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Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS) support on ESXi/ESX (1004617)

Purpose

This article provides supportability and setup information for Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS) on ESXi/ESX.

Note: The scope of this article only covers Microsoft Cluster Service on ESXi/ESX and does not include other clustering solutions such as Oracle RAC. For more information on Oracle RAC clustering, see the Oracle Databases on VMware RAC Deployment Guide.

Resolution

To determine which releases of ESXi/ESX support MSCS, consult the table below. The information is based on the release notes for each release as well as the published product documentation. For related information, see the VMware Compatibility Guide.

ESX Release	MSCS Supported?	Documentation
3.0	Yes	Setup for Microsoft Cluster Service (PDF)
3.0.1	Yes	Setup for Microsoft Cluster Service (PDF)
3.0.2	Yes	Setup for Microsoft Cluster Service (PDF)
3.0.2 Update 1	Yes	VMware Infrastructure 3 Release Notes Setup for Microsoft Cluster Service (PDF)
3.5	No	VMware Infrastructure 3 Release Notes
3.5 Update 1, 2, 3, 4, 5	Yes	VMware Infrastructure 3 Release Notes Setup for Microsoft Cluster Service (PDF) Update 1 Release for ESX Server 3.5, ESX Server 3i version 3.5, VirtualCenter 2.5 Update 2 and later for ESX Server 3.5, ESX Server 3i version 3.5, VirtualCenter 2.5
vSphere 4.0	Yes	What's New in VMware vSphere 4.0 Setup for Failover Clustering and Microsoft Cluster Service (PDF)
vSphere 4.0 Update 1, 2	Yes	Setup for Failover Clustering and Microsoft Cluster Service (PDF)
vSphere 4.1	Yes	Setup for Failover Clustering and Microsoft Cluster Service (PDF)
vSphere 5.0	Yes	Setup for Failover Clustering and Microsoft Cluster Service (PDF)
vSphere 5.1	Yes	Setup for Failover Clustering and Microsoft Cluster Service (PDF)

Notes:

Windows 2008 is only supported from vSphere 4.0 due to the persistent SCSI-3 reservation support requirement.
For a list of supported guest operating systems for vSphere 4.x/5.x, see Microsoft Clustering on VMware vSphere: Guidelines for Supported Configurations (1037959).
The information in these documents is only as current as the document's Last Modified Date. Check frequently for additions and updates to the release notes.
For information regarding supported 64- and 32-bit Windows guests, refer to the documentation in the table above.
Sharing RDMs between between two virtual machines without a clustering solution is not supported. For more information, see Microsoft Clustering on VMware vSphere: Guidelines for Supported Configurations (1037959).
There are separate release notes for each release of ESX Server 3. Consult the VMware Infrastructure 3 documentation page specific to the version you are using:
- ESX 3.0.2 and VirtualCenter 2.0.2 / ESX 3.0.1 and VirtualCenter 2.0.1
- VMware ESX 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.5 / VMware ESX 3.5 Update 1 and VirtualCenter 2.5 Update 1
When a cluster solution is qualified, it receives a Designed for Microsoft Windows Server 2003/2008 logo and is listed in the Windows Server Catalog under Cluster Solutions.

Additional Information

For related information, see:
- Using VMware Converter to convert Microsoft Cluster (MSCS) nodes to virtual machines (1002661)
- Guest Failover Clustering with VMware on the MSDN blog page
For information on the support policy for Microsoft software running in non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 897615.
For information on Microsoft server software and supported virtualization environments, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 957006.
For information on Windows Server 2003 cluster support policy, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 309395.
For information on the Microsoft Support Policy for Windows Server 2008 Failover Clusters, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 943984.

Note: The preceding links were correct as of September 23, 2010. If you find a link is broken, provide feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.

For translated versions of this article, see:

Português: Suporte do Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS) para o ESX/ESXi (2017328)

Update History

10/22/2012 - Added vSphere 5.1 with link to PDF. 11/14/2012 - Added shared RDMs not supported without clustering solution. 11/20/2012 - Added link to VMware Compatibility Guide

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