Figure 7.15 Binding for network adapters used for cluster communications
It’s also important that the Server and Workstation Services are running on the hosts
and NTLM is used for authentication, so they must be enabled. Both IPv4 and IPv6 are
supported for cluster communications, and although Microsoft performs most testing
with IPv6 enabled, if it’s disabled, clustering will still work fine. However, where
possible leave IPv6 enabled. If both IPv4 and IPv6 are enabled, clustering will use
IPv6. Disabling NetBIOS, as shown in Figure 7.16, has been shown to increase
performance, and while enabling jumbo frames will not hurt, it has not been found to
make any significant performance difference.
Figure 7.16 Disabling NetBIOS for the IPv4 protocol
The binding order for the network adapters in a multinetwork adapter system is
important. It tells Windows which network adapter to use for different types of
communication. For example, you would not want normal management traffic trying
to use the Live Migration or the cluster network. You can change the binding order for
network adapters by using the following steps:
1 . Open the Network And Sharing Center Control Panel applet.
2 . Select the Change Adapter Settings action.
3 . In Network Connections, press the Alt key to see the menu and select Advanced ➣
Advanced Settings.
4 . The binding order is displayed. Make sure that your management network/ public
network is at the top of the binding order. Your cluster networks should be at the
bottom, as shown in Figure 7.17.
5 . Click OK to close the dialog box.