Marathon Technologies FTvirtual Server TM and IBM BladeCenter TM Installing and Configuring a Fault-Tolerant Windows Environment for Mission Critical Applications Marathon Technologies Corporation www.marathontechnologies.com 888.682.
Notices Marathon Technologies Corporation reserves the right to make improvements to this guide and the product it describes at any time and without further notice. Copyright © Marathon Technologies Corporation. 1996-2005. All rights reserved. This guide is copyrighted, and all rights are reserved. No part of this guide or the products it describes may be reproduced by any means or in any form, without prior consent in writing from Marathon Technologies Corporation. Printed in the U.S.A. U.S.
Trademark Notice Endurance, Marathon Assured Availability, Marathon FTvirtual Server, and the Marathon logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Marathon Technologies Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Microsoft, MS-DOS, and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/ or other countries.
Summary of changes Summary of changes for Marathon Technologies FTvirtual Server and IBM eServer BladeCenterTM - A Fault-Tolerant Environment for Mission Critical Windows as created or modified on 9/2/05. September 2005, First Edition 1.0.
Contents Contents Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii Copyright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii Software Copyright Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii Trademark Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Contents CHAPTER 3 Installing the Endurance Software Major Installation Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Windows Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Installing Windows on the CoServers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Event Log Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER 1 Introduction This chapter discusses the key advantages of IBM BladeCenter and Marathon Technologies FTvirtual Server and how they combine to create a truly fault-tolerant environment for mission critical Windows applications. Fault-Tolerant Computing for Mission Critical Windows Applications The Trend Toward Blades Blade configurations like the IBM BladeCenter have become popular because they provide several key advantages over conventional pedestal or rack-mounted servers.
Introduction • Reduced Floor Space Usage in the Data Center Modular design reduces cost through more efficient use of valuable floor space. The increased density can significantly reduce the space requirements in a data center. • Reduced Cost of Power and Cooling Blades servers integrate resources and share key components. Since blades in a chassis share common power supplies, power is distributed more efficiently and less heat is generated for a given amount of processing power.
Marathon FTvirtual Server - Fault-Tolerance Through Software To address the need for continuous availability of mission-critical applications, Marathon Technologies has designed its FTvirtual Server software to work with blade server configurations as well as traditional servers. Marathon software harnesses the redundancy provided by two BladeCenter servers to create a true, fault- tolerant environment for Windows applications.
Introduction 4 Marathon Technologies Corporation
CHAPTER 2 Planning and Preparation This chapter describes BladeCenter features and options, key design concepts, and basic configuration guidelines you should be aware of before beginning to install and setup a BladeCenter FTvirtual Server. Planning the Installation Before starting the Endurance software installation you should consider several major configuration related issues, which will effect the overall operation and capability of your FTvirtual Servers.
Planning and Preparation Network Environment The optimal FTvirtual Server configuration uses 4 network adapters per blade to support CoServer communications and client access links critical to applications. These links provide the mechanisms and transport for redirected network I/O, FTvirtual Server communications and fault management activities.
FIGURE 1.
Planning and Preparation Network Adapter Configurations Depending upon your specific switchbay and blade on-board device configuration, it is possible that fewer than 4 adapters will be available for use. When planning a BladeCenter network configuration your primary concern should be to maximize the availability of the redirected network links and minimize utilization of external networks by the CoServer links.
TABLE 4. 2 Function CoServer 1 NIC Configuration CoServer 2 Comment CSLink 1 Switchbay 1 Switchbay 2 Exposed network utilization. Requires network routed IP address.
Planning and Preparation Preparing to Install BladeCenter Options An IBM eServer BladeCenter may be configured using a variety of storage and networking options. For example, the BladeCenter chassis using HS20 blade servers offers the following configuration features: 10 • A rack-optimized 7U modular 14 slot chassis that can support a total of 14 hot-swap BladeCenter HS20 blades. • A CD-ROM and floppy shared by all blade bays.
FTvirtual Server and Blade Configuration Each Endurance FTvirtual Server configuration is comprised of two blades. Following installation of the Endurance software each will function as a CoServer to create the FTvirtual Server environment. Depending upon the specific configuration, a 14 slot BladeCenter chassis can support a total of 7 Endurance FTvirtual Servers (2 slots per FTvirtual Server), using single-slot blades configured with one or two on-board disks and four network adapters.
Planning and Preparation Mapping the Switchbays After installation of the Windows operating system on a blade you can fill-in the switchbay mapping table for your particular configuration using the following procedure. Note: Do not perform PCI-to-Switchbay mappings when blades within the chassis are operating within a production environment. 1. On one of the CoServer blades right-click My Network Places to view the Network Connections dialog. 2.
CHAPTER 3 Installing the Endurance Software This chapter describes in detail how to install and configure the Endurance software on each of the BladeCenter CoServers to create the FTvirtual Server. Major Installation Tasks The major installation tasks are: 1. Install Windows on both CoServers. 2. Install Endurance software on CoServer 1. 3. Install Endurance software on CoServer 2. 4.
Installing the Endurance Software Windows Installation Before you begin the Endurance installation, install Windows and set the size of the event logs. Installing Windows on the CoServers On both CoServers: Install the appropriate Windows software and Service Packs. Refer to the Endurance Release Notes for information about hardware and software requirements, including Windows Security Updates.
Disk Partitioning and Formatting The Windows operating system for the FTvirtual Server will be installed on a disk of each blade CoServer. You can select a physical disk in the CoServer for the FTvirtual Server boot disk or you can install the FTvirtual Server on an Endurance Virtual disk. A Virtual boot disk is a CoServer disk that you can create by allocating space in the file system of any existing CoServer disk and then, using Endurance software, creating a Virtual disk from this file space.
Installing the Endurance Software Installing the FTvirtual Server Boot Disk on a Physical Disk On CoServer 2: The disk for the FTvirtual Server software must be Basic and formatted to use the NTFS file system. 1. Right-click My Computer, then select Manage Computer Management Storage and then Disk Management. Make sure Disk 1 is basic, not dynamic. 2. If the partition is not basic, right click and select Revert to Basic.
4. Verify the destination on the Ready to Install window, and click Install. 5. Click Finish on the Completing the Endurance Quorum Service Setup Wizard.
Installing the Endurance Software Installing Endurance Software on the CoServers Before You Begin the Software Installation • Have your Endurance software license number available. You need to type it when you install the software on the CoServers. • Know the PCI location-to-switchbay mappings for each network adapter. This information will be used when the Endurance Network Setup runs. • Make sure all network connections are Enabled and connected.
CoServer 1 Installation Starting the Installation 1. Insert the Endurance CD. If your CD does not automatically launch the Installation Launcher, browse the CD and double click on setup.exe. 2. From the Installation Launcher, select Install CoServer, and follow the prompts through the Welcome, License Agreement, and Information dialogs to the Customer Information dialog. 3. Type a user name, company name, and the license number (including the dashes). 4.
Installing the Endurance Software 6. Select CoServer1 for installation. Specify the Location of the Software 20 1. On the Choose Destination Location window, save the files in the default location C:\Program Files\Marathon\Endurance or specify another location. 2. On the Confirm New Folder window, click Yes. 3. Verify the information on the Check Setup Information window. Click Next.
Configure the Network using the Endurance Network Setup Wizard If you are installing on a Windows 2003 system, the following Security Alert may appear. Click Yes to continue with Endurance Network Setup.
Installing the Endurance Software The Endurance Network Setup wizard starts to guide you through the task of configuring the adapters. Click Next to begin. 1. 22 On the Configure Redirected page, enter 1 in the Specify total number of Redirected adapters box and highlight the adapter you wish to assign as redirected in the Connection column. Select the adapter to be used based upon the PCI location-to-switchbay mapping you established during planning and preparation. Click Next to continue.
2. On the Configure CoServer Link1 page, highlight the adapter you wish to assign as CoServer Link1 in the Connection column. Select the adapter based upon the PCI location-to-switchbay mapping you established during planning and preparation. You can use Table 1 to assign IP addresses for internal CLink connections. TABLE 1. Suggested Blade Pair 1 CSLink1 CSLink2 Note: CoServer1 CLink IP Addresses Blade Pair 2 Blade Pair 3 CoServer1 CoServer2 CoServer1 CoServer2 CoServer1 CoServer2 192.168.3.
Installing the Endurance Software Right click on the your adapter selection and choose Internet Protocol Properties from the action menu. On the Internet Protocol Properties page select Use the following IP address. Fill-in the appropriate IP address from Table 1 for this adapter. Then, enter Subnet mask 255.255.255.0 and click OK.
On the Endurance Network Setup page make sure that the desired adapter is still highlighted and select Use currently configured IP addressing. Click Next to continue. 3. If your network configuration will not use CoServer Link 2, select No Coserver Link 2 and then click Next without selecting an adapter. If you will be using CoServer Link 2, then on the Configure CoServer Link2 page, highlight the adapter you wish to assign as CoServer Link2 in the Connection column.
Installing the Endurance Software 4. If your network will not use a CoServer Management connection, push Next without highlighting an adapter. If you will be using CoServer Management, then on the Configure CoServer Management page, highlight the adapter you wish to assign for CoServer Management in the Connection column. Select the adapter based upon the PCI location-to-switchbay mapping you established during planning and preparation.
5. On the Endurance Network Setup page if the Update Network Connections adapter names box is checked, when you restart the system Network Setup will reassign the adapter names. Click Apply. 6. When the Endurance Network Setup Settings Applied page appears click Exit. 7. Click Yes to restart the CoServer. 8. When the system restarts the Endurance Network Setup wizard starts automatically to complete network configuration. On Windows 2003, Hardware Installation pop-ups may appear.
Installing the Endurance Software 11. The message Do you want to create a virtual disk for use as the FTvirtual Server boot disk? is displayed. A virtual boot disk is required if there is only one physical disk in the CoServer. A virtual boot disk is created as a way to share a single physical disk as both the CoServer and the FTvirtual Server Windows boot disk. Disk space is allocated to a file on the CoServer disk.
• Click Create to create the virtual disk. This may take a few minutes, depending on the size of the virtual disk. When the virtual disk is created, the Device Redirector displays a dialog showing the name of the file that was created, the SCSI ID of the newly created virtual disk, and the drive letter associated with the NTFS-formatted boot partition. • 12. Click OK. Continue with CoServer 2 Installation.
Installing the Endurance Software 1. Browse the CD and double-click setup.exe. 2. From the Installation Launcher, select Install CoServer. Follow the prompts as you did during CoServer 1 installation to set the license number, select features, choose CoServer 2 install, and define the installation location. When the Endurance Network wizard runs proceed to step 3 below. 3.
On the Endurance Network Setup page make sure that the desired adapter is still highlighted and select Use currently configured IP addressing. Click Next to continue. 5. If your network configuration will not use CoServer Link 2, select No Coserver Link 2 and then click Next without selecting an adapter. If you will be using CoServer Link 2, then on the Configure CoServer Link2 page, highlight the adapter you wish to assign as CoServer Link2 in the Connection column.
Installing the Endurance Software 9. Click Yes to restart the CoServer. 10. When the system restarts the Endurance Network Setup wizard starts automatically to complete network configuration. On Windows 2003, Hardware Installation pop-ups may appear. Click Continue Anyway. 11. If the video quality pop-up message appears, choose the desired response. 12.
Create a Virtual Disk • • On the displayed Device Redirector dialog set: - The virtual disk size. The default is 4 gigabytes. - The boot partition size. Specify a size less than or equal to the virtual disk size. The default size is the virtual disk size. - A drive letter to use when you mount the virtual disk on CoServer 2. The default is the next available drive letter. - Location on CoServer 2 of the file that becomes the virtual disk. Click Create to create the virtual disk.
Installing the Endurance Software This may take a few minutes, depending on the size of the virtual disk. When the virtual disk is created, the Device Redirector displays a dialog showing the name of the file that was created, the SCSI ID of the newly created virtual disk, and the drive letter associated with the NTFS-formatted boot partition. Record this drive letter for later use during the FTvirtual Server installation. • Click OK.
3. Configure the FTvirtual Server boot disk by selecting a set of disks, one from each CoServer, and click OK. 4. A warning message is displayed if the sizes of the disks are not equal. The FTvirtual Server software has to be installed on the CoServer that contains the smaller disk. Click Yes to continue the installation. The excess disk space on the larger disk will not be utilized. Click No if you did not intend to have mismatched drive sizes, and return to step 3.
Installing the Endurance Software 5. If your CoServer has any other disk drives that you want to redirect to the FTvirtual Server, right click on Disk Drives, and then select Add. Select a set of disks, one disk from each CoServer, and click OK. The Device Redirector checks the sizes of the disks you selected. A warning message is displayed if the sizes of the disks are not equal. Click Yes to continue the installation. Click No if you did not intend to have mismatched drive sizes, and repeat step 5.
The Install Wizard for Endurance Windows Preparation will be displayed.
Installing the Endurance Software Install Windows on the FTvirtual Server Disk 1. Follow the prompts through the Welcome, License Agreement, and Information dialogs, to the Customer Information dialog. Type a user name and company name and then click Next. 2. On the Windows Installation window: • Type the information requested including the Destination drive which is the FTvirtual Server boot drive.
7. A progress bar shows the files being copied to the FTvirtual Server boot drive. This may take several minutes. When the installation completes, remove the Windows CD if it is in the drive. 8. Click Yes in response to the prompt, Both CoServers must be rebooted. Proceed?. Finish the Windows Installation 1. To monitor the installation, after the CoServers reboot, log in as Administrator on either CoServer. The FTvirtual Server Desktop appears. 2. Allow the installation to progress.
Installing the Endurance Software Install the Endurance FTvirtual Server Software The Endurance FTvirtual Server installation starts. 1. Follow the prompts through the Welcome, License Agreement, and Information dialogs to the Select Features window. 2. In the Select Features window, choose the components you want. • Select Basic Product, the default. • If you selected SNMP when you installed Windows on the FTvirtual Server, the SNMP Agent box is checked. • Click Next.
Finish the FTvirtual Server Installation 1. The Endurance Network Setup wizard starts and configures the FTvirtual Server network adapters. Click Exit. On Windows 2003 Service Pack 1, a Windows Security Alert may appear indicating that the Windows Firewall has blocked some features of the Endurance Taskbar Notification Icon. Click Unblock on this dialogue to allow operation of the taskbar icon. Also on Windows 2003 Service Pack 1, a Windows Security dialog may appear.
Installing the Endurance Software 3. Optionally, set the FTvirtual Server Desktop to Full Screen Mode, click on the title bar of the FTvirtual Server Desktop, and select the option Full Screen Mode. To shift the input focus between the CoServer and the FTvirtual Server, press the default hot key sequence: Ctrl/Shift/F12. At any time that you are running the FTvirtual Server, you can check whether your input is directed to the CoServer or the FTvirtual Server Desktop.
What to do Next The Endurance software installation for this set of CoServers and setup of the FTvirtual Server is now complete. If you have additional blade pairs to setup return to the Installing Windows on the CoServer section at the beginning of this chapter. For more information about using the FTvirtual Server, read Getting Started with Endurance FTvirtual Server and the Endurance FTvirtual Server Administrator’s Guide.
Installing the Endurance Software 44 Marathon Technologies Corporation
