To restart the servers for installing software updates, hardware changes, etc:

If during the maintenance window, the production VMs or services should be online, servers should be restarted one by one. Thus while one of the servers is restarting, other server(s) will run the production. Follow the steps below to perform the server restart.

NOTE: In case of StarWind server restart, the connection to standalone devices will be interrupted. Make sure that resources that use standalone devices are turned off before the server shutdown.

NOTE: In case of network driver or VMware Tools installation/upgrade, it is recommended to stop and disable the StarWind service manually on the node where this operation is going to be performed to avoid the split-brain issue. See more details about VMware Tools release here.

  •  In the StarWind Management Console, check that all StarWind HA devices have the “Synchronized” status on all servers;
  •  Check that all datastores have active paths from all StarWind servers (for clusters based on VMware vSphere);
  •  Move all Cluster resources (VMs and roles) from the server, which is going to be restarted;
  •  Stop StarWind VSAN service on the node which is going to be restarted (optional step);
  •  Restart the server (e.g. for installing necessary updates);
  •  Wait until the StarWind VSAN service starts and the synchronization process finishes;
  •  Check that all StarWind HA devices have the “Synchronized” status on all servers;
  •  Check that all datastores have active paths from all StarWind servers (for clusters based on VMware vSphere);
  •  Repeat the above steps for any other server

NOTE: According to the KB article, StarWind VSAN performs Full Synchronization by design in case if a server or the StarWind VSAN service has been interrupted. Thus, be sure to perform clean server shutdown to avoid Full Synchronization after server restart.

In order to automate the update process for the Microsoft Failover Cluster, follow the steps provided in this article.

To shutdown the production for planned maintenance:

If during the maintenance window, all servers with StarWind VSAN installed should be turned off, follow the steps below.

  • Shutdown the VMs, services, and roles running in the cluster and/or located on StarWind storage;
  • In the StarWind Management Console, check that all StarWind HA devices have the “Synchronized” status on all servers;
  • Activate Maintenance Mode for all StarWind HA devices which is available starting from the 8.0.11818 build. This will allow avoiding the full synchronization process and will save time for the synchronization after servers are back online. The step-by-step guide for enabling StarWind Maintenance mode can be found here.
  • Shutdown the servers and VMs with StarWind VSAN installed;
  • When servers with StarWind VSAN are started again, disable Maintenance Mode on StarWind HA devices.
  • Check that all StarWind HA devices have the “Synchronized” status on all servers;
  • Navigate to the cluster and start the VMs, services, and roles.

Useful link: Upgrading from any StarWind version to any StarWind version

Request a Product Feature

To request a new product feature or to provide a feedback about StarWind product, please email our support at support@starwind.com and put “Request a Product Feature” as the subject.

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