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Installing the Software on a Cluster
Each node within a cluster, whether active or passive, must have the necessary software components installed. Installing these software components to be cluster-aware involves both the active and passive nodes, whether the software component is installed directly to a particular physical node or not. During the cluster server installation, the configuration files on all physical nodes are edited to contain information about all installed nodes in the cluster group.
It is important to remember the following guidelines:
The following sections describe the basic principles of installing the different software components supported on a NetWare cluster.
A physical installation of a software component is the default type of installation, where the software is installed on a physical server and acts independently of the cluster. Services installed in this way do not take advantage of clustering features like failover protection, unless you also install software on the cluster server. For instance, the File System iDataAgent can be installed on each node in the cluster to protect the data on the physical servers. MediaAgents are also supported, but not required, on the physical node of a cluster.
For software installation instructions, see Installation.
The MediaAgent software can be installed in one of the following ways:
Install the MediaAgent software on the physical node. When you install the MediaAgent software on the physical node, you can use GridStor® to provide the necessary failover capabilities. See Alternate Data Paths (GridStor) - Clustered Environments for more information.
To take advantage of failover protection provided by the clustering software, install the MediaAgent software from the Windows computer with the Novell Client software, to the cluster server. When the cluster group install procedure is performed, an automated configuration of the Galaxy.INI file is performed on all available nodes at the same time. If any node was not available during the installation, a separate procedure must be performed on that node to configure its Galaxy.INI file.
Clustering support is provided only for a library which is shared across a SAN in a non- DDS and in a DDS environment.
The index cache must be configured either on the shared disk or on a network share accessible to all the nodes on the cluster. The index cache should not be configured on the physical nodes.
For software installation instructions for a MediaAgent, see MediaAgent Deployment.
If you will be installing the File System iDataAgent on the cluster server, you must first install the File System iDataAgent on each physical node of the cluster.
For software installation instructions for a clustered NetWare File System iDataAgent, see NetWare Deployment.
All iDataAgent installations should be performed after the CommServe, MediaAgent and any File System components are installed. To protect the data on the cluster group, install the Agent software from the Windows computer with the Novell Client software, to the cluster server. When the cluster server install procedure is performed, an automated configuration of the Galaxy.INI file is performed on all available nodes at the same time. If any node was not available during the installation, a separate procedure must be performed on that node to configure its Galaxy.INI file.
For software installation instructions, see Installation.
In general, data protection operations in a cluster environment function as they do in a non-clustered environment. However, it is recommended that you include the shared data for data protection operations only on the shared disk, and conversely, that you include local data for each physical server only on the physical server's local disk, using the appropriate Agent software on the physical server to back up this disk.
In general, data recovery operations in a cluster environment function as they do in a non-clustered environment. You can restore data that resides locally on a physical node, or that resides on the cluster group's shared disk, just as you would restore data for a non-clustered computer. The process of restoring client data to a cluster group is the same as it is on a non-clustered computer; the nodes in the cluster group is viewed as another computer on the CommCell.
| WARNING Do not specify this occurrence of MediaAgent in any operations such as Data Path. |
A specific Product License must be available for each component you install, whether CommServe, MediaAgent, or Agent, and a license is consumed for each installation. When a File System Agent is installed on a cluster group, a special license is required, for Virtual File System.
As an example of a NetWare cluster, consider one with three physical nodes and one cluster server, with the NetWare File System iDataAgent, File Archiver for NetWare, and a MediaAgent installed. License requirements would be as follows: