SFHA Solutions 6.2: VCS support for SmartIO
The SmartIO feature on Linux was introduced in Storage Foundation and High Availability (SFHA) 6.1. Beginning in this release, SmartIO is also supported on AIX and Solaris.SmartIO enables data efficiency on your solid state drives (SSDs) through I/O caching. For information about administering SmartIO, see the Symantec Storage Foundation and High Availability Solutions SmartIO for Solid State Drives Solutions Guide. In an SFHA environment, applications can failover to another node. On AIX, Linux, and Solaris, beginning in this release,the SFCache agent allows you to enable caching for an application if there are caching devices.The SFCache agent also allows you to failover the application to a node that does not have caching devices. The SFCache agent monitors: Read caching for Veritas Volume Manager (VxVM) cache Read and writeback caching for Veritas File System (VxFS) cache For volume-level caching, the cache objects are disk groups and volumes. For file system level caching, the cache object is the mount point. You can: Modify the caching mode at runtime Set the default caching mode when you mount the VxFS file system Configure the MountOpt attribute of the Mount agent to specify the default caching mode using the smartiomode option For more information about the smartiomode option, see the mount_vxfs(1m) manual page. If the cache faults, the application still runs without any issues on the same system, but with degraded I/O performance.You can configure the SFCache agent’s CacheFaultPolicy attribute and choose to either ignore or initiate failover. If SmartIO is not enabled on a node, the SFCache resource acts as a dummy resource and is reported as ONLINE or OFFLINE depending on the group state, but caching-related operations are not performed. For more information, see: SFCache agent Mount agent Symantec Storage Foundation and High Availability documentation for other releases and platforms can be found on the SORT website.
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.SFHA Solutions 6.1: Using AdaptiveHA to select the largest system for failover
Symantec Cluster Server (VCS) service groups are virtual containers that manage groups of resources required to run a managed application. The FailOverPolicy service group attribute governs how VCS determines the target system for failover. For more information, see About service groups Service group attributes Cluster attributes About defining failover policies When you set FailOverPolicy to BiggestAvailable, AdaptiveHA enables VCS to dynamically select the cluster node with the most available resources to fail over an application. VCS monitors and forecasts the unused capacity of systems in terms of CPU, Memory, and Swap, to select the largest available system. If you set FailOverPolicy to BiggestAvailable for a service group, you must specify the load values in terms such as, 1 CPU, 1GB RAM, and 1GB SWAP, in the Load service group attribute.You only need to specify those resources that are used by the service group. For example, if the service group does not use the Swap resource, only specify the CPU and Memory resources in the Load attribute. Note: The Load FailOverPolicy isbeingdeprecated after this release. Symantec recommends that you change to theBiggestAvailableFailOverPolicy for enabling AdaptiveHA. For more information, see About AdaptiveHA Enabling AdaptiveHA for a service group If you upgrade VCS manually, ensure that you update the VCS configuration file (main.cf) to enable AdaptiveHA. When you upgrade from an older version of VCS using the installer, the main.cf file gets automatically upgraded. For more information, seeManually upgrading the VCS configuration file to the latest version VCS documentation for other platforms and releases can be found on theSORTwebsite.SFHA Solutions 6.0.1: About Veritas Cluster Server service groups in the partial state
A service group is a virtual container that contains the hardware and software resources that are required to run the managed application. Service groups allow Veritas Cluster Server (VCS) to control the hardware and software resources of the managed application as a single unit. For more information on service groups, see: About service groups Types of service groups About service group dependencies For more information about VCS service groups, see:SFHA Solutions 6.0.1: About Veritas Cluster Server service groups. The state of a service group is reported partial in one or more of the following situations: When the group contains non-persistent, disabled resources with the AutoStart attribute set to 1. When at least one, but not all, resource with the attribute Operations set to OnOff is online, and not all AutoStart resources are online. When you flush a service group. When an application is intentionally shut down outside of VCS control. For more information about the AutoStart attribute, seeResource attributes. For more information about the State attribute, seeService group attributes. For more information about flushing service groups, seeFlushing service groups. For more information about the intentionally shutting down issues, seeVCS behavior for resources that support the intentional offline functionality. You can bring a service group out of a partial state by either bringing the service group online or taking it offline using the -hagrp command. For more information on bringing the service groups online or taking them offline, see: Bringing service groups online Taking service groups offline For more information about the -hagrp command, see:hagrp(1M) manual page. Veritas Cluster Server documentation for other releases and platforms can be found on theSORT website.SFHA Solutions 6.0.1: About Veritas Cluster Server service groups
Veritas Cluster Server service groups are virtual containers that manage groups of resources required to run a managed application. You can create multiple service groups on a single node and they can function independently of each other. Moreover, you can also assign dependencies among the service groups depending on the complexity of your managed application. For more information, see About service groups. VCS supports three types of service groups: Failover service groups are configured for applications that do not support simultaneous access from multiple systems. A failover service group requires fewer resources but you must factor in some down time when the service group fails over to another node. Parallel service groups are configured if applications can run on multiple nodes without data corruption and also allow simultaneous access from multiple machines. A parallel service group is especially useful for high availability applications as there is no down time. A hybrid service group is for replicated data clusters and is a combination of the failover and parallel service groups. It behaves as a failover group within a system zone and as a parallel group across system zones. A hybrid service group cannot fail over across system zones. VCS allows a switch operation on a hybrid group only if both systems are within the same system zone. If no systems exist within a zone for failover, VCS calls the nofailover trigger on the lowest numbered node. Hybrid service groups adhere to the same rules governing group dependencies as do parallel groups. For more information on failover service groups, parallel service groups, and hybrid service groups, see: About failover service groups About parallel service groups About hybrid service groups For more information on campus clusters, see Setting up campus clusters. VCS components are configured using attributes. Attributes contain data about the cluster, systems, service groups, resources, resource types, agent, and heartbeats if you use global clusters. Moreover, the value assigned to the parallel attribute determines whether the service group is failover, parallel, or hybrid. For more information, see About VCS attributes and Service group attributes. Administering service groups You can administer service groups using the Java console, VCS command line interface, or Veritas Operations Manager (VOM). Symantec recommends using VOM to manage Cluster Server environments. The following are the links to the topics addressing administration of service groups using either method. Components for administering VCS About Veritas Operations Manager Administering service groups from Veritas Operations Manager (VOM) To administer service groups from VOM, refer to Managing service groups. Administering service groups from the command line Adding and deleting service groups Bringing service groups online Taking service groups offline Switching service groups Freezing and unfreezing service groups Enabling and disabling service groups Clearing faulted resources in a service group Flushing service groups Linking and unlinking service groups Administering service groups from the Java Console Adding a service group Deleting a service group Bringing a service group online Taking a service group offline Switching a service group Freezing a service group Unfreezing a service group Enabling a service group Disabling a service group Autoenabling a service group Flushing a service group Linking service groups Unlinking service groups Veritas Cluster Server documentation for other platforms and releases can be found on the SORTwebsite.
SFHA Solutions 6.0.1: About managing Virtual Business Services using VOM and the VBS command line interface
Virtual Business Services (VBS) is a feature that represents a multi-tier application as a single consolidated entity in Veritas Operations Manager (VOM). It builds on the high availability and disaster recovery features provided by Symantec products, such as, Veritas Cluster Server (VCS) and Symantec ApplicationHA. VBS enables administrators to improve operational efficiency of managing a heterogeneous multi-tier application. You can control VBS from the VOM graphical user interface and the VBS command line interface (CLI). When you install SFHA, the VBS installation packages, VRTSvbs and VRTSsfmh, are automatically installed on the nodes. From the VOM interface, you can define a VBS that consists of service groups from multiple clusters. You can also use the VBS CLI to performcommand line operations on that VBS. The clustering solutions that are offered today can only manage applications running on the same operating system. So, deploying the clustering solutions for a multi-tier, cross-platform setup can be difficult to manage. VBS can work across a heterogeneous environment to enable IT organizations to ensure that the applications across tiers can be made highly available. A typical multi-tier environment comprises of a database on a UNIX server, applications running in a Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) on a Linux server, and a Web server on a VMware virtual machine. VBS works across the heterogeneous environment to communicate between local operating systems to see the end-to-end state of multi-tier applications and to control start and stop ordering of the applications. With VBS there are relationships between tiers that you can customize to fit your environment. You can set up policies for the events that result in a failure or for the specific events that happen on tiers. For example, you can set up a policy that restarts the application service groups when the database service group fails over to another node. For more information about VBS features, components, and workflow, see: Features of Virtual Business Services Sample Virtual Business Service configuration Virtualization support in Virtual Business Services About the Veritas Operations Manager policy checks for Virtual Business Services About the Virtual Business Services components Virtual Business Services workflow Support matrix for VBS Prerequisites for using VBS Availability Add-on You can configure and manage a VBS created in VOM by using the VOM VBS Availability Add-on utility. You can also control a VBS from the VBS CLI, but you cannot create a VBS from the VBS CLI. The VBS Availability Add-on utility enables you to: Start or stop service groups associated to a VBS. Establish service group relationships that decide the order in which service groups are brought online or taken offline. Decide the reaction of application components in each tier when an event fault occurs on a tier. Recover a VBS from a remote site when a disaster occurs. For more information about installing the VBS add-on, packages, and configuring a VBS using VOM, see: Installing Veritas Operations Manager Virtual Business Services Availability Add-on Installing the VRTSvbs package using Veritas Operations Manager Configuring a Virtual Business Service For more information on managing VBS using VOM and the VBS command-line, see: Operations using Veritas Operations Manager and command line Starting and stopping Virtual Business Services Viewing the overview of a Virtual Business Service Viewing the Virtual Business Service status from the command line Enabling fault management for a Virtual Business Service Disabling fault management for a Virtual Business Service Fault management overview For more information on VBS commands, troubleshooting issues, and recovery operations, see: Virtual Business Services commands Troubleshooting Virtual Business Services Virtual Business Services log files For more information on managing VBS using VOM and the VBS command line, see: Virtual Business Service-Availability User's Guide Virtual Business Services documentation for other SFHA releases can be found on the SORT website.SFHA Solutions 6.0.1: Using the hastatus command in Veritas Cluster Server (VCS)
You can use the hastatus command to display the changes to cluster objects such as resource, group, and system and to monitor transitions on a cluster. You can also verify the status of the cluster. The hastatus command functionality is also applicable to prior releases. For information on using the hastatus command, see: Querying status of service groups Querying status of remote and local clusters How the VCS engine (HAD) affects performance VCS command line reference Verifying the cluster Verifying the status of nodes and service groups For troubleshooting scenarios and solutions for using the hastatus command, see: Service group is waiting for the resource to be brought online/taken Offline Agent not running hastatus (1M) 6.0.1 manual pages: AIX HP-UX Linux Solaris For more information on using the hastatus command, see: Veritas Cluster Server Administrator's Guide Veritas Cluster Server Installation Guide Veritas Cluster Server documentation for other releases and platforms can be found on the SORT website.