VCEM Profile Failover and Profile Moves White Paper

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Important notes concerning hardware compatibility
VCEM profile failover is built on the concept of VC Domain Groups. VC Domain Groups
ensure that a VC server profile running within them will have access to the same IP and SAN
networks, regardless of what VC Domain they currently reside in. However, within any
given VC Domain Group, the HP BladeSystem servers may not be interchangeable. A VC
Domain Group can include servers which have different processor types and memory
configurations. Servers may also be equipped with different mezzanine cards, potentially
providing different LAN and SAN connectivity.
Other differences between source and target servers may impact the operation of the
operating system or applications after a move. When moving an image-based Matrix OE
logical server on to a blade server, HP recommends the following:
• Run the latest versions of firmware on each source and target system component,
particularly system ROM, iLO, and HBA firmware.
• Include drivers in each system image for all mezzanine cards on each system. Mezzanine
cards on the target server which are not on the source server can interfere with a boot
process by causing the OS to prompt for the installation of different drivers. Mezzanine
cards should be in the same slot for both the source and target systems.
• Standardize hardware configurations as much as possible. Subtle differences in system
hardware which are not reflected in the model or version number, such as changes within
network interface cards or HBAs, can interfere with a boot process by requiring different
drivers or configuration changes.
For maximum portability, some datacenter architects choose to configure each server blade
in the enterprise according to a single specification chosen to accommodate the demands of
most application workloads. The architect can then test likely profile moves before putting
the systems into production. HP recommends testing your workload on all target hardware
platforms prior to production deployment.
Installation and configuration checklist
This section covers what is installed and configured in advance of running VCEM.
All installations
All items must be installed and configured as described in the HP Virtual Connect Enterprise
Manager User Guide. See chapters 2 Installing and Configuring VCEM, and 3 Managing
VC Domains for specific information.
Pre-failover installation and configuration checklist
Installation and configuration requirements for profile failover depend on which methods of
initiation you wish to use. If you wish to use all methods of initiating failover, configuration
items 2 through 7 must be implemented.
Table 1. Profile failover configuration support and requirements by initiation method
Configuration item
Method of failover initiation
GUI
CLI: VCEM –failover –host
HP SIM