Advice on new cluster.

[Ronnie Doggart]

All,

We are looking at implementing Oracle E-Business Suite to run our 3 manufacturing plants. We require high availablility and disaster tolerance. We have two computer rooms aprox 275 metres apart and currently have an EVA 5000 in each room running Continuous Access for all our other servers.

The proposed solution is to put an HP-UX Serviceguard cluster in one computer room running Oracle RAC. Then a second cluster in the other computer room to be used in the event of a disaster.

Our preference would have been to split the production cluster across the two computer rooms, but we have been told this is not supported as the two computer rooms are on different subnets.

Can anyone offer any advice on a way forward.

Ronnie

[Steven E. Protter]

Shalom Ronnie,

Though it is more expensive, HP has a product called SG Continental Cluster, which permits clusters to fail over halfway around the world.

This may work in your situation. As I recall ITRC Rita Workman is familiar with this product and has some experience.

SEP

[Kent Ostby]

Ronnie -- As Stephen mentions, there is a product called Continental Cluster that will work; however, there is also a product called Metro Cluster that might be a better fit.


Here is a good HP document to help you in planning such a set up:

http://docs.hp.com/en/B7660-90017/index.html

[Stephen Doud]

Metrocluster is used when you have a common heartbeat network, whereas Continental Cluster must be used when you cannot insure a common heartbeat network (subnet). Metrocluster is a 1-cluster concept, whereas Continental Cluster comprises 2 clusters. Continental Cluster incorporates Metrocluster to manage the array status component of package failover logic.

See "Designing Disaster Tolerant High Availability Clusters, 14th Edition, February 2006 Update, Second Printing"
at
at http://docs.hp.com/en/ha.html#Metrocluster