Managing HP Serviceguard for Linux, Sixth Edition, August 2006

Planning and Documenting an HA Cluster
Cluster Configuration Planning
Chapter 4104
NODE_TIMEOUT
The time after which a node may decide that the other
node has become unavailable and initiate cluster
reformation. Enter a number of microseconds. The
default value is 2,000,000 microseconds. Minimum is 2
* (Heartbeat Interval). The maximum recommended
value for this parameter is 30,000,000. The default
setting yields the fastest cluster reformations.
However, the user of the default value increases the
potential for spurious reformations due to momentary
system hangs or network load spikes. For a significant
portion of installations, a setting of 5,000,000 to
8,000,000 (5 to 8 seconds) is more appropriate.
The maximum value recommended is 30 seconds and
the maximum value supported is 60 seconds.
AUTO_START_TIMEOUT
The amount of time a node waits before it stops trying
to join a cluster during automatic cluster startup. All
nodes wait this amount of time for other nodes to begin
startup before the cluster completes the operation. The
time should be selected based on the slowest boot time
in the cluster. Enter a value equal to the boot time of
the slowest booting node minus the boot time of the
fastest booting node plus 600 seconds (ten minutes).
Default is 600,000,000 microseconds.