IBM Tivoli Storage Manager, Version 7.1

Microsoft Failover Cluster environment overview

With a Microsoft Failover Cluster Manager, you can place Tivoli® Storage Manager server cluster resources into a cluster group. The Tivoli Storage Manager cluster group has a network name, an IP address, one or more physical disks, a DB2 server, and a Tivoli Storage Manager server service.

The Tivoli Storage Manager instance network name is independent of the name of the physical node on which the Tivoli Storage Manager cluster group runs and migrates from node to node. Clients connect to a Tivoli Storage Manager server by using the Tivoli Storage Manager instance network name, rather than the Windows node name. The Tivoli Storage Manager instance network name maps to a primary or backup node. The mapping is dependent on which node owns the Tivoli Storage Manager cluster group. Any client that uses Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) or directory services to locate servers can automatically track the Tivoli Storage Manager clustered server as it moves between nodes. You can automatically track the Tivoli Storage Manager clustered server without modifying or reconfiguring the client.

Each Tivoli Storage Manager cluster group has its own disk as part of a cluster resource group. Tivoli Storage Manager cluster groups cannot share data between the cluster groups. Each Tivoli Storage Manager server that is configured in a Tivoli Storage Manager cluster group has its database, active logs, recovery logs, and set of storage pool volumes on a separate disk owned by that Tivoli Storage Manager cluster group.

Note: Microsoft Failover Cluster Manager only supports an IP address as a resource. This means that any Tivoli Storage Manager server that runs on a cluster must limit its supported communication method to just TCP/IP. Any client that does not use TCP/IP as a communication method is not able to reach the Tivoli Storage Manager cluster group if it fails over to the other cluster node.

The following example demonstrates the way that a Microsoft Failover Cluster Manager for a Tivoli Storage Manager cluster server works.

Assume that a clustered Tivoli Storage Manager server that is named JUPITER is running on Node Z and a clustered Tivoli Storage Manager server that is named SATURN is running on Node X. Clients connect to the Tivoli Storage Manager server JUPITER and the Tivoli Storage Manager server SATURN without knowing which node hosts their server.

Figure 1. Clustering with JUPITER as Node Z and SATURN as Node X

When one of the software or hardware resources fails, failover occurs. Resources (for example: applications, disks, and an IP address) migrate from the failed node to the remaining node. The remaining node:

Takes over the Tivoli Storage Manager cluster group
Brings the disk resources, the network resources, and the DB2 resource online
Restarts the Tivoli Storage Manager service
Provides access to administrators and clients

If Node X fails, Node Z assumes the role of running SATURN. To a client, it is exactly as if Node X were turned off and immediately turned back on again. Clients experience the loss of all connections to SATURN and all active transactions are rolled back to the client. Clients must reconnect to SATURN after the connection is lost. The location of SATURN is not apparent to the client.

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