With Failover Clustering in Windows Server 2008, the creation of a Client
Access Point (CAP) in a cluster resulted in computer objects being created in
Active Directory. These cluster related objects became the new security context
for the cluster. This meant that the cluster service did not run in the
context of a domain user account. With Windows Server 2012, that changes. The
cluster service runs using a local system account on each cluster node.
Read More about Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Failover Clusters
http://www.mybasicknowledge.com/2012/08/windows-server-2012-imbues-hyper-v.html
There are a number of areas where Windows Server 2012 Failover Clustering
works better with Active Directory, too. Some of these include:
- Support for Read Only Domain
Controllers (RODCs) – In Windows Server 2012, you can use
RODCs to support your Failover Clusters. This makes it possible for
you to put clusters in DMZs and Branch Offices in a more secure fashion.
- The ability to easily recover
from the accidental deletion of a Virtual Computer Object (VCO) -
If the computer VCO corresponding to a Client Access Point is deleted, you
can initiate a repair action to automatically recreate the computer object
in Active Directory.
- Smart placement of computer
objects - The CNO is created in the same OU as
the nodes in the cluster and the VCOs are created in the same OU as the
CNO. That means no mixing and matching.
- Starting the Cluster without
Active Directory accessible – Prior to Windows Server 2012, the
Failover Clustering service had to connect to a domain controller before
it could start. As you can imagine, this could be challenging if you were
running your DCs in VMs. The situation was even worse when the virtualized
domain controllers were located on a Cluster Shared Volume (CSV) that used
NTLM to authenticate with a domain controller. In Windows Server 2012,
this problem is fixed. The cluster nodes don’t need to communicate with
domain controllers in order to start up and enable the CSVs.
- Protection against accidental
deletion of the Cluster Name Object (CNO). When
you create clusters in Windows Server 2012, the Computer Object matching
the Cluster Name Object is marked so that accidental deletion is prevented
and it requires the Domain Admin to take additional action to delete it.
Read More about Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Failover Clusters
http://www.mybasicknowledge.com/2012/08/windows-server-2012-imbues-hyper-v.html
