HP Storage Mirroring V5.1 User Manual

Full-Server Failover

User’s Guide

Twelfth Edition (March 2009)

Part Number: T2558-96328

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HP StorageWorks Storage Mirroring Full-Server Failover User’s Guide

Twelfth Edition (March 2009)

Part Number: T2558-96328

Double-Take, GeoCluster, Double-Take for Virtual Systems, TimeData, netBoot/i, winBoot/i, Double-Take Cargo, sanFly, Livewire, NSI, Balance, DoubleTake ShadowCaster, and associated logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of Double-Take Software, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction .........................................................1-1

Full-Server Failover .......................................................................... 1-1

Resources ......................................................................................... 1-2

Conventions used in this guide ......................................................... 1-2

Chapter 2 Installation ...........................................................2-1

System requirements ........................................................................ 2-1

Installing or upgrading Full-Server Failover ..................................... 2-3

Uninstalling Full-Server Failover ....................................................... 2-5

Chapter 3 Clients ..................................................................3-1

Configuring Full-Server Failover Manager options ............................ 3-2

Saving and reusing configuration options ......................................... 3-2

Chapter 4 Finding a Compatible Target .................................4-1

Chapter 5 Establishing Server Protection ..............................5-1

Configuring optional settings ............................................................ 5-3

Chapter 6 Monitoring Failover ..............................................6-1

Monitoring failover ........................................................................... 6-1

Viewing the log ................................................................................. 6-1

Chapter 7 Initiating Failover .................................................7-1

Starting failover using Full-Server Failover Manager ........................ 7-1

Starting failover from a command line .............................................. 7-3

Chapter 8 Performing Failback ..............................................8-1

Chapter 9 Managing Snapshots .............................................9-1

Chapter 10 Using Firewalls .................................................10-1

Full-Server Failover ports ............................................................... 10-1

Microsoft Windows ports ................................................................ 10-1

Hardware ports ............................................................................... 10-1

Introduction

Source Data

Source

Target

Storage Mirroring

Mirroring and Replication

Source

Source System

Source

Source Server

Applications

Operating System

Configuration

Storage Mirroring mirroring and

replication technology keeps the target

up-to-date with any changes

that occur on the source.

State

After failover and a target

Target

Source

Source Data

Source

Source System

Source

Source Server

Applications

Operating System

Configuration

Source

State

reboot, the target is replaced

with the source, including

its system state.

Welcome to Storage Mirroring Full-Server Failover! This manual is for users who want to provide high availability for their entire server.

This chapter includes a Full-Server Failover overview, a list of resources available to you while using Full-Server Failover, and a list of conventions used throughout this manual.

Full-Server Failover

The Storage Mirroring Full-Server Failover feature provides high availability for an entire server, including the system state, which is the server’s configured operating system and applications. Using Full-Server Failover Manager, you identify your source, which is the server you want to protect, and your target, which is the server that will stand-in for the source in the event the source fails. Once the two servers are selected and their configurations validated, Full-Server Failover monitors the source for a failure. When it fails, Full-Server Failover allows the target to stand-in for the source by rebooting and applying the source, including its system state, on the target. After the reboot, the target becomes the source, and the target no longer exists.

Full-Server Failover is installed with Storage Mirroring and is activated with your Storage Mirroring activation code.

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Resources

You have many resources available to you when using Full-Server Failover.

 Operating System and application documentation—Make sure that you have complete

documentation for your operating system and your applications.

 Storage Mirroring documentation—All Storage Mirroring products include documentation.

Manuals are available on the product CD (in the \docs subdirectories of each set of program installation files) and in the installation directory you selected during the installation. The manuals are in Adobe

Acrobat® PDF format. If needed, you can install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader®

by downloading the latest version from the Adobe web site at www.adobe.com.

 Storage Mirroring Online Help—Some of the consoles contain online help which can be

accessed by pressing the F1 key, clicking the Help button on screens where it is available, or selecting Help, Help Topics.

 Readme—All Storage Mirroring products include a readme file containing last-minute

information. Readme files are available on the product CD (in the \docs subdirectories of each set of program installation files) and in the installation directory you selected during the installation. The readme files are in HTML format and can be viewed using any HTML browser.

Conventions used in this guide

The following conventions are used throughout this guide:

 Bold is used for items you click or select with the mouse, such as menu names and items, dialog

box options, or button names. For example, when you see

File menu and then choose Options from the pull-down menu.

 Blue italics is used for cross-references to other sections or chapters in this guide.  Code text is used to indicate text that is displayed on-screen exactly as shown (such as screen

messages or error messages) and text that should be entered exactly as shown.

File, Options, you should select the

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Installation

Before installing Full-Server Failover, verify that your source and target meet the system requirements. Then proceed with Installing

or upgrading Full-Server Failover on page 2-3.

System requirements

Each server that will be used as a Full-Server Failover source or target should meet the following system requirements.

NOTE: These requirements are high-level requirements that each server must meet to run the

Full-Server Failover program. A target server may meet these requirements but may not be suitable to stand-in for a source in the event of a source failure. See Finding a

Compatible Target on page 4-1 for additional information regarding an appropriate

target server for your source.

 Operating System and Licensing—There are different Storage Mirroring licenses depending on

the operating system you are using. Be sure you have the correct license for your operating system. Each of the Windows 2003 operating systems listed in the chart require Service Pack 1 or later.

License Operating Systems

NAS

 Windows Small Business Server 2008  Windows Small Business Server 2003 or 2003 R2

Server Edition

 Windows Server 2008 Standard or Web Edition  Windows Server 2003 or 2003 R2 Standard, Web, or Standard

x64 Edition

Advanced Edition

 Windows Server 2008 Enterpriseor HPC Edition  Windows Server 2003 or 2003 R2 Enterprise or Enterprise x64

Edition

 Any valid operating system which can be used with a Storage

Mirroring Server Edition license

Virtual Machines Edition These operating systems are for the guest operating system. The

host can be any operating system.

 Windows 2008 Enterprise, Standard, or Web Edition  Windows 2003 or 2003 R2 Enterprise, Standard, or Web Edition

a. You will need to check with your NAS vendor to verify if there are technical or license

restrictions on failing over an image of a server to different hardware.

NOTE: Microsoft Server Core is also supported for a Server Core to Server Core

configuration, however you will be unable to launch the installation automatically. You can run the setup.exe for your architecture (i386 or x64), or you can push the installation by performing an automatic installation (see the Storage Mirroring User’s

Guide) or by using the Enterprise Install Console (see the Enterprise Install Console User’s Guide).

 File System—Storage Mirroring supports the same file system formats that Microsoft supports:

FAT, FAT32, and NTFS.

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 System Memory—There are different memory requirements depending on the operating system

you are using. Be sure you have at least the minimum amount of memory for your environment. You may want to consider having at least the recommended amount of system memory.

Operating System

Any Windows 32-bit Operating

Minimum System

Memory

128 MB At least 512 MB

Recommended System

Memory

System Any Windows 64-bit Operating

512 MB At least 1024 MB

System

 Disk Usage—The amount of disk space required for the Full-Server Failover program files is

approximately 70 MB. More importantly, you need to verify that you have enough disk space on the target. See Finding a Compatible Target on page 4-1 for more details on selecting an appropriate target server.

NOTE: The program file can be installed to any volume while the Microsoft Windows Installer

files are automatically installed to the operating system boot volume.

 Server Name—Storage Mirroring includes Unicode file system support, but your server name

must still be in ASCII format. If you have the need to use a server’s fully-qualified domain name, your server cannot start with a numeric character because that will be interpreted as an IP address.

 Protocols and Networking—TCP/IP with static IP addressing is required. By default, Storage

Mirroring is configured for IPv6 and IPv4 environments, but the Storage Mirroring service will automatically check the server at service startup and modify the appropriate setting if the server is only configured for IPv4.

 Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)—Storage Mirroring is dependent on the WMI

service. If you do not use this service in your environment, contact technical support.

 Cluster support—Microsoft clusters identify disks by their disk signature, which is stored on the

physical disk in the master boot record. When Full-Server Failover is used to failover a cluster node, the disk signature of the target will be different than the source and the cluster will fail to start. Therefore, Full-Server Failover does not natively support the full-server protection of Microsoft cluster nodes. However, you can alter the disk signature on the target manually. See the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 280425 at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/280425 for details on how to change the disk signature.

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Installing or upgrading Full-Server Failover

Use these instructions to install Full-Server Failover or upgrade an existing Full-Server Failover installation. If you are using the same installation files as your existing installation, you can modify or repair the existing installation.

1. Close any open applications.

2. Start the installation program using the appropriate instructions, depending on your media

source.

 CD—Load the CD into the local CD-ROM drive. If auto-run is enabled, the installation program

will start automatically. To manually start the program, select Start, Run and specify

<cd_drive>:\autorun.exe.

 Web download—Launch the .exe file that you downloaded from the web.

3. When the installation program begins, the Storage Mirroring Setup Launcher appears. This

interface allows you to install and view documentation for various applications from HP. The listed applications will depend on which products are included on the CD or in the web download. To install Full-Server Failover, select Storage Mirroring for Windows from the list of products and then select Install Storage Mirroring for Windows.

4. Depending on your version of Windows and the components you have installed, you may see an

initial screen indicating that you should install Microsoft .NET Framework. If you do not see this screen, your server already has the appropriate version of Microsoft .NET. The best practice is to install Microsoft .NET before installing Storage Mirroring. Clicking Install will continue the installation program and give you the opportunity to install or skip the Microsoft .NET installation. Clicking Cancel will exit the installation program.

NOTE: The Microsoft .NET installation is via a web download. If your server does not have an

Internet connection, you must manually install Microsoft .NET from the Storage Mirroring CD or from a copy from the Microsoft web site.

5. Review and accept the HP license agreement to continue with the installation program. Click

Next to continue.

6. If you already have Full-Server Failover installed and you are using the same installation files,

you will be prompted to modify, repair, or remove the the existing installation. Select Modify or Repair and complete the remaining steps in the installation.

7. Select the type of installation you want to perform.

 Client and Server Components—Installs the Full-Server Failover server and client

components

 Client Components Only—Installs the Full-Server Failover client components only  Server Components Only—Installs the Full-Server Failover server components only

Select the option appropriate for your machine. You can also specify where the files will be installed.

Click Next to continue.

NOTE: If you selected the Client Components Only installation type, the remaining setup

screens are skipped.

8. You will be prompted to enter your activation code information. Your Activation Code is a

24-character, alpha-numeric activation code which applies the appropriate Storage Mirroring license to your installation. You must have a valid activation code to use Storage Mirroring. Add-on codes are optional. If you purchased any add-on components, enter each Add-on Code individually and click Add. The code type and the expiration date, if any, will be displayed. After you have entered all of your codes, click Next to continue.

9. The next screen will depend on the activation code you entered.

 If you have entered a valid activation code, you will be prompted to confirm the code. Click

Next to continue the installation.

 If you have entered an invalid activation code, you will be prompted that the code is incorrect

and that the source and target modules will not load. Click Back and reenter your activation code.

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 If you have entered an evaluation activation code, the expiration date will be displayed and

you will be prompted that the source and target modules will not load after that date. Click Next to continue the installation. You must update the activation code to a valid one through the Management Console before the expiration date, otherwise, on the expiration date, functionality will be disabled.

10. Storage Mirroring uses system memory to store data in queues. Specify the maximum amount

of system memory to be used for the queues and click Next to continue. The default setting is dependent on your operating system. If you set it lower, Storage Mirroring will use less system memory, but you will queue to disk sooner which may impact system performance. If you set it higher, Storage Mirroring will maximize system performance by not queuing to disk as soon, but the system may have to swap the memory to disk if the system memory is not available. In general, the amount of memory Storage Mirroring and other applications on the server are configured to use should be less than the amount of physical memory on the system to prevent low memory conditions.

11. When the Storage Mirroring system memory queue is exhausted, Storage Mirroring will queue to

disk. Specify the size of the disk queue. By default, the disk space is set to Unlimited which will allow the queue usage to automatically expand whenever the available disk space expands. You also need to specify a location for the disk queue. See the Storage Mirroring User’s Guide for more details about appropriate queue locations. Click Next to continue.

12. The security information screen appears next. Review this information and click Next to

continue with the installation.

NOTE: The user performing any Full-Server Failover tasks must be a member of both the

Double-Take Admin and local Administrators groups.

13. If you are satisfied with the selections you have made and are ready to begin copying the files,

click Install.

14. During the installation, you may be prompted to add an exception to the Windows Firewall for

Storage Mirroring. Click OK to add the port exception. If you Cancel the port modification, you will have to manually modify your firewall settings for Storage Mirroring processing on port

6320.

15. After the files have completed copying, click Finish to exit the installation program.

The Full-Server Failover installation is complete.

NOTE: If you are upgrading an existing Full-Server Failover installation, in some instances you

may be prompted to reboot to complete the installation. For example, a reboot might be necessary to update files that are currently in use.

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