MSA1000 and Multiple Win2000 Servers

[Malcolm Worster]

Hi - I have the following set up & have a question about connecting multiple Win2000 Servers to it.

5 x Win2000 Servers SP3 with FCA-2101 HBA connected via fibre to Storageworks Fibre Channel SAN Switch 2/8.

Also connected to the switch is an MSA1000 Raid Array unit & a MSL5026 Tape Unit. All servers recognise the MSA1000 and the NTFS Volume that has been created on it.

The plan is to give each server access to the volume created on the MSA1000, folders will be created on it & shared as required.

However, if I create a folder on the volume on one server, and then view the same volume from another server, the folder does not appear.

Similarly, if I delete a folder on the volume from one server, it still shows as being on the volume if viewed from another server.

After the servers are rebooted all looks ok (i.e. The SAN Volume viewed from any server looks the same).

Basically, the view I get of what's on the volume depends on which server I use to explore from, & which server I used to create/delete/move files.

From a client PC I can see any Shares I've created, move files/folders around and all works ok.

Is this the way it is designed to work, is something wrong, or am I missing something like Clustering services/software.

Thanks in advance !

[Alexander Sakharov · Accepted solution]

Hello.

No, it is not the way is is designed to work. It does not provide shared access to the same volume. A logical drives must be accessed from just one server at time. Use MSA-1000 SSP to limit access to logical drives.

Each logical drive on the MSA-1000 is considered by each server just like any internal drive, which server uses exclusively, Simultaneouse access from two or more servers to the same logical drive may lead to data corruption, therefore you MUST use SSP to prevent this. There might be a special software to allow that kind of access. For example, MSCS seem to provide access to the same logical drive to all cluster members; but, in reality, cluster driver allows only ONE cluster node that owns resource to access cluster disk at time; the other server can only get access when cluster group with that disk has moved from the first server to it.

HTH,
Alexander

[Peter Mattei]

Uups, not at all!
What you are doing is absolutely illegal.
In your environment you are only allowed to present a LUN to one server at a time!
A LUN on the MSA1000 is seen from the server as a SCSI disk. Each server believes to be the owner and the only user of the LUN and keeps metadata of the LUN in memory.
So in order to synchronize the metadata you either need a cluster (MSCS) or a third party software like Veritas SANPoint direct.

Cheers
Peter

[Malcolm Worster]

Thanks guys...that seems to clear things up & I'll configure the systems as necessary.

Malcolm.

[GBHOLS]

Hi, we have the same issue.

Is there any software that can be used to overcome this issue?

BTW: Veritas Sanpoint is end of line. ( if that does do the job )

[Doug de Werd]

Polyserve has a product called Matrix Server that sounds like it will do what you want.

http://www.polyserve.com/products_mswindows.html

Thanks,
Doug

[GBHOLS]

Thanks for your reply, The polyserve matrix products do not support windows 2003 yet...

If anyone else knows of any other product that will work, that would be great!

KP

[林毓池]

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