Windows Server® 2012 Unleashed

Stretched Clusters

Windows Server 2012 also supports the concept of stretched clusters to provide better server and site server redundancy. Effectively, Microsoft has eliminated the need to have cluster servers remain on the same subnet, as has been the case in Windows clustering in the past. Although organizations have used virtual local-area networks (VLANs) to stretch a subnet across multiple locations, this was not always easy to do, and, in many cases, was not the right thing to do technologically in IP networking design.

By allowing cluster nodes to reside on different subnets, plus with the addition of a configurable heartbeat timeout, clusters can now be set up in ways that match an organization’s disaster failover and recovery strategy. ...