Monday, February 13, 2017

AD-less S2D cluster bootstrapping

AD-less S2D cluster bootstrapping - Domain Controller VM on Hyper-converged Storage Spaces Direct


Is it a supported scenario to run a AD domain controller in a VM on a hyper-converged S2D cluster? We're looking to deploy a 4-node hyper-converged S2D cluster at a remote site. We would like to run the domain controller for the site on the cluster so we don't need to purchase a 5th server. Will the S2D cluster be able to boot if the network links to the site are down (meaning other domain controllers are not accessible)? I know WS2012 allowed for AD-less cluster bootstrapping but will the underlying mechanics uses for storage access in S2D in WS2016 work without AD? Is this a supported scenario? AD-less S2D cluster bootstrapping?

I asked this question in the Microsoft forums. I did not get a definitive answer from anyone. So I set it up and tested it and it appears to work. I don't know if it's officially supported or not but it does work. The S2D virtual disks and volumes comes up with out a domain controller. At which point you can start the domain controller VM if it did not start automatically. I didn't dig into things, but I have a feeling it's using NTLM authentication and would likely fail if your domain requires Kerberos?

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