CONTENTS Title Page Copyright Page Preface 1 The Digital Computing Environment 1.1 The VAXcluster System Environment 1.1.1 VAXcluster System Components 1.1.2 VAXcluster System Configuration Types 1.1.3 VAXcluster System Management Tools 2 Determining Requirements for Your VAXcluster System 2.1 Defining Your Computing Environment 2.2 Determining Your Application Requirements 2.2.1 Data Storage Capacity 2.2.2 Compute Power 2.2.3 I/O Throughput 2.3 Determining Your Overall System Requirements 3 Choosing Your VAX CPUs 3.1 CPU Characteristics 3.2 CPU Selection Guidelines 3.2.1 Determining the Number of CPUs 3.2.2 Determining the Variety of CPUs 3.2.3 Determining CPU Memory Requirements 4 Choosing Your Storage Devices 4.1 Availability and Redundancy of Disks and Data 4.1.1 Solid State Disk 4.2 Disk Storage Configurations 4.3 Disk Device Characteristics 4.4 Estimating Disk Storage Requirements 4.5 Distributing Files Over Storage Devices 4.5.1 Availability and Redundancy of System Software 4.5.2 Dump File Management 4.5.3 Data Availability 4.5.4 Data Redundancy with VAX Volume Shadowing Software 4.5.5 Performance Considerations for HSC Subsystems 4.6 Configuring System Disks in the VAXcluster System 4.6.1 Workstation User Activity 4.6.2 Booting Activity 4.7 Rebuilding VAXcluster Disks 4.8 Determining Disk Access Rate Requirements 4.8.1 Overall Disk Access Rates 4.8.2 Access Rates for I/O Subtasks 4.8.3 Disk Utilization and Fragmentation 4.9 Backup 4.9.1 Determining Your Backup Strategy 4.9.2 Optimizing Backup Utility Performance 4.9.2.1 Setting Up the BACKUP Account 4.9.2.2 Setting System Generation Utility (SYSGEN) Parameters 5 Choosing Your Interconnect Devices 5.1 Interconnect Device Characteristics 5.1.1 Computer Interconnect (CI) 5.1.2 Ethernet 5.1.3 DSSI Bus 5.2 Ethernet Traffic Management Products 5.3 Interconnect Adapters and CPU Load 5.4 Disk and Boot Server I/O Capacity 5.4.1 Disk Server CPU 5.4.2 Disk Server Ethernet Adapter 5.4.3 Disk Drives 5.4.4 Disk Controllers 5.4.5 Summary of Disk Server I/O Capacity 6 Designing Your VAXcluster Configuration 6.1 Availability Considerations 6.1.1 VAXcluster State Transitions 6.2 VAXcluster Configuration Rules 6.2.1 General Rules 6.2.2 Guidelines for CI-Based VAXcluster Configurations 6.2.3 Rules for Local Area VAXcluster Configurations 6.2.4 Guidelines for Selecting Disk Servers and Satellites 6.2.5 Rules for Dual-Host MicroVAX Configurations 6.3 Print Services in Your VAXcluster System 6.4 VAXcluster Management and Maintenance Tools 6.4.1 CLUSTER_CONFIG.COM Command Procedure 6.4.2 Show Cluster Utility (SHOW CLUSTER) 6.4.3 System Management Utility (SYSMAN) 6.4.4 Optional Tools and Products 7 New Developments: VAX 9000 VAXcluster Systems 7.1 Configuring VAX 9000 VAXcluster Systems 7.1.1 System Capacity and Component Requirements 7.1.2 Configuration Guidelines 7.1.3 Configuration Example A SPD Disk Storage Requirements Glossary FIGURES 1-1 Hardware Connections in a VAXcluster System 1-2 Typical CI-Based VAXcluster Configuration 1-3 Typical Local Area VAXcluster Configuration 1-4 Typical Mixed-Interconnect VAXcluster Configuration 2-1 CPU Scalability 2-2 I/O Throughput per VUP 3-1 Relative Power of Low-End and Mid-Range VAX CPUs 3-2 Relative Power of Large VAX CPUs 5-1 I/O Capacity of Disk Server CPUs and Ethernet Adapters 6-1 High-Availability Local Area VAXcluster Configuration 6-2 Dual-Host MicroVAX 3400 Configuration 6-3 Physical VAXcluster Printer Configuration 6-4 VAXcluster Generic Print Queue Configuration 7-1 Original VAXcluster Configuration 7-2 Added VAX 9000 Segment 7-3 VAX 9000 VAXcluster System TABLES 1 Abbreviations 1-1 Attributes of VAXcluster Configuration Types 3-1 Descriptions of VAX Systems: VAX Workstations to VAXcluster System Templates 3-2 Characteristics of Individual CPUs 3-3 System CPU Performance Characteristics 3-4 Template System Performance Characteristics 3-5 System I/O Performance Characteristics 3-6 VAXcluster System Templates I/O Performance Characteristics 3-7 VAX CPU Performance Characteristics of Mature CPUs 3-8 CPU I/O Performance Characteristics of Mature CPUs 4-1 Disk Attributes 4-2 Tape Attributes 4-3 VAXcluster and Disk Drive Interfaces 4-4 Bus Type and I/O Rates for SDI Controllers 4-5 Capacity and Access Time for SDI Disks 4-6 Capacity and Access Time for RF Disks 4-7 RD-Series Storage Devices 4-8 RZ-Series Storage Devices 4-9 UNIBUS Storage Devices 4-10 MASSBUS Storage Devices 4-11 RX Storage Devices 4-12 RV Storage Devices 4-13 RRD Storage Devices 4-14 Online Storage Worksheet 4-15 AUTOGEN Dump File Symbols 4-16 VAX 11/780/HSC50/RA81 4-to-8 Block Data Access Time 4-17 UAF Process Quotas for the BACKUP Account 4-18 Suggested Values for UAF Process Quotas 5-1 CI Adapter Throughput Capacity 5-2 CI and Ethernet I/O 5-3 Disk Server I/O Capacity Based on 80% CPU Utilization 5-4 Ethernet Adapter I/O Capacity 5-5 Disk I/O Rates for Sizing Configurations 5-6 Disk Server Capacity-Average (4-Block) I/O Operations per Second 6-1 Access Rate Example 6-2 Disk Service Provider and Consumer Ratings 6-3 Selected Digital Printers 6-4 Optional Tools and Products 7-1 VAX 9000 VAXcluster System Components 7-2 VAX Benchmark I/O Throughput 7-3 CPUs and Compatible CI Interfaces A-1 Space Required on VMS System Disk