VAX cluster

[Michael Dingas]

My group is installing a Charon VAX emulator to replace our clustered VAX 4000's. Emulator installation is complete and we've been able to establish a 2-member cluster. All this has been done off the LAN.

We need users to test the emulator in an efficient manner. That means we need to put the emulator on the LAN and, likely, at the same time the original hardware VAX is on the same LAN.

Ultimately, the emulator will use the same IP addressing and node name/ID as the hardware VAX it is replacing. This, of course, will only happen after the hardware VAX is taken off the LAN.

My question is: If we (temporarily) assign different IP addresses to both emulator nodes but keep node name/ID the same as the hardware VAX, can they both be on the same LAN to permit a multi-user interface for testing? All device names on both systems will be identical. But without connecting the emulator to the LAN, there is only one system console for user testing which presently is not a graphical interface.

I hope I've explained this okay. If not, let me know.

[Volker Halle · Accepted solution]

Michael,

if I understand your description correctly, you have configurd a 2-node clsuter with 2 CHARON-VAX systems in an isolated LAN. And you now want to run this cluster on the same LAN as your original VAX 4000 cluster.

You must not only use different IP and DECnet addresses to achieve that, but you must also use a different cluster group number and password. Then you can run both clusters on the same LAN and have your users test the systems.

Using different DECnet addresses may also require you to change the SCSSYSTEMID values on the CHARON-VAXes during this test.

Volker.

[Michael Dingas]

Volker,

Thanks for the reply. We'll try these and see what happens. I'll leave this message open until then...

Mike

[Dean McGorrill]

hi Mike,
as volker mentioned, watch the
cluster authorize stuff. I remember doing
once by accident, and watching my cluster
slowly crash into the sunset! are you
trying to prepare for a one shot cutover
on your apps & database?

[Michael Dingas]

Dean,

I'm not sure I understand your question. We are trying to provide access to the Charon emulator over a LAN so that multiple users have access for testing purposes only. The hardware VAX it is replacing is also on this LAN.

I was asking for assistance in identifying what parameters need to be changed to permit the hardware VAX and Charon emulator to peacefully co-exist on the same LAN without each other trying to join the others cluster. The emulator is a mirror copy of the hardware system since we've already imaged all the disks onto the emulator disk array.

[Dean McGorrill]

Mike,
volker has you covered for the system parameters, ip, cluster group etc. I'm not
sure what I was asking yesterday, ignore
it! -Dean