Before you create a failover cluster, we strongly recommend that you validate your configuration, that is, that you run all tests in the Validate a Configuration Wizard. By running the tests, you can confirm that your hardware and settings are compatible with failover clustering.

You can run the tests on a set of servers and storage devices either before or after you have configured them as a failover cluster.

Important

Microsoft supports a failover cluster solution only if the complete configuration (servers, network, and storage) can pass all tests in the Validate a Configuration Wizard. In addition, all hardware components in the solution must be marked as "Certified for Windows Server 2008 R2."

With the Validate a Configuration Wizard, you can run the complete set of configuration tests or a subset of the tests. The wizard provides a report that shows the result of each test that was run.

Additional references