07-28-2008 12:45 PM
Hi,
Can anyone please tell me how to configure a raw device in VCS? Which type of resource should I use and what are the required attributes?
Thank!
Solved! Go to Solution.
07-30-2008 10:47 AM
If you have Storage Foundation on the system, then you would create a volume, and use the Volume resource type. Required attributes would be the name of the diskgroup and the name of the volume.
if you were NOT using volume manager, then you would use a Disk resource, where the required attribute would be simply the path to the disk.
Back when I used to be in the PS organization, I always kept a current copy of the "Bundled Agent Reference Guide" pdf on my laptop. It's a wealth of knowledge about the bundled agents, and very useful for these kind of questions. You can get a copy of the 5.0 BARG from http://support.symantec.com
Select Cluster Server, and appropriate platform, and search for manuals and documentation. It should be there. (I know I saw it there not too long ago.)
07-30-2008 10:47 AM
If you have Storage Foundation on the system, then you would create a volume, and use the Volume resource type. Required attributes would be the name of the diskgroup and the name of the volume.
if you were NOT using volume manager, then you would use a Disk resource, where the required attribute would be simply the path to the disk.
Back when I used to be in the PS organization, I always kept a current copy of the "Bundled Agent Reference Guide" pdf on my laptop. It's a wealth of knowledge about the bundled agents, and very useful for these kind of questions. You can get a copy of the 5.0 BARG from http://support.symantec.com
Select Cluster Server, and appropriate platform, and search for manuals and documentation. It should be there. (I know I saw it there not too long ago.)
07-30-2008 11:39 AM
Thanks for the response.
I do have Storage Foundation installed and do see the Volume resource type. But I do not see the Disk resource type. Is the Disk resource type available only when Volume Manager is not installed?
Thanks!
07-30-2008 12:50 PM
Sorry, I was a little vague.
If you have Storage Foundation, you should use DiskGroup and Volume resource types.
if you do NOT have Storage Foundation installed, then there is a Disk resource type that should be available to manage the native devices, depending on your platform.
For example, Solaris has a Disk resource, and also the DiskGroup and Volume resources for SF support.
Linux, (I'm 99% sure, but running off memory at the moment) has a Disk resource, and also has LVM resources, to allow users to cluster Linux when using LVM in lieu of SF.
All these resources should be Bundled Agents (hence my reference to the BARG), and should always be available, but check the BARG for your platform to be sure.
07-30-2008 12:55 PM
I have Storag Foundation HA 5.0 on Solaris. Yes I see the DiskGroup and Volume build-in resource types. But the Disk resource type seems not available to the system.
Thanks!
07-31-2008 06:13 AM
Michelle,
It appears that the product team removed the Disk agent in 5.0.
As for the official reasons, I am not certain, but I can tell you that in the 10 years I've been doing Storage Fondation and VCS, I've used the Disk resource maybe once.
Generally speaking, with regards to storage resources in a service group, I tend to be a bit of a minimalist.
What I tell students and customers is that if you have a filesystem on the volume, your resource depencency tree should be Mount -> Diskgroup
Some people say that you should go Mount -> Volume -> Diskgroup, but frankly, I only use the Volume resource when I am dealing with Raw Volumes. The Diskgroup agent can auto-start volumes in the diskgroup, which most times is what I want. Then the Volume resource becomes completely surperfluous.
If the volume resource goes south... most times it's going to be a diskgroup failure, and the diskgroup resource will fault. In the unlikely event that the volume croaks, but the diskgroup remains alive, the Mount resource will be the one to fault. Because of that, my opinion is that you don't need the Volume resource in the middle.
If you don't have a filesystem (i.e. Mount resource) on the volume because it's raw, then you really DO need something that will check the health of the volume, in case the plexes become unusable, but the diskgroup doesn't fault.
As for the Disk resource, you have SF 5.0 on your system, so you shouldn't need the Disk resource.
I believe I remember someone saying to me not too long ago, that if the Disk resources fault, the mount point or volumes will fault too, so for much the same reason as above, the decision was to remove the Disk resource from the bundled agent list on Solaris. There may be other, more pertinent reasons, but the bottom line is, you don't really need it.
07-31-2008 07:32 AM