HP CIFS Server 3.0b Administrator's Guide version A.02.01.01
Configuring HA HP CIFS
Overview of HA HP CIFS Server
Chapter 11232
Configure a Highly Available HP CIFS Server
Introduction
Before configuring the MC/Serviceguard packages, it is important to
understand how HP CIFS Server is able to support active-active
configurations.
The HP CIFS Server permits multiple instances of its NetBIOS and
SMB master demons.
Each CIFS Server has its own smb.conf file to define its behavior. The
NetBIOS name and IP address that the client connects to is used to
decide which smb.conf file is used for the connection. This multiple CIFS
master demon configuration allows HP CIFS to run multiple
MC/ServiceGuard packages simultaneously.
When a failover occurs, MC/ServiceGuard transfers the IP address from
the failing cluster node to another node. When MC/ServiceGuard moves
the package from the failing cluster node to the other node, it activates
the appropriate CIFS Server on a remaining node. With the IP address
switched, all the traffic that was going to the failed node now goes to the
other active node. The key is to have a CIFS Server configured to look
and act just like the CIFS Server that was running on the original node.
Load balancing between systems while all systems are up can be
achieved by having the CIFS shares accessible only through certain
CIFS Server names (NetBIOS names). Keep this in mind when you
associate the CIFS shares and directories with logical volumes during
server configuration.
Instructions
The following instructions are for one of the MC/ServiceGuard package.
You will have to go through these steps for each CIFS server package
(one for each node). You will then need to copy all the files to all nodes in
your cluster.
When complete, each HPUX system will have a package using the
NetBIOS name for each node in the cluster, though only the package
with its own NetBIOS name will be active until a failover occurs.
For example, if you have a three node cluster, you will have three
packages on each of the three HPUX systems.
There will be three cluster directories: