Hitachi Dynamic Link Manager Software Users Guide for VMWare

You can specify the load balancing function by the dlnkmgr command's set
operation. For details on the set operation, see set (Sets Up the Operating
Environment) on page 6-16.
Performing Failovers and Failbacks Using Path Switching
When the system contains multiple paths to an LU and an error occurs on the
path that is currently being used, HDLM can switch to another functional
path, so that the system can continue operating. This is called a failover.
If a path in which an error has occurred recovers from the error, HDLM can
then switch back to that path. This is called a failback.
Two types of failovers and failbacks are available:
• Automatic failovers and failbacks
• Manual failovers and failbacks
Failovers and failbacks switch which path is being used and also change the
statuses of the paths. A path status is either online or offline. An online status
means that the path can receive I/Os. On the other hand, an offline status
means that the path cannot receive I/Os. A path will go into the offline status
for the following reasons:
• An error occurred on the path.
• A user executed the HDLM command's offline operation.
For details on the offline operation, see
offline (Places Paths Offline) on
page 6-7.
For details on path statuses and the transitions of those statuses, see
Path
Status Transition on page 2-17.
Automatic Path Switching
The following describes the automatic failover and failback functions, which
automatically switch a path.
Automatic Failovers
If you detect an error on the path that is currently being used, you can
continue to use the system by having the status of that path automatically
changed to offline, and then automatically have the system switch over to
another online path. This functionality is called automatic failover. Automatic
failovers can be used for the following levels of errors:
Critical
A fatal error that might stop the system.
Error
A high-risk error, which can be avoided by performing a failover or some
other countermeasure.
HDLM Functions
2-13
Hitachi Dynamic Link Manager (for VMware®) User Guide