“Sun Fire Link Administration Overview” Section (Sun Management Center 3.5 Update 1 Release Notes)

Sun Management Center 3.5 Update 1 Release Notes

“Sun Fire Link Administration Overview” Section

The following section, “Guidelines for Configuring Clusters With Sun Fire Link 1.1 Software,” was omitted from Chapter 1, at the end of the section entitled, “Sun Fire Link Administration Overview.” This additional information is important to understand and consider when configuring clusters with Sun Fire Link (SFL) 1.1 software.

Guidelines for Configuring Clusters With Sun Fire Link 1.1 Software

Managing Cluster Configurations

Use a consistent method for managing cluster configurations. If you use the Sun Management Center 3.5 graphical user interface (GUI) to configure a cluster, you should continue using the GUI for any subsequent changes that you make to the cluster's configuration. Do not use the Fabric Manager command-line interface (CLI) to change the configuration data for a cluster that was created using the GUI.

Likewise, use the Fabric Manager CLI to change the contents of a cluster that was originally configured using the same interface. This consistency ensures that link mapping remains consistent over the life of the cluster.

Note –
You can monitor a cluster's state by using either the Sun Management Center 3.5 GUI or the Fabric Manager CLI, regardless of which method was used to configure the cluster.
Using an Extensible Markup Language (XML) File to Apply Multiple Changes to a Fabric Might Result in Out-of-Sync Configuration Data

If you use an XML file to apply multiple configuration changes to an existing fabric, any error in the XML file causes the reconfiguration to fail. One or more nodes might have data that are out of sync with the new configuration. This failure also happens if a hardware component that is required by the new configuration is faulty at the time the reconfiguration is attempted.

There are two ways to restore configuration consistency on the nodes:
- If there was an error in the XML file, edit the file to correct the error. Reconfigure the fabric using the corrected file. If a hardware component was faulty, replace the component. Reconfigure the fabric using the XML file.
- Remove the section of the XML file that produces the error and reconfigure the fabric using the modified XML file.
In either case, a reconfiguration using a valid XML file and functioning hardware corrects any data inconsistencies that might have been introduced by the previous reconfiguration failure.
Mixed Clusters Require That Sun Fire Link 1.1 Software Be Installed on the Fabric Manager Server and on All Nodes

If you want to configure a cluster that contains a combination of Sun Fire 6800 and Sun Fire High-End systems, you must have Sun Fire Link 1.1 software installed on the FM server, as well as on all nodes in the cluster. Clusters containing both Sun Fire 6800 and Sun Fire High-End nodes were not supported by Sun Fire Link 1.0 software.