MSA500 G2 upgrade options for Windows 2008 clustering?

[J Mike Gilbert]

Hi,

I have a working Windows 2003 cluster which consists of a MSA500 G2 with the HA kit, attached to two DL380 G5 servers. I have all 14 disks installed which for now gives me plenty of storage.

Windows 2008 documentation says it has stopped supporting certain types of SCSI shared storage for clustering, but I can't figure out if this applies to the MSA500 G2.

Can I upgrade my cluster to Windows 2008? Is the MSA500 G2 supported? (I know I can access the MSA500 G2 from Windows 2008 in a non-clustered environment, but the clustering requirements are much stricter).

If not, could I upgrade by purchasing the kit that upgrades an MSA500 G2 to an MSA1000? I.e., is the MSA1000 supported for Windows 2008 clustering?

Is this a cost-effective option, or should I look at replacing the MSA500 G2 with one of HP's newer MSA boxes? (I don't need more capacity at the moment and I'm assuming I could transfer over the SCSI disks - I'm just looking for the right upgrade path to get to Windows 2008.)

It's very frustrating because all the support matrices I can find on the HP web site stop at Windows 2003. Don't any of the lower end HP MSA products work with Windows 2008?

I would appreciate any advice on the best upgrade path for my situation.

Thanks,
Mike Gilbert

[AnkitM]

Microsoft Clustering is not supported for Windows 2008 R2 as of now:
OS Support
Microsoft Cluster Service:
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition
Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server

You have two choices either downgrade the OS or upgrade the Hardware for now.