With the “Storage Cluster Option (SCO)” function you can create, operate and manage up to 31 Storage Clusters from two storage systems each (primary and secondary storage systems) on the ETERNUS DX/AF storage systems.
Storage Clusters have a unique name they respond to.
Both storage systems can be configured bidirectionally and enable partitioning.
A detailed description of SCO can be found in the ETERNUS literature, especially in the “ETERNUS SF Storage Cruiser” Operation Guide. Storage Clusters are also referred to as Storage Groups in the ETERNUS literature.
Configuration and basic administration of Storage Clusters is done with “ETERNUS SF Storage Cruiser”. When installing with ETERNUS SF, the basic properties of the Storage Cluster and the storage systems in the Storage Cluster are defined, especially the Primary storage system or Secondary storage system property.
When using and configuring in BS2000, make sure to always configure depending data (e.g. volumes of a pubset) in the same Storage Cluster for reasons of consistency.
For management of the storage clusters with SHC-OSD, primary and secondary storage systems have to be known and manageable in StorMan.
During ongoing operation, both storage systems are connected to the server via Fibre Channel (FC). However, only the FC connection from the server to the active storage system is used. The inactive storage system is referred to as the Standby storage system. On start of operation, the primary storage system is the active storage system.
The volumes of the active storage system are synchronously mirrored in a Storage Cluster with the REC replication function on volumes of the standby storage system. This internal replication is transparent for SHC-OSD and is not visible in the information displayed.
Storage Clusters in SHC-OSD
SHC-OSD enables the following functions for Storage Clusters:
Information on Storage Cluster and its properties
Information on the volumes used in the Storage Cluster
Monitoring of Storage Clusters
Manual switch (failover) to the secondary storage system, e.g. for a planned switch due to maintenance tasks on the primary storage system or after a failure of the primary storage system
Manual switch (failback) to the primary storage system, e.g. after the maintenance work has been finished on the primary storage system
Control of the additional replication functions deployed for Storage Clusters
Name of the Storage Cluster
The name of the Storage Cluster consists of 3 to 16 alphanumerical characters.
Capital letters and small letters are distinguished.
When using BS2000, it is recommended to only use capital letters. Otherwise it is not possible to enter commands with a BS2000 console.
Special characters as minus (-), underscore (_) or period (.) are possible.
Single or double quotation marks ("), comma (,), question mark (?), asterisk (*), percent (%) or backslash are not possible.
Commands for Storage Clusters
Command | Function |
Executes manual failover in a Storage Cluster | |
Executes manual failback in a Storage Cluster | |
Displays configurations of Storage Clusters | |
Displays configurations of Storage Clusters to storage systems | |
Displays usage of volumes in Storage Clusters |