User Guide
Novell Cluster Services Overview and Installation
Novell Cluster Services Overview and Installation
103-000154-001
August 29, 2001
Novell Confidential
Manual 99a38 July 17, 2001
Shared Disk System Requirements
A shared disk system (Storage Area Network or SAN) is required for each
cluster if you want data to be highly available. If a shared disk subsystem is
used, ensure the following:
At least 15 MB of free disk space on the shared disk system for creating
a special cluster partition
The Novell Cluster Services installation automatically allocates one
cylinder on one drive of the shared disk system for the special cluster
partition. Depending on the location of the cylinder, the actual amount of
space used by the cluster partition may be less than 15 MB.
The shared disk system is properly set up and functional according to the
manufacturer’s instructions
Prior to installation, verify that all the drives in your shared disk system
are recognized by NetWare by running the LIST DEVICES command on
each server you intend to add to your cluster. If any of the drives in the
shared disk system do not show up in the list, consult your NetWare
documentation or the shared disk system documentation for
troubleshooting information.
The disks contained in the shared disk system are configured in a
mirroring or RAID 5 configuration to add fault tolerance to the shared
disk system
If the disks in the shared disk system are not configured to use
mirroring or RAID 5, a single disk error can cause a volume failure. Novell Cluster
Services software will not protect against such faults.
Rules for Operating a Novell Cluster Services SAN
When you create a Novell Cluster Services system that utilizes shared storage
space (a Storage Area Network or SAN), it is important to remember that all
servers attached to the shared device, whether in the cluster or not, have access
to all of the volumes on the shared storage space unless you specifically
prevent such access. Novell Cluster Services arbitrates access to shared
volumes for all cluster nodes, but cannot protect shared volumes from being
corrupted by noncluster servers.