Installation guide

U41255-J-Z156-1-76 3

Overview

SCSI-Clustering with PRIMERGY Servers and

PRIMERGY S30 Storage Subsystems

The use of PRIMERGY Servers with 3200S RAID controller and PRIMERGY

S30 Storage Subsystem simplify clustering of business critical applications.

This configuration calls for utilizing two 3200S RAID controllers one per

PRIMERGY Server and the PRIMERGY S30 (cluster version, dual SCSI input

module), combined with Windows 2000 clustering software to work coopera-

tively to maintain the availability of applications despite the failure of a hardware

or software component.

While clustering of servers is possible with Windows NT 4, this document will

not be targeting such an installation. NT4 clustering is similar to that shown in

this document, a majority of the steps shown herein should apply. Windows NT4

clustering is not supported!

MSCS lets you create a

server cluster

, that is two servers sharing a common

storage subsystem. Both servers can provide resources to clients. However,

they cannot both provide the same resources. If one server should fail, the other

server can take over the resources of the failed server. This is called

failover

The MSCS software on both servers manages the switch over if one server

should experience a system failure.

The storage subsystem controller in each server must also be able to respond

to the switch over and transfer the responsibility for I/O requests from the failed

server to the remaining server. Clients do not see the individual servers in a

cluster. They are presented with a virtual server that contains the specific

resources they require.

MSCS provides the following advantages for network servers:

● Availability

MSCS automatically detects the failure of an application or server and

restarts its resources on the other server. Users will experience only a brief

interruption in service. In some cases it might be necessary for users to log

on again when the standby server assumes control. Refer to the

Microsoft

Cluster Server Administrator’s Guide

for additional information.