MC ServiceGuard - Certified Configurations

[Wolfgang Niefert]

I am looking for certified configurations based on:

- rp4440 as a server base
- VA7110 as Storage or
- EVA3000 as Storage

Thanks for any pointers.

[Sridhar Bhaskarla]

Hi,

There aren't any recommendations that I know of, on what storage to be used with ServiceGuard configuration though HP does seem to favor XP* for higher level clusters.

As long as the storage and the server support high availability configuration (like server having multiple slots for redundant storage connections, heartbeat networks, standby lans etc., storage supporting stripe+mirror internally etc.,), you can configure serviceguard to work.

-Sri

[Steven E. Protter]

Important things to know:

For ServiceGuard to work multiple machines must be able to access the disk.

I believe either of those storage devices will do the job. The server is probably powerful enough as well.

You need at least 1 heartbeat configured. Heartbeat is how the cluster knows its still a cluster.

I would recommend not running heartbeat on your main network because congestion can lead to a loss of heartbeat and TOC, server crash. I would recommend a private network for the heartbeat through a hub. A second NIC is required for this to work.

You can for a two machine cluster use serial heartbeat as a backup.

SEP

[Wolfgang Niefert]

Hy,

thanks for the immediate response.

We are planning to directly connect the Storage Devices - Not using a Fibre Channel Hub. Is this even possible ?

Thanks

[Sridhar Bhaskarla]

Hi,

Yes. If I have the luxury, I prefer to connect to the storage systems directly instead of going through switchs/hubs.

-Sri

[Kent Ostby]

Take a look here as well (the ServiceGuard manuals online):

http://docs.hp.com/hpux/onlinedocs/B3936-90065/B3936-90065.html

This document is a good quick reference guide for SG commands as well:

http://www2.itrc.hp.com/service/cki/search.do?category=c0&mode=id&searchString=UXSGKBAN00000033&searchCrit=allwords&docType=EngineerNotes&search.x=32&search.y=3

[Shylendra Bhat]

rp4440
------
Is supported on HP-UX 11.11 with Serviceguard A.11.15 or later. Also supported with SGeRAC A.11.15 or later.

va7110
------
Supported with HP-UX 11.0, 11.11, 11.22 and 11.23. Requires firmware version a100 or later. Not supported with Fibre Channel hubs.

eva3000
-------
Not supported with any HP-UX revisions prior to 11.0. Switched Fabric only. Not supported with Fibre Channel hubs. A maximum of 128 LUNs per EVA array per host. A maximum of 1024 EVA LUNs per host.

[Ted Buis]

How many rp4440-8 systems do you have to put in the cluster? The va7110 only has one FC port per controller, so to connect two rp4440-8 with redundant paths and have no single points of failure (very highly desired approach), you need two FC switches. The EVA is only supported in a SAN, although I think you can get some imbedded switches, but they are still switches. Work with your HP solutions architect to get a configuration that meets your needs. The va7410 has two FC ports per controller so you can configure a ServiceGuard cluster with of two rp4440-8 systems without a SAN. Use two HBAs A6795A, and two LAN GigE cards, so that you can have a spare LAN for SG to use if there is a a bad Network interface.

[Ted Buis]

EVA3000 also requires SecurePath software.
Also, the two of the A9782A (FC/1000BaseSX combo) and A9784A (FC/1000BaseT combo) can help conserve slots, which is important for SG configurations using the rp3440-4 or rp3410-2. Another alternative for two node configurations is to use MirrorDisk/UX with the DS2405 enclosure with JBOD. The DS2405 uses dual ported FC drives with two "controllers" with two ports each.