Personal Computer User Manual

Upgrading to a Cluster Configuration A-1
Appendix A
Upgrading to a Cluster Configuration
T
his appendix provides instructions for upgrading your
noncluster system to a PowerEdge Cluster if components
of the cluster hardware are already present. To properly
upgrade your system to a PowerEdge Cluster, you must
ensure that your existing hardware components meet the
minimum configuration required for clustering and
acquire the additional hardware and software clustering
components as needed.
NOTES: Dell certifies only PowerEdge Cluster systems
that are configured with the Dell products described
in this Installation and Troubleshooting Guide (see
Chapter 1 for a description of the PowerEdge Cluster
components).
Dell also supports only the certification of Dell Power-
Edge Cluster systems that are configured according to
the instructions provided in this guide. Configurations
using non-Dell products, such as server systems, rack
cabinets, and storage systems, have not been approved by
any safety agencies. It is the responsibility of the cus-
tomer to have such systems evaluated for suitability by a
certified safety agency.
After installing the necessary upgrade hardware, such as
redundant array of inexpensive disk (RAID) controllers
and network interface controllers (NICs), you can begin
to set up and cable the system hardware. When the cluster
hardware has been set up, firmware for the Dell Power-
Edge 4200 systems and the PowerEdge Scalable Disk
System 100 (SDS 100) storage system(s) must be
updated for clustering functionality. The final phase of a
PowerEdge Cluster upgrade is the installation and con-
figuration of the Windows NT Server Enterprise Edition
operating system and Cluster Server software.
C
hecking Your Existing
Hardware
Before you can upgrade your system, you must ensure
that your existing hardware meets the minimum configu-
ration requirements for the Dell PowerEdge Cluster. See
Chapter 1, “Getting Started,” for a list of the components
and minimum system configuration required for the
PowerEdge Cluster. Contact Dell for information on
acquiring the related hardware components and customer
kits that you need for the upgrade.
Chapter 1 also provides an overview of the cluster instal-
lation procedure. Refer to this chapter for the proper
order of installation steps.
A
dding Expansion Cards for a
Cluster Upgrade
The cluster-enabled PowerEdge Expandable RAID Con-
troller for the shared storage subsystem must be placed in
Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) slot 7 of your
PowerEdge server. If you have a second shared storage
subsystem and plan to use a second cluster-enabled
PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller, install that
RAID controller in PCI slot 5. Thus, two cluster-enabled
RAID controllers in a cluster node occupy PCI slot 7 for
the first cluster-enabled RAID controller and slot 5 for
the second cluster-enabled RAID controller.
After the cluster-enabled RAID controller(s) are
installed, you must disable the basic input/output system
(BIOS) for these controllers. See the “Disabling a RAID
Controller BIOS” in Chapter 3 for instructions.