HP Serviceguard Version A.11.18 Release Notes, September 2008

For more information about mixed-hardware-architecture clusters, see Configuration
Rules for a Mixed HP 9000 /Integrity Serviceguard Cluster at http://www.docs.hp.com
-> High Availability -> Serviceguard —> White Papers.
Mixed HP-UX Operating-System Revisions
Before A.11.18, Serviceguard required all nodes in a cluster to be running the same
HP-UX revision, except during a rolling upgrade. Serviceguard A.11.18 allows a cluster
to contain a mix of nodes running HP-UX 11i v2 and 11i v3, with certain restrictions.
Future versions of Serviceguard may or may not support such a mix of HP-UX 11i v2
and 11i v3 nodes.
For the purposes of this discussion we'll identify three broad cases: homogeneous
clusters, clusters in transition, and heterogeneous clusters.
NOTE: In all three cases, the discussion refers to mixing HP-UX versions 11i v2 and
11i v3. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, “version” in this subsection means HP-UX
version, not Serviceguard version.
• Homogeneous cluster refers to a cluster that is not being upgraded, and which
has no need to include nodes running different major versions of HP-UX. See “HP
Recommendation for Homogeneous Clusters” (page 68).
• Cluster in transition refers to a cluster whose HP-UX version is being upgraded
as part of a normal rolling upgrade that occurs over a relatively short period. See
“Rules and Restrictions for Clusters in Transition” (page 68).
• Heterogeneous cluster refers to a cluster that contains a mix of nodes running
HP-UX 11i v2 and 11i v3. See “Rules and Restrictions for Heterogeneous Clusters”
(page 69).
Such a cluster is either being upgraded from HP-UX 11i v2 to 11i v3 over an
extended period, or for some other reason needs to accommodate nodes running
both versions of HP-UX (for example you might have purchased a new server,
running HP-UX 11i v3, and want to add it to an existing cluster whose nodes are
running 11i v2).
HP Recommendation for Homogeneous Clusters
All nodes should be running the same major HP-UX version. Major version means a
release such as 11i v2 or 11i v3. It is acceptable to have a mix of different HP-UX Fusion
releases for the same major revision (for example, 11i v2 September 2004 and 11i v2
September 2006), although it is generally best to have all nodes running the same Fusion
release at the same patch level.
Rules and Restrictions for Clusters in Transition
You can upgrade a cluster from HP-UX 11i v2 to 11i v3 as part of a rolling upgrade. A
rolling upgrade includes upgrading to a new version of Serviceguard. Rules, guidelines,
68 Serviceguard Version A.11.18 Release Notes