Geographically Dispersed Clustering

RecoverPoint Cluster Enabler

2009-05-29T15:13:00Z

One of these days, I do plan on writing about other non-EMC geographically dispersed solutions…I swear . I just need to find the time to give these other products a proper test run before writing my opinions about them so I can give them a fair assessment. Though finding the time to "play" is becoming increasingly difficult lately. Anyway, reading Storagezilla’s blog reminded me that I left a little cliff hanger in one of my previous posts . There was a new addition to the...(read more)

Adding a disk to a Windows 2008 Failover Cluster using cluster.exe commands

2009-01-08T14:54:00Z

This isn't specific to multi-site clustering, but I've certainly had to use this many times when adding devices to my multi-site clusters. Adding disks to a multi-site Windows 2008 cluster is not as easy as it should be. In Windows 2008, Microsoft has added some new "logic" while adding disk resources to a cluster. In Windows 2008, when you attempt to "Add a disk" through the cluster administrator GUI, the cluster does a quick check on the available disks to ensure that...(read more)

New Feature in 2008 R2 - Cluster Shared Volumes

2008-11-04T22:42:00Z

This week, Microsoft is announcing that Windows 2008 R2 will add a new feature to Failover Clusters called “Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV)”. This feature is being introduced so that they can support the Live Migration feature for Hyper-V. You can get more details about CSV and other 2008 R2 features in the following document: Windows Server 2008 R2 (Beta) Reviewers Guide - http://download.microsoft.com/download/F/2/1/F2146213-4AC0-4C50-B69A-12428FF0B077/Windows_Server_2008_R2_Reviewers_Guide_...(read more)

EMC Cluster Enabler Updates

2008-11-03T20:50:00Z

It’s been a really busy month for us. This past month, EMC has released a new version of SRDF/CE, MV/CE and internally announced a new addition to the Cluster Enabler family. I don’t think it’s been publicly announced, so I’ll have to refrain from posting any details on the third item at this time. SRDF/CE and MV/CE version 3.1 are now available for download on EMC's Powerlink website. Here are the new features in these releases: SRDF/CE v3.1 Hyper-V “host clustering”...(read more)

SQL Strikes Again

2008-09-08T15:05:00Z

I learned today that SQL 2008 will actually not install by default in many multi-site cluster solutions. Why? Well, during the SQL 2008 installation, it runs through a Configuration Checker where one of the tests the environment to ensure that the cluster is configured properly. In a geographically dispersed cluster (specifically in an SRDF/CE cluster) this check will fail with the error: The cluster on this computer does not have a shared disk available. To continue, at least one shared disk must...(read more)

Multiple Subnets with Windows 2008 Clusters

2008-08-08T12:27:00Z

I’ve been playing around with Microsoft Windows 2008 clusters for a while now trying to test out some of the new features and how they will affect multi-site clusters. One of the best new features (in my opinion) in 2008 clusters is the ability to have cluster nodes on different subnets. Microsoft does this by introducing a new OR dependency option for resources. In 2008 clusters, you have two options when making a resource depend on more than one resource: AND . This indicates that both the...(read more)

SQL 2008 Team - Please Add multi-subnet support!

2008-06-27T15:58:00Z

I was informed that feedback for Microsoft product groups should be done through the http://connect.microsoft.com page. So I've submitted a request to add support for clusters running multiple subnets here: https://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=353894 Please feel free to join in and rate/add your comments to my submission. Let the SQL team know that this is something that they need to address....(read more)

SQL 2008

2008-06-16T15:44:00Z

One of the great new features of Windows 2008 Failover Clustering is the removal of the "same subnet" restriction. This is a huge feature for multi-site clusters as I personally know of several customers that did not implement a multi-site cluster specifically because of this limitation. Most of the folks that I spoke with at TechEd are excited about this new feature and are considering multi-site clusters specifically because of this change. Anyway, at TechEd this year the SQL folks made...(read more)

EMC MirrorView Cluster Enabler Released!

2008-05-19T20:16:00Z

If you’ve read through some of my previous posts , you might have picked up on the fact that this product was coming soon. EMC has finally released an SRDF/CE equivalent for the Clariion arrays utilizing MirrorView. Sure, we’ve got other products for other clusters, but this is the first that fully integrates with Microsoft clustering and MirrorView. This first release (named 3.0 to fool you ) has some limitations as this is our first crack at Clariion support. Here are some of the requirements/limitations...(read more)

Cluster Enabler 3.0 Released

2008-04-21T17:56:00Z

EMC recently released the latest version of SRDF/CE for MSCS. This new release has the following changes: New Name - The overall product line has been renamed to "Cluster Enabler" and the first product released in this line is SRDF/CE for MSCS. In the near future, MV/CE will be added to this family of products. Redesigned GUI - SRDF/CE GUI has been completely re-written for this release. The GUI in 3.0 has been simplified and wizards have been streamline, making it easier to configure....(read more)

Clustering Webcasts on Demand

2008-02-21T19:32:00Z

Microsoft gave some great webcasts related to 2008 clustering last month. If you missed any of these sessions, you can view these recording on-demand and/or snag the PPT files here: Building High Availability Infrastructures with Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering Webcast - http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8131531 PPT - http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7933793 Failover Clustering 101 Webcast - http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8146346 PPT - http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7933794 Failover Cluster...(read more)

Future Releases of SRDF/CE

2008-01-12T18:48:00Z

It's been far too long since I've written a blog post, mostly due to the holiday rush. There's much going on in my world of geo-clustering with 2008 RC1 being released, and also there's been some development activity for SRDF/CE. I’ve been asked questions many times in various forms about the future outlook of geo-clusters and specificly, the longevity of a product like SRDF/CE. Some ask if EMC has any plans to support 2008 cluster and other ask if the product is dying due to new...(read more)

What applications are supported by SRDF/CE?

2007-11-17T19:04:00Z

I often get asked if SRDF/CE supports various versions of Exchange or SQL, especially just after a new version is released. If you are one those that have asked, you have likely received my sarcastic, yet completely accurate answer that SRDF/CE does NOT support ANY applications other than MSCS. Hence the name, SRDF/CE FOR MSCS. There is only one application that SRDF/CE supports in a Windows environment and that is Microsoft Cluster Service. If this seems too harsh, I can also accurately claim that...(read more)

Quorum Arbitration in a Geographically Dispersed Cluster

2007-10-07T17:30:00Z

Thanks to Oliver Simpson for his comments and his question…how does quorum arbitration work in a geographically dispersed cluster and how is this different between SRDF/CE and MirrorView. This is a great question and I hope I don’t bore you with too many details here. There are many storage vendors out there and I’m sure that they all have their own method of performing box to box replication and controlling access to these mirrors. With EMC SRDF, the source device is labeled an R1 device and the...(read more)

SRDF/CE Training

2007-09-05T13:16:00Z

In a past life, I used to travel the globe delivering training classes to EMC personnel and a few select customers. This training was not widely known about and was only given to customers that begged for more knowledge about the product. I am happy to announce that EMC is now offering a training class for SRDF/CE that is open to customers. Originally, this training was only available to employees, but we have since seen the error in our ways so this is now open to the public. The class is named...(read more)

MirrorView/CE

2007-07-06T17:24:00Z

Continuing my topic about geoclustering on a Clariion, we've recently discovered that my previous scenario that I tested can actually be FULLY SUPPORTED by Microsoft and EMC! Thanks to Edwin for pointing out the following entry in the Windows Catalog: http://www.windowsservercatalog.com/item.aspx?idItem=4f28600a-1184-77a3-5768-7091f50227dd You might notice that this entry lists a product called MirrorView/CE v1.0 with MNS (sounds familiar). I've found that this is not an actual EMC product...(read more)

Majority Node Set Clustering

2007-06-07T15:41:00Z

When I was first introduced MNS, I hated this little feature of Windows 2003. In my opinion, MNS has created some confusion in the marketplace as it has been positioned (incorrectly) by some as “the” solution for geographically dispersed clustering. I’ve seen many posts over the years in the newsgroups from folks that have setup their MNS clusters and now want to know how to make their cluster work without shared storage. News flash: MNS does not mean that you not need shared storage for your cluster...(read more)

Geographically Dispersed Clustering with Clariion

2007-05-14T17:00:00Z

Thanks to Ira Pfeifer for jump starting this topic…I would’ve hit this subject eventually as this has been a rather frustrating experience that I’ve gone through over the years. One of the things that I’ve been pushing for many, many years at EMC is to develop a “GeoSpan” equivalent product for the Clariion environment. In my opinion, our main target audience for CX arrays is the Windows server environments so it seemed like a logical progression for the GeoSpan product to release a similar product...(read more)

EMC SRDF/CE for MSCS

2007-04-27T18:40:00Z

Let me first discuss my pet project, SRDF/CE for MSCS. What is SRDF/CE you ask? Well it is EMC’s geographically dispersed clustering software. SRDF/CE is an EMC proprietary product that is used to integrate EMC’s SRDF technology with MSCS. Basically, it is the glue that combines HA from MSCS with the DR capabilities of SRDF remote mirroring to form a true geographic clustering solution. Upon failover, SRDF/CE issues the necessary SYMCLI commands to automatically RW enable the devices at the DR site...(read more)

Welcome to my blog!

2007-04-16T19:31:00Z

I’ve finally decided that it’s time to start a blog. Why? Well, it wasn’t only a bandwagon thing…I thought that this might help to keep me motivated to do some of the things that I’ve been intending on doing for many, many moons. I hope that if I put these plans in print, it might actually help force me to complete some if not all of these goals…and also I want to be cool like Rod and Russ <g> About me The main focus in my work life for the past seven years has been geographically dispersed...(read more)