Preparing to Administer the Cluster

This section describes how to prepare to administer your cluster.

Documenting an Oracle Solaris Cluster Hardware Configuration

Document the hardware aspects that are unique to your site as your Oracle Solaris Cluster configuration is scaled. To reduce administration, refer to your hardware documentation when you change or upgrade the cluster. Labeling cables and connections between the various cluster components can also make administration easier.

Reduce the time required by a third-party service provider when servicing your cluster by keeping records of your original cluster configuration, and subsequent changes.

Using an Administrative Console

You can use either a dedicated workstation or a workstation connected through a management network as the administrative console, to administer the active cluster. Typically, you install and run the Cluster Control Panel (CCP) and graphical user interface (GUI) tools on the administrative console. For more information about the CCP, see How to Log Into the Cluster Remotely. For instructions on installing the Cluster Control Panel module and Oracle Solaris Cluster Manager GUI tools, see the Oracle Solaris Cluster Software Installation Guide.

The administrative console is not a cluster node. The administrative console is used for remote access to the cluster nodes, either over the public network or through a network-based terminal concentrator.

Oracle Solaris Cluster does not require a dedicated administrative console, but using a console provides the following benefits:

• Enables centralized cluster management by grouping console and management tools on the same machine

• Provides potentially quicker problem resolution by Enterprise Services or your service provider

Backing Up the Cluster

Back up your cluster on a regular basis. Even though Oracle Solaris Cluster software provides a highly available environment, with mirrored copies of data on the storage devices, Oracle Solaris Cluster software is not a replacement for regular backups. An Oracle Solaris Cluster configuration can survive multiple failures, but does not protect against user or program error, or catastrophic failure. Therefore, you must have a backup procedure in place to protect against data loss.

The following information should be included as part of your backup.

• All file system partitions

• All database data if you are running DBMS data services

• Disk partition information for all cluster disks