HP XP Cluster Extension Software Administrator Guide

3 XP Cluster Extension and CLI
XP Cluster Extension allows integration into almost any cluster software for commercial Windows
operating systems. Use the clxrun command to check proper functionality of XP Cluster Extension
prior to integration with the cluster software.
The CLI also allows integration of the Continuous Access software. For information on supported
platforms, see the HP SPOCK website: http://www.hp.com/storage/spock.
Configuring the CLI
Using the XP Cluster Extension CLI requires the following configuration steps:
1. Create the Continuous Access environment.
2. Create the RAID Manager configuration file.
3. Configure command device authentication.
When the XP Cluster Extension CLI is used with virtual command device and/or command
device authentication enabled, use the XP Cluster Extension configuration tool CLI to configure
the authentication credentials.
For instructions, see “Defining XP Cluster Extension configuration information using the CLI”
(page 15).
4. Create and configure the user configuration file.
Creating the Continuous Access environment and configuring RAID Manager
HP support personnel are trained and authorized to set up the Continuous Access software. You
can, however, configure and change the disk pairs and RAID Manager instances using LUN
Manager, Command View XP, XP Remote Web Console, XP Remote Web Console, Command
View Advanced Edition, and RAID Manager.
Timing considerations
XP Cluster Extension is designed to prioritize disk array operations over application service startup
operations. If XP Cluster Extension invokes disk pair resynchronization operations or gathers
information about the remote disk array, XP Cluster Extension waits until the requested status
information is reported. This prioritizes data integrity over application service startup and failover
behavior.
Because the takeover timing depends on the configuration of your RAID Manager environment
and the settings in UCF.cfg, these considerations must be evaluated:
• XP Cluster Extension uses RAID Manager instances to communicate with the remote disk array.
Depending on the settings of the RAID Manager instance timeout parameter and the number
of remote instances, the online operation could time out. This can also happen if clxrun is
used in a script or called by another program and the local RAID Manager instance cannot
reach the remote RAID Manager instance. See “Setting up RAID Manager” (page 9) for
more information.
• If the ApplicationStartup attribute is set to RESYNCWAIT, XP Cluster Extension tries to
resynchronize disk pairs and waits until the RAID Manager device/copy group is in PAIR
state. In some versions of RAID Manager and the array microcode, a full resynchronization
is done. Depending on the amount of data to be transferred, it could take hours to
Configuring the CLI 39