HP 3PAR StoreServ Cluster Extension Software Administrator Guide (5697-2894, December 2013)

1 HP 3PAR StoreServ Cluster Extension features
HP 3PAR StoreServ Cluster Extension offers protection against application downtime due to a fault,
failure, or site disaster by extending a local cluster between data centers over metropolitan distance.
HP 3PAR StoreServ Cluster Extension reinstates critical applications at a remote site within minutes
of an adverse event, integrating your open-system clustering software and HP 3PAR Remote Copy
to automate failover and failback between sites. This dual integration enables the cluster software
to verify the status of the storage and the server cluster. The cluster software can then make correct
failover and failback decisions, thus minimizing downtime and accelerating recovery.
Integration into cluster software (Graphical User Interface)
HP 3PAR StoreServ Cluster Extension Software provides tight integration with the cluster software
and is managed as a resource of the clustered application service (like a disk or IP address).
HP 3PAR StoreServ Cluster Extension integrates with Microsoft Failover Cluster (MSFC).
For supported cluster software versions, see the HP SPOCK website: http://www.hp.com/storage/
spock.
HP 3PAR StoreServ Cluster Extension can be configured using the Failover Cluster Management
GUI. HP 3PAR StoreServ Cluster Extension offers full integration into the GUI so that you can easily
set and change resource values.
CLI for easy integration
HP 3PAR StoreServ Cluster Extension provides a CLI to enable disaster tolerant environments if no
cluster software is available for your operating system or if you want to integrate HP 3PAR Remote
Copy with your choice of cluster software. This feature is useful if you use custom software to
migrate application services from one system to another or if you want HP 3PAR StoreServ Cluster
Extension to check the Remote Copy volume group member states to ensure that you can
automatically start your application service on the local storage system. For detailed information,
see “CLI commands and utilities” (page 62).
Disaster tolerance through geographical dispersion
Using two or more storage systems, HP 3PAR Remote Copy feature copies data to a remote data
center. Cluster solutions using HP 3PAR Remote Copy disk mirroring are called metropolitan clusters
or geographically dispersed clusters. In this arrangement, a server is a member of the same cluster
dispersed over two or more sites. In such clusters, the server is relieved from writing any I/O request
to the disk more than one time because the storage system controls the replication process (see
Figure 1 (page 7)).
6 HP 3PAR StoreServ Cluster Extension features