availability manager questions for version 3.1

[Lucie]

Hello Forum,
I have a few questions on Availability Manager.

1: Do I really need to install version 2.4. I un-installed version 2.3-1. ?

I also have Availability Manager base v8.3. Release notes and installation instruction do not mention this version.
2: Do I need to un-install this version?

Except for one node the rest are in one subnet while my windows box is setup for DHCP. (Cluster is a mixture of alpha and itanium)
I installed the data analyzer and the data server on the windows box and installed the collector on the alpha nodes.

This following is stated in the release notes:
The Data Server resides on the same local-area network (LAN) as the OpenVMS systems that you want to monitor.

3: Will I need to install the data analyzer and data server on the alpha nodes in order to send the information to the data analyzer on the window box?

4: If so, I will need to configure the data collector and data server on the alpha nodes and configure the data analyzer on the windows box, correct?
Thank you for your help!!

[Duncan Morris · Accepted solution]

Hi Lucie,

1) From the OpenVMS release notes:

The Availability Manager base kit is installed automatically with the operating system; however, use of Availability Manager is not required. If you do not plan to use Availability Manager or any products that depend on it, skip to the next section.

The files in the Availability Manager base kit make up what is called the Data Collector. The Data Collector is used to collect data for the Availability Manager and DECamds products. To display the data, you need to install an Availability Manager Data Analyzer kit on an OpenVMS or Windows-based node in the local LAN.

The base kit files are the same files that have been provided with the OpenVMS installation kit since Version 7.2. The only change for OpenVMS Version 8.2 and higher is that these files are now installed as a required product rather than being an optional software product in the operating system kit. Procedures for configuring and using these files remain unchanged.

2) Do not attempt to explicitly remove the Availability Manager from your system. The PRODUCT REMOVE command is not supported for Availability Manager although there appears to be an option to remove Availability Manager. The Availability Manager base software is installed with the operating system and is tightly bound with it. Attempts to remove it might not work as expected and can create undesirable side effects.

3) The Data Server must be on the same LAN as the collectors. Being on the same IP subnet is no guarantee that it is on the same LAN segment. The collectors and Data Server communicate by a private (non routing) protocol, and not by TCPIP.

You will need 1 Data Server per separate LAN segment.

4) The Data Server(s)communicate with the Data Analyzer via TCPIP, so can be in completely different IP networks. You can install the analyzer on the Windows box and then set up the keys to exchange with the data Servers.


Duncan

[dan buckley]

After removing AM v2.3-1, just install AM v3.1 - data collector (avail_man_col) and data server (avail_man_ana_srvr).
There was a bug in PCSI that could cause the sys$startup directory to be emptied making the system unbootable if the AM install aborted. I suggest either the latest PCSI eco or doing a quick backup of sys$startup: before the install and verifying it is intact after the install is complete.

[Lucie]

Thanks Duncan,
Sorry it took a day for me to response. I wanted to verify my information.
I never thought of checking the release notes from OpenVMS regarding Availability Manager Base V8.3, thank you for that.
I didnâ t un-instal it and I wasnâ t going to.

Just to make sure I understand what you said. In other words the Data Server must be on the same Vlan.

I verified all of the alpha/itanium systems are on the same Vlan 250.

If my windows box is on the same Vlan â the Data Server can run from the Windows box.

If my window box is on a different VLan â the Data Server must be run from one of the alpha nodes.

[Lucie]

Thanks Dan,

We try to keep our system up-to-date with patches. We should be ok. But we always backup the system and dismount one shadowset member just in case.
I will document this so we are aware of this when we install the manager on production.

[Duncan Morris]

Hi Lucie,

your VLAN should be fine. If you are seeing cluster comms over the VLAN, then the availability manager protocol should be propogated as well.

At my last site, I had a number of different VLANS, each with a data server, and the analyzer was on my own windows desktop. Development nodes in the same VLAN as my desktop were directly accessible to the analyzer through the desktop's ethernet adapter.

To use the data server functionality, you need Availability Manager 3.0 or later. I had to install this on the nodes designated as data servers.


Duncan

[Lucie]

Thank you very much for the verification, Duncan.