[i] A couple of corrections

1) You only enter the GC as the DNS server is you are running DNS on your GC. I would actually recommend against running DNS on your GC.
"Take note of your Domain Controller’s IP (if you don’t have a DC, you can set up your first node with Active Directory and configure it as your DC, although using your cluster node as the DC is not a good practice, I’m just suggesting it to simplify things. It is recommended that you use a separate DC for your network"

[i]
2) Not only should you disable NLB over the cluster/heartbeat nic, but you should also disable automatic DNS registration. If you don't you will get DNS client errors in your system log because this NIC can't properly register itself in DNS.[/B]
Thanks for the additional infos.


[i]
3) I would recommend installing the OS on both systems before you worry about building the cluster. It is must easier to get both systems online and configured, and then install clustering on both nodes. Just make sure that you do not install your cluster aware applications until after you install clustering.[/B]
I think i've mentioned something about having the OS installed first.


[i]Some things you should never do with an MS cluster-

1) Have both nodes up with the cluster service stopped on both nodes. This will cause your shared disks to get corrupted. Basically the two machines fight over who should have access to the disks.

2) Restart both machines at the same time. If the cluster service starts on both machines at the same time you run the risk of corrupting your external drives as they will fight for ownership. You should always start one machine, make sure it is up and running, and then start the other machine.

3) Stop services through the control panel. If you want to start/stop a cluster resource, always always start it through the cluster administrator. Otherwise clustering is not aware that the administrator requested the resource to stop and it will treat the service stopping as a failure and take whatever actions you have it configured to take. [/B]

Thanks for the corrections and for the additional infos, it's a big help if others will give some corrections and additional info as it will make the informations more accurate. thanks again.