If you're like me in that you've been looking for an iSCSI solution to use in creating Windows Server 2008 failover clusters, you might have looked at OpenFiler. This tool has been handy for IT pros for a while, specifically as a target for ESX demonstration environments to host virtual machines.

The other use for this tool that many IT pros want to see work is as a target for Windows clustering. As a virtual machine, OpenFiler is easy to setup, relatively stable, and seemingly perfectly suited as a location for quorum and shared storage.

But, as of today OpenFiler does not work with Windows Server 2008 clustering. The problem is that the application does not support the persistent reservations now required by Windows Server 2008 for managing multiple-host access to shared storage.

I've talked over email with at least one of the OpenFiler developers about this omission. Although the web site reads a somewhat aloof resistance to including the capability, apparently adding this ability is more than a quick fix. The response I received was thus:

Hi Greg,

I've looked into this issue further and unfortunately we're not going to be able to fix this issue in the near term - certainly not before 2.3 comes out.

The underlying iscsi target software (IET) does not support persistent reservation.

For Openfiler Enterprise Edition (due in 4Q 08) we're moving to a more robust solution for the iSCSI target -- which supports persistent reservation among a slew of other enterprise class features such as ERL2 support.

So, no, OpenFiler does not work with 2008 clustering. They're working on it, but it won't be ready for quite some time. I myself haven't found a solution that I can recommend publicly, but today I continue the search. If you've found a solution that's free and that'll work, let us know!