HAFM SW 08.08.00 HP StorageWorks HA-Fabric Manager Transition Guide (AA-RV1MD-TE, January 2006)

HA-Fabric Manager transition guide 31
A Configuring HAFM through a firewall
This appendix provides optional procedures for configuring HAFM client and server applications to
function across remote networks through a firewall.
This chapter includes:
• Polling client function, page 31
• Configuring TCP port numbers to allow firewall access, page 33
Polling client function
In some cases, a network may use virtual private network (VPN) or firewall technology, which can
prohibit communication between servers and clients. In other words, a client can find a server and
appear to log in, but it is immediately logged out because the server cannot reach the client. To
resolve this issue, the HAFM application automatically detects the network configuration and runs
the client in “polling mode” when necessary.
When the client is not running in polling mode, the server calls the client whenever it has new data.
When the client is running in polling mode, the server queues up the data and the client
periodically (approximately every 5 or 10 seconds) checks in and gets the data. Thus, the original
two-way communication is transformed into one-way communication, allowing passage through
firewalls.
Faster logins
When a client attempts to log in to a server, the server normally calls back to verify communication.
In a firewall situation, this call fails and the server automatically treats the client as a “polling” client.
It may take up to 45 seconds for this call-back to fail (worst case). You can configure a polling
parameter in client and server batch files to let the server know ahead of time that the client is a
“polling” client. This skips the call-back from the server and decreases the login time.
Forcing a client to be a polling client
To force a specific client to be a polling client, edit the HAFM_c.bat file and the client portion of
the HAFM_sc.bat file, if both files are installed on your computer. These files on the client are in
the HAFM 8.x\bin directory (typically in c:\Program Files\HAFM 8.x\bin).
The HAFM_sc.bat file starts both the client and server and is installed on computers with the
HAFM appliance software. The HAFM_c.bat file starts the client only and is installed with the client
software.
Add the -Dsmp.callback.passive parameter, as in the following example. This parameter
affects only this client; all other clients can be regular clients.