Designing a Continental Cluster
Preparing the Clusters
Chapter 2 65
Preparing the Clusters
The steps for configuring the clusters, needed by ContinentalClusters,
are as follows:
• Set up and test data replication between the sites.
• Configure each cluster for Serviceguard operation.
Setting up and Testing Data Replication
Depending on which data replication method you choose, it can take a
week or more to set up and test a data replication method. If there is
more than one recovery pair configured in a continental cluster, a
separate data replication link is required to be set up for a different
recovery pair (one for each pair).
In the sample configuration, physical data replication is done through a
hardware link between disk arrays. Because this method is hardware
based, there is hardware set up and configuration that can take several
days. Some logical replication methods, such as transaction processing
monitors (TPMs), need application changes that are more easily done
during the original application development.
Make sure that the data replication to the recovery site is functional.
This would include setting up the physical data replication links across
the WAN and making sure that the data is replicated between the
shared disk arrays.
NOTE If using physical data replication on the HP StorageWorks Disk Array
XP Series with Continuous Access XP or HP StorageWorks Disk Array
EVA Series with Continuous Access EVA or on the EMC Symmetrix
using EMC SRDF, use the special environment file templates that are
installed along with either Metrocluster with Continuous Access XP, or
Metrocluster with Continuous Access EVA, or Metrocluster with EMC
SRDF software. Refer to Chapters 3, 4 and 5 for detailed instructions on
configuring these special environment files.