What's new for IBM i 7.2

Read about this new topic collection for this release that contains previous information about Clusters and High Availability.

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What's new as of October 2016

IBM® PowerHA® for i Standard Edition is enhanced to support a new representational state transfer (REST) server for advanced node failure detection. This function is provided through a new function PowerHA PTF for 7.2. The PTF numbers can be found on the IBM PowerHA SystemMirror® for i wiki.

Making use of the new REST support in enhanced commands requires IBM PowerHA for i Standard Edition to be installed with a valid license key and the new function PowerHA PTFs to be loaded and applied. Making use of the new REST support in enhanced APIs requires the new function base operating system PTFs to be loaded and applied.

The following commands are enhanced.

Add Cluster Monitor (ADDCLUMON) command
Change Cluster Monitor (CHGCLUMON) command
Remove Cluster Monitor (RMVCLUMON) command
Display Cluster Information (DSPCLUINF) command
Work Cluster (WRKCLU) command

The following APIs are enhanced.

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What's new as of April 2016

IBM PowerHA for i Enterprise Edition was enhanced to support DS8000® HyperSwap® with independent auxiliary storage pools (IASPs). This new function provides near-zero downtime for planned and unplanned storage outages and can be used with other IASP-based PowerHA technologies. This function is provided through a new function PowerHA PTF.

In IBM Knowledge Center, the terms IASP and independent disk pool are synonymous.

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DS8000 HyperSwap with independent auxiliary storage pools (IASPs)

IBM PowerHA for i Enterprise Edition supports DS8000 HyperSwap at an IASP level. HyperSwap functions independently for SYSBAS and IASPs. HyperSwap relationships can be configured for SYSBAS logical units only, IASP logical units only, or both. DS8000 HyperSwap with IASPs has been added to 7.2 IBM PowerHA SystemMirror for i licensed program.

To use DS8000 HyperSwap with IASPs requires IBM PowerHA for i Enterprise Edition be installed, with a valid license key. And the new function PowerHA PTF be loaded and applied. The PTF number can be found on the IBM PowerHA SystemMirror for i wiki.

The following commands are enhanced or new to the IBM PowerHA SystemMirror for i licensed program.

Enhanced Add ASP Copy Description command
Enhanced Change ASP Copy Description command
Enhanced Retrieve ASP Copy Description command
Enhanced Retrieve ASP Session command
New Retrieve SVC Copy Description command
New Retrieve SVC Session command
Enhanced Change HyperSwap Status command
Enhanced Display HyperSwap Status command
New Work HyperSwap Status command
New Add HA Configuration Description command
New Change HA Configuration Description command
New Display HA Configuration Description command
New Remove HA Configuration Description command
New Work HA Configuration Description command
Enhanced Change Cluster Recovery command

The following APIs are enhanced or new to the IBM PowerHA SystemMirror for i licensed program.

Enhanced Retrieve ASP Copy Information API
New Retrieve HA Configuration Description API
New Retrieve HA Status API

IBM PowerHA for i Enterprise Edition supports DS8000 HyperSwap with IASPs. The PowerHA graphical interface has been enhanced to support DS8000 HyperSwap with IASPs.

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What's new for IBM i 7.2

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Environment resiliency enhancements

Cluster administrative domain with was enhanced to synchronize ownership and object authority of monitored resources, including private authority of user profiles. In general, the following managed resource element (MRE) owner and authority attributes are supported: object owner, object authority entry, object authorization list, and object primary group.

See Attributes that can be monitored for a list of the attributes that are supported by Cluster Administrative Domain. The newly supported attributes will automatically start being monitored if all attributes are currently being monitored when the current PowerHA version is adjusted to 3.0 or higher.

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IBM PowerHA SystemMirror for i Graphical interfaces removed

The High Availability Solutions Manager graphical interface and Cluster Resource Services graphical interface are no longer supported. Use the PowerHA graphical interface.

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Switching expansion tower no longer supported

Switching at an expansion unit (tower) is no longer supported by either POWER7® or IBM i 7.2.

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Full System HyperSwap

Full System HyperSwap is a full system solution that allows logical units that are mirrored between two IBM System Storage® DS8000 units to be switched between without an outage, providing a minimal impact high availability solution.

To use Full System HyperSwap requires IBM PowerHA for i Express® Edition be installed, with a valid license key.

New commands that are associated with Full System HyperSwap:

Add HyperSwap Storage Description (ADDHYSSTGD) command
Change HyperSwap Status (CHGHYSSTS) command
Change HyperSwap Storage Description (CHGHYSSTGD) command
Display HyperSwap Status (DSPHYSSTS) command
Remove HyperSwap Storage Description (RMVHYSSTGD) command

Note: Full system HyperSwap is not supported with IASP-based replication technologies and switched logical units.

For more information about full system HyperSwap, see Planning for DS8000 Full System HyperSwap.

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