SQL Server Failover Clustering

I guess no better and more authentic resource than BOL and Microsoft technet.

You could also get yourself a good reference book:

• Pro SQL Server 2008 Failover Clustering Amazon US | Amazon UK

On top of the good suggestions provided there are some simple things that you should know first:

• The servers require a shared SAN for the storage
• A domain account is the best for the service account
• You may need to work with a Windows SA to set up Windows Clustering depending on your company's policies

Not that I'm aware of, although some a clustering expert might know of something. Clustering requires shared storage, so if your client truly wants a "cluster", they will have to put in some form of shared storage.

Now, there are other options available to provide various levels of protection, depending on what the requirements are, such as sql replication, database mirroring, and/or log shipping. Those don't require shared storage however they do require another sql instance and you have to do some planning.

Here is some information to get you started down that path if interested:

Replication: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms151198.aspx

Mirroring: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd207314.aspx

Log Shipping: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms190640.aspx

High Availability Solutions Overview: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms190202.aspx

There is a ton of information out on the internet about each of these topics.

Hope this helps!

If there is no shared SAN can we purchase a third party tool to store the data and replicate to the other servernode?