Clariion FC4700 shared disk space

[fromans4]

I have a Clariion FC4700 using Brocade fabric switches and Emulex LP-8000 HBA's. Is it possible for two Windows 2000 Advanced servers to share the same disk space on the SAN. The two servers in question are in a MSSQL 2000 cluster. I can get either server to see the disk space individually, but I can't get them both to see it at the same time.

Is this possible?

BTW - I am using ATF/PowerPath if it matters.

Brent

 

[Chacalinc]

yes, you can do it... are you using AccessLogix?
if so, you can put both servers in the same Storage Group in order to grant access from the 2 servers to the same LUNs. You need to make zones in order to connect both hosts to the SP and configure the "failover mode".

If not, just make zones to the SPs in order to get access to the same LUNs to both serves.

Cheers.

 

[fromans4]

I am not using AccessLogix. The servers are currently in the same storage group and zones have been created for each.

The Emulex Configuration tool shows LUN mappings for each HBA on both servers. However, the OS can only see the SAN Drives on whichever server boots first.

Will this AccessLogix software address this issue?

Brent Hernandez

 

[Chacalinc]

are you using MS Cluster? do you have the cluster "aware" of the LUNs? if so, MS Cluster will not allow you to use the same LUN from the 2 servers at the same time.

Hernandez is a spanish last name, do you speak spanish?

Cheers.

 

[Chacalinc]

oops.. sorry, you stated that servers are in a MS Cluster configuration. My question is whether the LUNs are in the cluster configuration. If the LUNs are in the MS Cluster will not allow you to use the same LUN at the same time. This is because MS Cluster is a failover cluster *not real cluster*.

If you need to *share* the data on a disk you need NAS.

Cheers.

 

[fromans4]

Yes, I am using MS Cluster. The cluster is aware of the drives which are associated to the LUN's. If this is not allowed then how would it be possible to share this drive space using MS Cluster?

Unfortunately nobody spoke spanish arround the house as I was growing up, so I never picked up the language.

Thanks for the help,
Brent

 

[Chacalinc]

You need to use NAS or make a tipical "share folder".... what is the objetive?

 

[fromans4]

We have an MS SQL 2000 database that is very important to keep on-line. The SQL databases and logs reside on the SAN. Two Windows 2000 advanced servers have been setup as a cluster to support this SQL server.

Currently the database works via whichever server can access the SAN (ie. the first server to boot). But if that server goes down there is no automatic failover. I have to manualy assign the remaining server as the primary in the cluster then reboot or restart all of the services.

Is this the best I can expect or is there some way to do this better? You mentioned a NAS? I have a DELL PowerVault 220s and a Promise UltraTrak RM 1500. Would one of these work?

Brent

 

[comtec17]

This is not the best to expect. How do you have your disks and resource groups setup? Also how are your Emulex HBA's setup?

In an environment that I just installed I made sure of the following:

On the Emulex HBA's:
All the WWN's had the same SCSI ID on both server A and B

On the server side:

All my disks with my MSSQL DB's, logs, etc where the same drive letter.

 

[Chacalinc]

Brent,

With MS Cluster you expect to get an automatic failover, all the work should be done by MS Cluster, not you. It is not a SAN or storage problem. In fact, if both servers can see the LUNs with no problems you are ok with that. The problem is a MS Cluster configuration. I'm not a cluster specialist but I know that you can configure the cluster in order to make that a service can failover automatically or not.

You could ask to your MS provider or submit a post in the MS forum.

Regarding to NAS, NAS is a very good equipment to share files, but it is not advisable for SQL Server or any database. 2 database servers could not share the same files, except if you have a special package (as Oracle Real Application Cluster for example). In addition, for database servers you need the best performance and you get it using block access (SCSI/FC) rather than file access (Network).

Hope this help you.

Cheers.

Cheers.

 

[zzn169]

Actually, NAS can be used for databases. Oracle uses NAS for several of there databases using NetApp NAS filers.

Although, I think Chacalinc is right that MS cluster should handle this. MS Cluster is not at all the greatest and operates in an active-passive mode so it should operate as I assume you want it to in th event of a failover. I would recommed what Chacalinc eluded to which is to use Veritas Cluster but they are more of an Oracle shop and I don't know how it would work with MS SQL.

 

[Chris78]

Hi fromans4,

under MSCS, either node1 or node2 will see the luns but not both in the same time, it's working as design (passive - active for each luns which are set in the MSCS config, I mean in each group set under MSCS GUI).
The only way to see the same luns from 2 Win2K servers and more is NAS (in order to share files & directory)

Chris