Error
Event Source: FailoverClustering
Event ID: 1034
Description: Cluster physical disk resource �ResourceName� cannot be brought online because the associated disk could not be found. The expected signature of the disk was �DiskSignature�. If the disk was replaced or restored, in the Failover Cluster Management snap-in, you can use the Repair function (in the properties sheet for the disk) to repair the new or restored disk. If the disk will not be replaced, delete the associated disk resource.
The cluster log shows more detailed error information.
This failure occurs because the way that GPT disk GUIDs are handled was changed in Windows Server 2008. In Windows Server 2003, the GUID was a hash. However, in Windows Server 2008, the GUID is not a hash.
To recover from this failure, follow these steps:
- Click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Failover Cluster Management.
If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action that it displays is what you want, and then click Continue.
- Right-click the offline disk that was migrated, point to More Actions, and then click Repair.
- The re-mapped storage appears in the displayed list. Click to select the appropriate check boxes, and then click OK.
- Let the repair process finish, and then bring the disk resource online.
For more information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
284134�
By default, server clusters do not support GPT shared disks in Windows Server 2003
919117�
A hotfix is available that adds support for GUID partition table (GPT) volumes that are larger than 2 terabytes on a Windows Server 2003-based server cluster
For more information about how to migrate settings from a cluster that is running Windows Server 2003 to a cluster that is running Windows Server 2008, visit the following Microsoft TechNet Web site: