SFHA Solutions 6.0.2 Documentation Available
Documentation for Veritas Storage Foundation and High Availability(SFHA)Solutions 6.0.2 is now available at the following locations: PDF and HTML versions:SORT documentation page Hardware Compatibility List: http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH170013 Software Compatibility List:http://www.symantec.com/docs/DOC6146 Manual Pages: Linux The SFHA Solutions 6.0.2 documentation set includes the following manuals: Release Notes Veritas Storage Foundation and High Availability Release Notes Veritas Cluster Server Release Notes Veritas Cluster Server Veritas Cluster Server Installation Guide Symantec High Availability Solutions Guide for VMware Veritas Cluster Server Administrator's Guide Veritas Cluster Server Bundled Agents Reference Guide Veritas Cluster Server Agent for Oracle Installation and Configuration Guide Veritas Cluster Server Agent for DB2 Installation and Configuration Guide Veritas Cluster Server Agent for Sybase Installation and Configuration Guide Veritas Cluster Server Generic Application Agent Configuration Guide Veritas High Availability Agent for SAP WebAS Installation and Configuration Guide Veritas High Availability Agent for WebSphere MQ Installation and Configuration Guide Veritas Cluster Server Agent Developer's Guide Virtual Business Service–Availability User's Guide Veritas Storage Foundation Veritas Storage Foundation Administrator's Guide Veritas Storage Foundation and High Availability Veritas Storage Foundation and High Availability Installation Guide Veritas Storage Foundation and High Availability Solutions Veritas Storage Foundation and High Availability Solutions Replication Administrator's Guide Legal Notices Veritas Storage Foundation and High Availability Solutions Third-party Software License Agreements
SFHA Solutions 6.1: New Virtual Business Services features
The following Virtual Business Services (VBS) features are available in the 6.1 release: VBS can remain operational in spite of a tier failure Ability to run custom script on service groups VBS status tracking This article provides a brief overview of the new features. You can access the Virtual Business Service –Availability User’s Guide for additional information on the features and the steps to implement the new features. VBS can remain operational in spite of a tier failure Before the VBS 6.1 release, the VBS start and stop operations did not complete if any of its tier had failed. This feature allows you to proceed with the operation in spite of the failed tiers in the VBS. Ability to run custom script on service groups This feature enables you to run a customized script that performs the required actions on a parent tier when a child tier recovers. This allows the parent tier to run without any interruptions while the child tier recovers and its dependency is reestablished seamlessly. You can configure the custom script when you configure service group dependencies in a VBS. To configure a custom script, see: Custom script execution Configuring custom script execution for soft dependencies Configuring dependencies for a virtual business service VBS operations status tracking This feature makes the VBS operations more transparent and easier to track from the command line. You can track the status and details of operations (tasks) performed on virtual business services and the corresponding actions taken on constituent tiers. This is especially useful in virtual business services with a large number of tiers and dependencies. For more information on VBS status tracking, see: Tracking VBS operations Tracking information about tasks performed on a VBS Tracking information about tier-level sub-tasks performed as a part of a VBS task Tracking step-by-step progress of a VBS task Symantec Storage Foundation and High Availability documentation for other releases and platforms can be found on the SORT website.
SORT 3.7: Improved patch tool, expanded reports highlight new release
Symantec Operations Readiness Tools (SORT) 3.7 expands and improves its wide range of tools and services. Now you can: Find patch information more easily. On the MySORT page, the new Patch widget lets you enter a patch name or ID and display all the products and versions it applies to. Get more in-depth reports. Risk Assessment custom reports now include specific commands you can run to resolve configuration issues. Display solutions to more product error codes. SORT's error code database has been expanded to include more solutions. From any SORT page, enter the error code in the search bar for more detailed information. Determine which of your products support Oracle Linux. See the product matrix for details. Run custom reports on data you gathered with the Storage Foundation VxExplorer utility. Get all the latest SORT news here.
Veritas SFHA 6.2: SmartIO support for SF Oracle RAC environments
The SmartIO feature of Storage Foundation and High Availability Solutions (SFHA Solutions) enables data efficiency on your SSDs through I/O caching. With SmartIO, you can optimize the cost per IOPS. SmartIO does not require in-depth knowledge of the hardware technologies underneath. SmartIO uses advanced, customizable heuristics to determine what data to cache and how that data gets removed from the cache. The heuristics take advantage of SFHA Solutions' knowledge of the characteristics of the workload. SmartIO supports read and write caching for VxFS file systems mounted on VxVM volumes, in several caching modes and configurations. In SF Oracle RAC environments, when SmartIO is enabled on multiple nodes, the Group Lock Manager (GLM) library keeps cache on each node coherent. Read caching for applications running on VxVM volumes Read caching for applications running on VxFS file systems Database caching on VxFS file systems Database caching on VxVM volumes Note: SmartIO writeback caching is not supported in SF Oracle RAC environments. To use SmartIO, you set up a cache area on the target device. You can do this task simply with one command, while the application is online. When the application issues an I/O request, SmartIO checks to see if the I/O can be serviced from the cache. As applications access data from the underlying volumes or file systems, certain data is moved to the cache based on the internal heuristics. Subsequent I/Os are processed from the cache. You can also customize which data is cached, by adding advisory information to assist the SmartIO feature in making those determinations. For more information, see the Storage Foundation and High Availability Solutions SmartIO for Solid State Drives Solutions Guide. Veritas SFHA documentation for other releases and platforms can be found on the SORT website.
SFW 6.1: SCOM 2012 SP1 and 2012 R2 management packs now available
Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) is a monitoring system that allows you to monitor the health and performance of individual applications that reside on Windows Server systems. You can extend the management capability of SCOM by applying a Symantec Management Pack (MP). A Symantec MP enables SCOM to monitor the events that are generated by specific applications and to display alerts. The following Symantec MPs that support SCOM 2012 SP1 and SCOM 2012 R2 are now available: Storage Foundation for Windows (SFW) Management Pack Symantec Cluster Communication Management Pack These MPs allow you to manage the storage and clusters that are deployed in a Microsoft environment. You can use the Monitoring pane of the SCOM console to view events and alerts. Storage Foundation for Windows Management Pack The SFW MP allows you to monitor the SFW servers, and generates events and alerts. This MP allows you to monitor the events that are generated by SFW components (such as disks, disk groups, and volumes), Volume Replicator, and Dynamic Multi-Pathing for Windows (DMPW). To learn more about deploying and configuring the SFW MP in your SCOM environment, see: Symantec Storage Foundation Management Pack Guide for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2012 Symantec Cluster Communication Management Pack The Symantec Cluster Communication MP allows you to monitor the rules and alerts that are specific to the Group Atomic Broadcast (GAB) and Low Latency Transport (LLT) protocols. Symantec Cluster Server (VCS) and certain SFW deployments, such as SFW configured with Cluster Volume Manager (CVM) or Fast Failover, use GAB and LLT. The Symantec Cluster Communication MP helps you to identify potential issues with Symantec cluster communications in the SCOM environment. To learn more about deploying and configuring the Symantec Cluster Communication MP in your SCOM environment, see: Symantec Cluster Communication Management Pack Guide for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2012 To download Storage Foundation for Windows and Symantec Cluster Communication MPs, see: Symantec Management Packs (MP) for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) 2012 / 2012 R2Veritas SFHA 6.2: Layered volume enhancements for recovery and snapshots
SFHA 6.2 introducesa new enhancement for layered volumes. A layered volume is a virtual Veritas Volume Manager object that is built on top of other volumes. The layered volume structure tolerates failure better and has greater redundancy than the standard volume structure. The enhancement ensures that when storage disconnection and subsequent reconnection happen, only inconsistent regions in the affected sub-volume are synchronized using the FastResync feature. In case of a storage failure, the mirror of the sub-volume on that storage will be detached and the future I/Os on the sub-volume will be tracked by the DCO associated with the parent volume. When such a detached mirror is reattached after restoring storage connectivity, only regions that are inconsistent in the mirror will be synchronized using the FastResync feature. Prior to this release, for a layered volume, if the storage within a mirror of a sub-volume became inaccessible, it led to full synchronization of that mirror when the storage was reconnected. For more information about FastResync and layered volumes: About FastResync About layered volumes Veritas SFHA documentation for other releases and platforms can be found on the SORT website.
InfoScale 7.0 for Windows: About the product correlation between Symantec Storage Foundation and High Availability Solutions and Veritas InfoScale Family
In the 7.0 release, the following products from Symantec Storage Foundation and High Availability Solutions are rebranded and repackaged under the Veritas InfoScale family. Storage Foundation (SFW) Storage Foundation and High Availability Solutions (SFW HA) Cluster Server (VCS) Dynamic Multi-Pathing for Windows (DMPW) The Veritas InfoScale family consists of the following products: Veritas InfoScale Foundation Veritas InfoScale Availability Veritas InfoScale Storage Veritas InfoScale Enterprise The following table depicts the existing-to-new product correlation: Existing product New product SFW Basic Veritas InfoScale Foundation VCS Veritas InfoScale Availability SFW Veritas InfoScale Storage SFW HA Veritas InfoScale Enterprise As a result of repackaging the following changes apply: DMPW and VBS are not available as separate products. The following product options are not available as user-selectable options during the product installation. All these features are now available by default with the concerned InfoScale product. FlashSnap Replace Disk Management Snap-in with SFW VEA GUI Volume Replicator (VVR) Fast failover Global Cluster Option For information about the simplified product packaging, changes to the user-selectable product installation options, and the components that are offered in each InfoScale product, see: Veritas InfoScale™ What's New Guide InfoScale documentation for other platforms can be found on the SORT website.SFW HA 6.1: Symantec Management Packs for SCOM 2012 and 2012 R2 documentation available
VCS/SFW HA Management Packs for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) 2012/R2 are now available for the Storage Foundation and High Availability Solutions 6.1 for Windows (SFW HA) release. The following management packs provide support for SCOM 2012/R2: Storage Foundation for Windows (SFW) Management Pack Symantec Cluster Communication Management Pack Symantec Cluster Server (VCS) Library Management Pack VCS Management Pack* VCS SQL Server 2012 Management Pack** VCS SQL Server 2008 Management Pack** VCS Exchange Server 2010 Management Pack** VCS Exchange Server 2007 Management Pack** * Requires the VCS Library Management Pack and the Symantec Cluster Communication Management Pack ** Requires the VCS Library Management Pack Documentation for Symantec Management Packs for SCOM 2012 and 2012 R2 is now available at: http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH218416Veritas InfoScale 7.0: Storage management feature support matrix for Veritas InfoScale products on Oracle
In the Veritas InfoScale 7.0 release, the Storage Foundation High Availability (SFHA) product portfolio has been replaced with a more simplified, robust, and comprehensive Veritas InfoScaleportfolio that includes the following four products: Veritas InfoScale Foundation Veritas InfoScale Storage Veritas InfoScale Availability Veritas InfoScale Enterprise The core features of SFHA, storage management and availability, are consolidated in the Veritas InfoScale portfolio. This simplifies product licensing, installation, and performance. With this release, the storage management feature support map for Veritas InfoScale products on Oracle has been rearranged to suit the new Veritas InfoScale product model. The following table provides a mapping of the features for each product: For information on the use cases of the storage management features, see the Veritas InfoScale™ 7.0 Storage and Availability Management for Oracle Databases document. For more information on Veritas InfoScale products, see the following sections in the Veritas InfoScale What's new in this release document: About the Veritas InfoScale product suite About Veritas InfoScale Foundation About Veritas InfoScale Storage About Veritas InfoScale Availability About Veritas InfoScale Enterprise Veritas InfoScale documentation can be found on the SORT website.SORT Mobile: View error code descriptions and solutions on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch
The Symantec Operations Readiness Tools mobile application (SORT Mobile), enables you to look up Symantec error codes on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. You can now look up an error code anywhere: in a customer meeting, on the road, or at lunch with a client. In addition to Error Code Lookup, SORT Mobile supports these key features from the SORT website: Symantec Performance Value Unit (SPVU) Calculator. Perform SPVU and server tier calculations for the Storage Foundation product family. Patch Lookup. Look up patches based on the incident ID, patch name, or patch ID. Installation and Upgrade Checklist. Look up product requirements including memory, disk space, and architecture (Storage Foundation and NetBackup only). News and Alerts. Display the latest SORT news (Storage Foundation and NetBackup only). SORT Mobile runs natively on iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches running iOS 5.0 or later. To learn more about SORT Mobile and to download it to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, go to: http://sort.symantec.com/mobile