4.0.0 HP Polyserve Matrix Server Administration Guide (T5392-96052, March 2010)

3 Cluster administration
Matrix Server can be administered either with the Management Console or from the
command line.
Administrative considerations and restrictions
You should be aware of the following when managing Matrix Server.
Network hostname resolution
Normal operation of the matrix depends on a reliable network hostname resolution
service. If the hostname lookup facility becomes unreliable, this can cause reliability
problems for the running matrix. Therefore, you should ensure that your hostname
lookup services are configured to provide highly reliable lookups, particularly for the
hostnames that are critical to matrix operation.
These critical hostnames include the hostnames of all servers in the matrix and the
hostnames of all FibreChannel switches used with the matrix. For best reliability, add
these hostnames to the hosts file (%SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\etc\
hosts) on each node in the matrix. When using the hosts file, you should be aware
of the following caveats:
• There must be a blank line at the end of the file (see Microsoft Knowledge Base
article 105998).
• If one of these hostnames has already been referenced unsuccessfully, the DNS
resolver cache may need to be flushed with “ipconfig /flushdns” (see Microsoft
Knowledge Base article 320845).
• Certain Microsoft Knowledge Base articles caution that in the case of Exchange
SMTP, and possibly other applications, the use of the hosts file can interfere
with mail flow (see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 296215).
• Although using the hosts file provides immunity to DNS problems, it must be
manually updated on each node. For example, if an IP address changes, all of
the hosts files must be updated. Mismatches between DNS and hosts files
(such as typos or missing nodes) can lead to confusing problems.
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