Planning for PowerHASystemMirror for AIX

IBM Spectrum Control supports Storage Resource agents that are installed on IBM® PowerHA® SystemMirror® for AIX® nodes. Use this information to configure the PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX environment before you use it with IBM Spectrum Control.

Cluster resource groups

A cluster resource group represents a PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX entity.

You can configure PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX into cluster resource groups so that they can be highly available. You can define resource group policies and attributes that dictate how PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX manages resources to keep them highly available at different stages of cluster operation (startup, failover, and fallback). You can put the following types of resources into clustered resource groups.

Volume groups: A set of physical volumes that AIX treats as a contiguous, addressable disk region.
Logical volumes: A set of logical partitions that AIX makes available as a single storage unit. The logical volume is the logical view of a physical disk.
File system: A file system is written to a single logical volume. Typically, you organize a set of files as a file system for convenience and speed in managing data.
Shared file systems: A journaled file system that is entirely in a shared logical volume.
Applications: Critical services that are accessible to users.
Service IP labels or addresses: A way to establish communication between client nodes and the server node. Services, such as a database application, are provided by using the connection mode over the service IP label.
Tape resources: You can configure a SCSI or a Fibre Channel tape drive as a cluster resource in a non-concurrent resource group, making it highly available to two nodes in a cluster.
Communication links: You can define communication links as resources in a PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX resource group.

Planning for PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX support

With PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX, you can use the following types of configurations:

PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX with cluster resources groups that are nonconcurrent. Concurrent cluster resource groups are not supported.
The following volume groups in a PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX environment:
- Standard volume groups
- Enhanced concurrent-mode volume groups
- Scalable volume groups

When you create an IBM Spectrum Control configuration, include the Storage Resource agent. A Storage Resource agent must be installed on each node of the cluster. All agents in a cluster must be configured to use the same listening port. You must also have a cluster resource group (CRG) with at least one IP address that is accessible from the IBM Spectrum Control server if you plan to run scans on the cluster resource group. Each Storage Resource agent collects information about the local node and the clustered resources that are currently hosted on the node.

The following operations are not supported.

Probing and scanning of clustered databases
Reporting on cluster information when the cluster is configured to have concurrent cluster resource groups

Note:

Cluster resource group scanning is only supported by the IBM Spectrum Control Advanced Edition license.
If the Storage Resource agent port is behind a firewall, that port must be opened for all virtual server and cluster resource group addresses.

Reports

The asset reporting navigation tree includes a By Cluster report that shows the nodes and cluster resource groups in each cluster. The disks, volume groups, and file systems that are shared as clustered resources are associated with the cluster resource group and not with the node where they are hosted.

When generating reports, you can use the By Cluster report subtype wherever the By Computer subtype is available. The By Cluster report summarizes the results of the nodes and the cluster resource groups in the cluster.

Monitoring groups

When you create a monitoring group or create a data collection schedule, you can select individual nodes and cluster resource groups. You can create a file system monitoring group that includes clustered and non-clustered resources.

Computer alerts

You can register for cluster-specific alerts that notify you that your cluster went through a configuration change. A cluster resource that is being added or removed is an example of such changes. You can also register for an alert that is triggered when a cluster resource group is moved. The same alert is used for a cluster resource group failover, cluster resource group fallback, and when the cluster resource group is manually moved to a new node.

Cluster alerts will not be triggered until the next time the cluster is probed.

Installing PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX support

To install PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX support, complete the following steps:

Ensure that your PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX environment is configured for IBM Spectrum Control support.
Create a service IP label for the CRG with an IP address that can be contacted from the IBM Spectrum Control server.
Install a Storage Resource agent on each node of the cluster. All agents in the cluster must be configured to use the same listening port.
Run a discovery job for the agent.
Run a probe job on the agents.
Run a scan job on the agents.
Run a scan job on the cluster resource groups.
View reports for the PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX entities.
View the PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX environment in the topology viewer.