VMS Help V73 Features, System Management Features, OpenVMS Cluster Systems  *Conan The Librarian (sorry for the slow response - running on an old VAX)

    The following OpenVMS Cluster features are discussed in this
    section:

    o  Clusterwide intrusion detection

    o  Fast Path for SCSI and Fibre Channel (Alpha)

    o  Floppy disks served in an OpenVMS Cluster system (Alpha)

    o  New Fibre Channel support (Alpha)

    o  Switched LAN as a cluster interconnect

    o  Warranted and migration support

1 - Clusterwide Intrusion Detection

    OpenVMS Version 7.3 includes clusterwide intrusion detection,
    which extends protection against attacks of all types throughout
    the cluster. Intrusion data and information from each system are
    integrated to protect the cluster as a whole. Member systems
    running versions of OpenVMS prior to Version 7.3 and member
    systems that disable this feature are protected individually
    and do not participate in the clusterwide sharing of intrusion
    information.

    You can modify the SECURITY_POLICY system parameter on the
    member systems in your cluster to maintain either a local or a
    clusterwide intrusion database of unauthorized attempts and the
    state of any intrusion events.

    If bit 7 in SECURITY_POLICY is cleared, all cluster members
    are made aware if a system is under attack or has any intrusion
    events recorded. Events recorded on one system can cause another
    system in the cluster to take restrictive action. (For example,
    the person attempting to log in is monitored more closely and
    limited to a certain number of login retries within a limited
    period of time. Once a person exceeds either the retry or time
    limitation, he or she cannot log in.) The default for bit 7 in
    SECURITY_POLICY is clear.

    For more information on the system services $DELETE_INTRUSION,
    $SCAN_INTRUSION, and $SHOW_INTRUSION, refer to the OpenVMS System
    Services Reference Manual.

    For more information on the DCL commands DELETE/INTRUSION_RECORD
    and SHOW INTRUSION, refer to the OpenVMS DCL Dictionary.

    For more information on clusterwide intrusion detection, refer to
    the OpenVMS Guide to System Security.

2 - Fast Path for SCSI and Fibre Channel (Alpha)

    Fast Path for SCSI and Fibre Channel (FC) is a new feature with
    OpenVMS Version 7.3. This feature improves the performance of
    Symmetric Multi-Processing (SMP) machines that use certain SCSI
    ports, or FC.

    In previous versions of OpenVMS, SCSI and FC I/O completion was
    processed solely by the primary CPU. When Fast Path is enabled,
    the I/O completion processing can occur on all the processors in
    the SMP system. This substantially increases the potential I/O
    throughput on an SMP system, and helps to prevent the primary CPU
    from becoming saturated.

    See FAST_PATH_PORTS for information about the SYSGEN parameter,
    FAST_PATH_PORTS, that has been introduced to control Fast Path
    for SCSI and FC.

3 - Floppy Disks Served

    Until this release, MSCP was limited to serving disks. Beginning
    with OpenVMS Version 7.3, serving floppy disks in an OpenVMS
    Cluster system is supported, enabled by MSCP.

    For floppy disks to be served in an OpenVMS Cluster system,
    floppy disk names must conform to the naming conventions for
    port allocation class names. For more information about device
    naming with port allocation classes, refer to the OpenVMS Cluster
    Systems manual.

    OpenVMS VAX clients can access floppy disks served from OpenVMS
    Alpha Version 7.3 MSCP servers, but OpenVMS VAX systems cannot
    serve floppy disks. Client systems can be any version that
    supports port allocation classes.

4 - New Fibre Channel Support (Alpha)

    Support for new Fibre Channel hardware, larger configurations,
    Fibre Channel Fast Path, and larger I/O operations is included in
    OpenVMS Version 7.3. The benefits include:

    o  Support for a broader range of configurations: the lower cost
       HSG60 controller supports two SCSI buses instead of six SCSI
       buses supported by the HSG80; multiple DSGGB 16-port Fibre
       Channel switches enable very large configurations.

    o  Backup operations to tape, enabled by the new Modular Data
       Router (MDR), using existing SCSI tape subsystems

    o  Distances up to 100 kilometers between systems, enabling
       more configuration choices for multiple-site OpenVMS Cluster
       systems

    o  Better performance for certain types of I/O due to Fibre
       Channel Fast Path and support for larger I/O requests

    The following new Fibre Channel hardware has been qualified on
    OpenVMS Version 7.2-1 and on OpenVMS Version 7.3:

    o  KGPSA-CA host adapter

    o  DSGGB-AA switch (8 ports) and DSGGB-AB switch (16 ports)

    o  HSG60 storage controller (MA6000 storage subsystem)

    o  Compaq Modular Data Router (MDR)

    OpenVMS now supports Fibre Channel fabrics. A Fibre Channel
    fabric is multiple Fibre Channel switches connected together.
    (A Fibre Channel fabric is also known as cascaded switches.)

    Configurations that use Fibre Channel fabrics can be extremely
    large. Distances up to 100 kilometers are supported in a
    multisite OpenVMS Cluster system. OpenVMS supports the Fibre
    Channel SAN configurations described in the Compaq StorageWorks
    Heterogeneous Open SAN Design Reference Guide, available at the
    following Compaq web site:

    http://www.compaq.com/storage

    Enabling Fast Path for Fibre Channel can substantially increase
    the I/O throughput on an SMP system. For more information about
    this new feature, see Fast Path for SCSI and Fibre Channel
    (Alpha).

    Prior to OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.3, I/O requests larger than
    127 blocks were segmented by the Fibre Channel driver into
    multiple I/O requests. Segmented I/O operations generally have
    lower performance than one large I/O. In OpenVMS Version 7.3,
    I/O requests up to and including 256 blocks are done without
    segmenting.

    For more information about Fibre Channel usage in OpenVMS Cluster
    configurations, refer to the Guidelines for OpenVMS Cluster
    Configurations.

 4.1 - Tape Support

    Fibre Channel tape functionality refers to the support of SCSI
    tapes and SCSI tape libraries in an OpenVMS Cluster system with
    shared Fibre Channel storage. The SCSI tapes and libraries are
    connected to the Fibre Channel by a Fibre-to-SCSI bridge known as
    the Modular Data Router (MDR).

    For configuration information, refer to the Guidelines for
    OpenVMS Cluster Configurations.

5 - LANs as Cluster Interconnects

    An OpenVMS Cluster system can use several LAN interconnects for
    node-to-node communication, including Ethernet, Fast Ethernet,
    Gigabit Ethernet, ATM, and FDDI.

    PEDRIVER, the cluster port driver, provides cluster
    communications over LANs using the NISCA protocol. Originally
    designed for broadcast media, PEDRIVER has been redesigned to
    exploit all the advantages offered by switched LANs, including
    full duplex transmission and more complex network topologies.

    Users of LANs for their node-to-node cluster communication will
    derive the following benefits from the redesigned PEDRIVER:

    o  Removal of restrictions for using Fast Ethernet, Gigabit
       Ethernet, and ATM as cluster interconnects

    o  Improved performance due to better path selection, multipath
       load distribution, and support of full duplex communication

    o  Greater scalability

    o  Ability to monitor, manage, and display information needed to
       diagnose problems with cluster use of LAN adapters and paths

 5.1 - SCA Control Program

    The SCA Control Program (SCACP) utility is designed to monitor
    and manage cluster communications. (SCA is the abbreviation
    of Systems Communications Architecture, which defines the
    communications mechanisms that enable nodes in an OpenVMS Cluster
    system to communicate.)

    In OpenVMS Version 7.3, you can use SCACP to manage SCA use
    of LAN paths. In the future, SCACP might be used to monitor
    and manage SCA communications over other OpenVMS Cluster
    interconnects.

    This utility is described in more detail in a new chapter in the
    OpenVMS System Management Utilities Reference Manual: M-Z.

 5.2 - Packet Loss Error

    Prior to OpenVMS Version 7.3, an SCS virtual circuit closure
    was the first indication that a LAN path had become unusable. In
    OpenVMS Version 7.3, whenever the last usable LAN path is losing
    packets at an excessive rate, PEDRIVER displays the following
    console message:

    %PEA0, Excessive packet losses on LAN Path from local-device-name -
     _  to device-name on REMOTE NODE node-name

    This message is displayed after PEDRIVER performs an excessively
    high rate of packet retransmissions on the LAN path consisting of
    the local device, the intervening network, and the device on the
    remote node. The message indicates that the LAN path has degraded
    and is approaching, or has reached, the point where reliable
    communications with the remote node are no longer possible. It is
    likely that the virtual circuit to the remote node will close if
    the losses continue. Furthermore, continued operation with high
    LAN packet losses can result in a significant loss in performance
    because of the communication delays resulting from the packet
    loss detection timeouts and packet retransmission.

    The corrective steps to take are:

    1. Check the local and remote LAN device error counts to see if a
       problem exists on the devices. Issue the following commands on
       each node:

       $ SHOW DEVICE local-device-name
       $ MC SCACP
       SCACP> SHOW LAN device-name
       $ MC LANCP
       LANCP> SHOW DEVICE device-name/COUNT

    2. If device error counts on the local devices are within normal
       bounds, contact your network administrators to request that
       they diagnose the LAN path between the devices.

       If necessary, contact your COMPAQ support representative for
       assistance in diagnosing your LAN path problems.

    For additional PEDRIVER troubleshooting information, see Appendix
    F of the OpenVMS Cluster Systems manual.

6 - Warranted and Migration Support

    Compaq provides two levels of support, warranted and migration,
    for mixed-version and mixed-architecture OpenVMS Cluster systems.

    Warranted support means that Compaq has fully qualified the two
    versions coexisting in an OpenVMS Cluster and will answer all
    problems identified by customers using these configurations.

    Migration support is a superset of the Rolling Upgrade support
    provided in earlier releases of OpenVMS and is available for
    mixes that are not warranted. Migration support means that Compaq
    has qualified the versions for use together in configurations
    that are migrating in a staged fashion to a newer version of
    OpenVMS VAX or of OpenVMS Alpha. Problem reports submitted
    against these configurations will be answered by Compaq. However,
    in exceptional cases, Compaq may request that you move to a
    warranted configuration as part of answering the problem.

    Compaq supports only two versions of OpenVMS running in a cluster
    at the same time, regardless of architecture. Migration support
    helps customers move to warranted OpenVMS Cluster version mixes
    with minimal impact on their cluster environments.

    The following table shows the level of support provided for all
    possible version pairings.

    Table 4-2 Warranted and Migration Support

                             Alpha
                Alpha/VAX    V7.2-xxx/
                V7.3         VAX V7.2    Alpha/VAX V7.1

    Alpha/VAX   WARRANTED    Migration   Migration
    V7.3
    Alpha       Migration    WARRANTED   Migration
    V7.2-xxx/
    VAX V7.2
    Alpha/VAX   Migration    Migration   WARRANTED
    V7.1

    In a mixed-version cluster with OpenVMS Version 7.3, you must
    install remedial kits on earlier versions of OpenVMS. For OpenVMS
    Version 7.3, two new features, XFC and Volume Shadowing minicopy,
    cannot be run on any node in a mixed version cluster unless all
    nodes running earlier versions of OpenVMS have installed the
    required remedial kit or upgrade. Remedial kits are available
    now for XFC. An upgrade for systems running OpenVMS Version 7.2-
    xx that supports minicopy will be made available soon after the
    release of OpenVMS Version 7.3.

    For a complete list of required remedial kits, refer to the
    OpenVMS Version 7.3 Release Notes.