3.6.0 MxFS for CIFS Administration Guide (5697-7082, December 2007)

Chapter 4: Configure MxFS for CIFS with Virtual CIFS Servers 21

Configuration Steps

Perform the configuration in this order:

• Create PSFS cluster filesystems to store the files that will be shared via

CIFS. For each filesystem, you will need to assign a drive letter or path

that will be used to access the filesystem. See the PolyServe Matrix

Server Administration Guide for details about creating and configuring

filesystems.

• Create a Virtual CIFS Server, specifying a primary node. Depending

on your configuration, you may also want to specify one or more

backup nodes for this Virtual CIFS Server.

• Add Virtual File Shares to the virtual server. Be sure to create the

Virtual File Shares on the PolyServe Management Console; you should

not use Windows applications such as Explorer to do this.

When you plan your configuration, keep in mind that all Virtual File

Shares added to a particular Virtual CIFS Server are active on the node

where the Virtual CIFS Server is active. Similarly, when the Virtual CIFS

Server fails over, those Virtual File Shares become active on the backup

node and will be accessed from there.

You may want to create multiple Virtual CIFS Servers to spread the CIFS

activity across the matrix, taking advantage of the scalability of the

PolyServe solution. Remember, a node can simultaneously be primary for

some Virtual CIFS Servers and a backup for other Virtual CIFS Servers.

DNS Requirement for Virtual CIFS Servers

A DNS entry must exist for each Virtual CIFS Server/IP address. The

entry must include an A record and a [PTR] record for forward and

reverse lookup. Windows authentication may fail if these records do not

exist. Be sure to create a DNS entry for each Virtual CIFS Server/IP

address that you create.