SAN i/q v10 node in a v9 cluster (mixed G1 and G2 nodes)

[mars_seven]

finally got around to unboxing 2 new P4500 G2's and placing on server rack. i've got version 9.0 restore DVD from current P4500 G2. tried to downgrade the new ver 10.0.00.1896 P4500 G2 but now asking for Feature License key. now what?

[oikjn]

not sure about the feature key issue, but why can't you do a node swap to change out the G1 nodes for the new G2 nodes and remove the G1's from the cluster/management group?  As long as they have the same capacity there should be no issue with that and is completely seamless to anything connecting to the LUNs.  That way you can upgrade the G2 nodes completely.  I'm not an esx guy so I can't say if that helps you at all or not, but then I don't see why you can't then take the G1 nodes and put them into another management group since you said you are presenting multiple LUNs to esx, why can't those new LUNs be on another cluster?  What might confuse you is the idea of a node swap which would allow you to seamlessly remove the G1 nodes while not changing anything on your existing LUNs.

[David_Schwartzs]

See this link:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?prodSeriesId=3936136&objectID=c01852189

Looks like it explains how to generate the license key files you're requiring. Hope this helps.

[mars_seven]

---

@David_Schwartzs wrote:
See this link:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?prodSeriesId=3936136&objectID=c01852189

Looks like it explains how to generate the license key files you're requiring. Hope this helps.

---

oh, i see. use the info in the License Entitlement Certificate. thanks.

[David_Schwartzs]

Please let us know if everything worked out. Good luck!

[mars_seven]

UPDATE:

so i was able to license the new nodes and then use the restore SAN i/Q 9 DVD from previous nodes to downgrade from 10 to 9. needed 2 reboots for the process. then i added them to management group.

this past 3 day memorial day weekend, i added the 2 new nodes to the cluster. 1st, i made sure the management group local bandwidth priority was set to max to increase data rebuild speed. the network raid 10 stripe rebuild took about 12 hours.

then, i was able to create 1.99 TB LUN's (taking note of the vmware limit of max 2TB - 512MB LUN). Through VCenter, the LUN's weren't presentable when trying to add extents to datastore. i had to connect vshphere client directly to ESXi host and was able to add the LUN's to extend the datastore.

So far, working fine w/ the new added storage.

RECAP:

cluster of:

2 P4500 G1 nodes @ SAN i/q 9

2 P4500 G2 nodes @ SAN i/q 9

purchased:

2 P4500 G2 nodes @ SAN i/q 10

downgraded recently purchased P4500 from SAN i/q 10 to 9

added 2 new nodes to cluster

yes, i'll have to eventually upgrade from SAN i/q 9 to 9.5, but that's a wait for another 3-day weekend.