OpenVMS Cluster 7.3-2

[comarow]

First, I wanted to tell you what will make
it a cluster on the ethernet.

NISCS_Load_PEA0 must be set to one.

With no shared disks, there is absolutely
no point in a quorum disk. If you can
get a workstation on the network it could
be the deciding vote.

Otherwise, decide on the most important system
give it one vote, expected votes 1 and that system must be up. The other would get no votes.

It you add a workstation, each node could get 1 vote, and any 2 votes would keep the cluster happy. But since you are not sharing any data, it probably is best to simplify things and the one that has the critical data should be the only voting member.

Also, it knows which cluster it is part of
with cluster_authorization.dat
It consists of a cluster group number,
WHICH MUST BE UNIQUE IN YOUR NETWORK,
and a password.

The cluster_authorization.dat is what tells
what cluster a node belongs to and allows
multiple clusters on the same network.

You can copy the file cluster_authorization.dat over to the other system if you don't remember the password.

If another cluster in your network has the same group number, you'll get thousands of network errors.

The cluster group number and password is initially created when you run cluster_authorization.dat

or MCR SYSMAN>
help set cluster_authorization
for the syntax.

finally, no disks in the cluster, regardless if they are only seen by one system must
have unique volume names.

Now, you can serve the disks on one node
over the network to the other node in the
cluster. Obviously that's slow.

You mentioned 2 Ethernet controllers. It would be great to connect the two node
either through a controller or simply a turnaround connector. Then give it a higher
priority than the other controller.

What advantage does clustering these nodes
give you?

Bob Comarow