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Sun Cluster System Administration Guide for Solaris OS

Preparing to Administer the Cluster

This section describes what to do to prepare for administering your cluster.

Documenting a Sun Cluster Hardware Configuration

Document the hardware aspects that are unique to your site as your Sun Cluster configuration is scaled. To save administration labor, 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 In to the Cluster Remotely. For instructions on installing the Cluster Control Panel module for Sun Management Center and Sun Cluster Manager GUI tools, see the Sun Cluster Software Installation Guide for Solaris OS.

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.

If your SPARC cluster consists of a Sun EnterpriseTM 10000 server, you must log in from the administrative console to the System Service Processor (SSP). Connect by using the netcon command. The default method for netcon to connect with a Sun Enterprise 10000 domain is through the network interface. If the network is inaccessible, you can use netcon in “exclusive” mode by setting the -f option. You can also send ~* during a normal netcon session. Either of the previous solutions gives you the option of toggling to the serial interface if the network becomes unreachable.

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

Backing Up the Cluster

Back up your cluster on a regular basis. Even though Sun Cluster software provides a highly available environment, with mirrored copies of data on the storage devices, Sun Cluster software is not a replacement for regular backups. A Sun 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.