Configuration Example for a Shared File System on an Oracle Solaris OS Platform

The following figure illustrates a shared file system configuration in an archiving environment.

Figure 3-1 Shared File System Configuration

This figure shows four network attached hosts: titan, tethys, dione, and mimas. The tethys, dione, and mimas hosts are clients, and titan is the current metadata server. The tethys host is a potential metadata server.

The archive media consist of a network-attached library and tape drives that are fibre-attached to titan and tethys. In addition, the archive media catalog resides in a file system that is mounted on the current metadata server, titan.

Metadata travels to and from the clients to the metadata server over the network. The metadata server makes all modifications to the namespace, thereby keeping the metadata consistent. The metadata server also provides the locking capability, the block allocation, and the block deallocation.

Several metadata disks are connected to titan and tethys and can be accessed only by the potential metadata servers. If titan were unavailable, you could change the metadata server to tethys, and the library, tape drives, and catalog could be accessed by tethys as part of the StorageTek QFS shared file system. The data disks are connected to all four hosts by a Fibre Channel (FC) connection.

How to Configure the Shared File System

1. Issue the format command and examine its output.

   Make sure that the metadata disk partitions configured for the shared file system mount point are connected to the potential metadata servers. Also make sure that the data disk partitions configured for the shared file system are connected to the potential metadata servers and to all the client hosts in this file system.

   If your host supports multipath I/O drivers, individual devices shown in the output of the format command might display multiple controllers. These correspond to the multiple paths to the actual devices.

   The following code example shows the format command output for titan. There is one metadata disk on controller 2, and three data disks on controller 3.

   # titan<28>format
   Searching for disks...done
   
   
   AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS:
          0. c1t0d0 <SUN36G cyl 24620 alt 2 hd 27 sec 107>
             /pci@8,600000/SUNW,qlc@4/fp@0,0/ssd@w2100002037e9c296,0
          1. c2t2100002037E2C5DAd0 <SUN36G cyl 24620 alt 2 hd 27 sec 107>
             /pci@8,600000/SUNW,qlc@4/fp@0,0/ssd@w2100002037e9c296,0
          2. c2t50020F23000065EEd0 <SUN-T300-0116 cyl 34901 alt 2 hd 128 sec 256>
             /pci@8,600000/SUNW,qlc@4/fp@0,0/ssd@w50020f23000065ee,0
          3. c3t50020F2300005D22d0 <SUN-T300-0116 cyl 34901 alt 2 hd 128 sec 256>
             /pci@8,600000/SUNW,qlc@1/fp@0,0/ssd@w50020f2300005d22,0
          4. c3t50020F2300006099d0 <SUN-T300-0116 cyl 34901 alt 2 hd 128 sec 256>
             /pci@8,600000/SUNW,qlc@1/fp@0,0/ssd@w50020f2300006099,0
          5. c3t50020F230000651Cd0 <SUN-T300-0116 cyl 34901 alt 2 hd 128 sec 256>
             /pci@8,600000/SUNW,qlc@1/fp@0,0/ssd@w50020f230000651c,0

   The following code example shows the format command output for tethys. There is one metadata disk on controller 2, and four data disks on controller 7.

   # tethys<1>format
   Searching for disks...done
   
   
   AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS:
          0. c0t1d0 <IBM-DNES-318350Y-SA60 cyl 11112 alt 2 hd 10 sec 320>
             /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3/sd@1,0
          1. c2t2100002037E9C296d0 <SUN36G cyl 24620 alt 2 hd 27 sec 107>
             /pci@8,600000/SUNW,qlc@4/fp@0,0/ssd@w2100002037e9c296,0
          2. c2t50020F23000065EEd0 <SUN-T300-0116 cyl 34901 alt 2 hd 128 sec 256>
             /pci@1f,4000/SUNW,qlc@4/ssd@w50020f23000065ee,0
          3. c7t50020F2300005D22d0 <SUN-T300-0116 cyl 34901 alt 2 hd 128 sec 256>
             /pci@1f,4000/SUNW,qlc@5/ssd@w50020f2300005d22,0
          4. c7t50020F2300006099d0 <SUN-T300-0116 cyl 34901 alt 2 hd 128 sec 256>
             /pci@1f,4000/SUNW,qlc@5/ssd@w50020f2300006099,0
          5. c7t50020F230000651Cd0 <SUN-T300-0116 cyl 34901 alt 2 hd 128 sec 256>
             /pci@1f,4000/SUNW,qlc@5/ssd@w50020f230000651c,0

   Note the following in this code example:

   • The data disks on titan's controller 3 are the same disks as on tethys's controller 7. You can verify this by looking at the World Wide Name, which is the last component in the device name. For titan's number 3 disk, the World Wide Name is 50020f2300005d22. This is the same name as number 3 on controller 7 on tethys.

   • For titan's metadata disk, the World Wide Name is 50020F23000065EE, which is the same metadata disk as tethys's controller 2, target 0.

     The following code example shows the format command output for mimas. There are three data disks on controller 1 and no metadata disks.

     mimas<9>format
     Searching for disks...done
     
     
     AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS:
            0. c0t0d0 <SUN18G cyl 7506 alt 2 hd 19 sec 248>
               /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3/sd@0,0
            1. c1t50020F2300005D22d0 <SUN-T300-0116 cyl 34901 alt 2 hd 128 sec 256
     >          /pci@1f,4000/SUNW,qlc@4/fp@0,0/ssd@w50020f2300005d22,0
            2. c1t50020F2300006099d0 <SUN-T300-0116 cyl 34901 alt 2 hd 128 sec 256>
               /pci@1f,4000/SUNW,qlc@4/fp@0,0/ssd@w50020f2300006099,0
            3. c1t50020F230000651Cd0 <SUN-T300-0116 cyl 34901 alt 2 hd 128 sec 256>
               /pci@1f,4000/SUNW,qlc@4/fp@0,0/ssd@w50020f230000651c,0

     As shown in the code examples, the data disks on titan's controller 3 are the same disks as those on mimas's controller 1. You can verify this by looking at the World Wide Name, which is the last component in the device name.

2. Create the mcf file on the metadata server.

   The only difference between the mcf file of a shared file system and an unshared file system is the presence of the shared keyword in the Additional Parameters field of the file system name line for a shared file system.

   ---

   Note - If file systems are already operational on the shared file system's metadata server or on any of the client host systems, select a family set name and select equipment numbers that do not conflict with existing family set names or equipment numbers on any host that will be included in the shared file system.

   ---

   The following code example shows a fragment of the mcf file for titan that defines several disks for use in the shared file system. It shows the shared keyword in the Additional Parameters field on the file system name line.

   # Equipment                      Eq   Eq    Family   Dev   Addl
   # Identifier                     Ord  Type  Set      Stat  Params
   ------------                     ---  ----  ------   ----  ------
   sharefs1                         10   ma    sharefs1 on    shared
   /dev/dsk/c2t50020F23000065EEd0s6 11   mm    sharefs1 on
   /dev/dsk/c3t50020F2300005D22d0s6 12   mr    sharefs1 on
   /dev/dsk/c3t50020F2300006099d0s6 13   mr    sharefs1 on
   /dev/dsk/c3t50020F230000651Cd0s6 14   mr    sharefs1 on