4.0.0 HP PolyServe Software for Windows File Serving administration guide (T5392-96047, March 2010)

Virtual CIFS Server to one of the backup servers, where it will continue to provide
access to the same PSFS filesystem data under the same name/IP-address pair.
This deployment method works well with clients running modern Windows operating
systems such as Windows XP and Windows 2003. To take advantage of the
transparent failover feature, clients must connect to the Virtual CIFS Server using
either the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) or the IP address. This helps avoid
conflicts with legacy (NetBIOS) network-name resolution methods. If NetBIOS name
resolution is a requirement, then the Matrix File Share deployment method should be
used instead.
Matrix File Shares
Matrix File Shares are Windows CIFS shares associated with a Matrix Server
filesystem health monitor. Clients connect to Matrix File Shares using the network
name or IP address of any physical (rather than virtual) server in the cluster. Each
node in the cluster provides access to the same PSFS filesystems through its Matrix
File Shares.
For high availability, Matrix File Shares are designed to be deployed with a
connection-oriented load balancer such as the Microsoft Distributed File System (DFS).
When deployed with a DFS front end, client connection requests to a single network
name (provided by DFS) will be evenly distributed among the nodes in the cluster.
On failure of a node, DFS will detect the loss of network connectivity and route new
connection and re-connection requests to the remaining nodes in the cluster.
If a node in the cluster loses access to the PSFS filesystem (for example, because of
a SAN problem) but it is otherwise healthy, the Matrix File Share monitor will tear
down the associated CIFS share to prevent future connection and re-connection
requests from being directed to a node that has lost access to the underlying shared
filesystem. When the node regains access to the shared filesystem, the Matrix File
Share monitor automatically recreates the CIFS share and the node then starts handling
requests.
HP PolyServe Software and legacy client operating
systems
Several legacy client operating systems do not support the modern networking
infrastructure required to connect to a virtualized network connection such as that
provided by the Virtual CIFS Server. These operating systems include Windows NT4,
Windows ME, Windows 98, Windows 95, Windows 3.1, DOS, MAC SMB client,
and some Linux versions. To support connectivity with these legacy clients, HP
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