CONTENTS Title Page Copyright Page Preface 1 Digital Computing Environment 1.1 VAXcluster System Environment 1.1.1 VAXcluster System Components 1.1.2 VAXcluster System Configuration Types 2 Establishing Your VAXcluster Requirements 2.1 Defining Your Computing Environment 2.2 Considering Your Application Requirements 2.3 Determining Your Overall System Requirements 3 Choosing Your VAX CPUs 3.1 CPU Selection Guidelines 3.1.1 Determining Application Requirements for CPUs 3.1.1.1 Computing Style 3.1.1.2 Availability 3.1.1.3 Growth 3.1.1.4 I/O Requirements 3.1.2 Selecting Your VAX CPU Configuration 3.1.2.1 VAXcluster System and Fault-Tolerant CPUs 3.1.2.2 VAXcluster Multi-Datacenter Facility Systems 3.1.3 Determining the Number of CPUs 3.1.4 Determining Memory Requirements 3.2 VAX CPU Characteristics and Positioning 4 Choosing Your VAXcluster Interconnect 4.1 Interconnect Characteristics 4.1.1 Throughput 4.1.2 CPU Overhead 4.2 Interconnect Types 4.2.1 Ethernet Interconnect 4.2.2 CI Interconnect 4.2.3 Digital Storage Systems Interconnect 4.2.4 FDDI Interconnect 4.3 Mixed-Interconnect Configurations 4.4 Multiple Interconnects of the Same Type 4.4.1 Multiple CI Interconnects 4.4.2 Multiple DSSIs 4.4.3 Multiple Ethernets 4.4.4 Multiple FDDIs 4.5 SCSI Bus 5 Designing Your Storage Subsystem 5.1 Storage Subsystem Design Preliminaries 5.2 Description of a Storage Hierarchy 5.3 How to Design Your Storage Hierarchy 5.3.1 Gather Application I/O Requirements 5.3.2 Estimate Storage Capacity Requirements 5.3.3 Consider Additional Storage Subsystem Attributes 5.3.3.1 How CPU Selections Affect Storage Subsystem Design 5.3.3.2 Select Storage Devices to Meet Your Requirements 5.3.4 Gather Additional Data 5.3.4.1 Online Storage Performance and Availability Work Sheet 5.3.4.2 Modify the Storage Hierarchy According to Performance Requirements 5.3.4.3 Performance Considerations for HSC Controller Subsystems 5.3.4.4 Backup Storage Performance 5.3.4.5 Performance Considerations When Including Newer Technology Storage 5.3.5 Meet Availability Requirements 5.3.5.1 Complete Your Online Storage Performance and Availability Work Sheet 5.3.5.2 Device Availability 5.3.5.3 Data Availability 5.3.5.4 System Disk Redundancy 5.3.5.5 Site Redundancy 5.3.5.6 VMS Volume Shadowing Software 5.3.5.7 Redundancy Through Backup Strategy 5.3.6 Storage Management Considerations 5.3.6.1 Disk Utilization and Fragmentation 5.3.6.2 Backup 5.3.6.3 VAX SLS 5.3.6.4 Floor Space for your Storage Devices 5.4 Storage Device Characteristics 6 VAXcluster Configuration Rules and Guidelines 6.1 General VAXcluster Configuration Rules 6.2 Configuration Rules for CI VAXcluster Systems 6.2.1 Configuration Rules for CPUs with Multiple CI Connections 6.2.2 Additional Guidelines for CI VAXcluster Systems 6.3 Configuration Rules for DSSI VAXcluster Systems 6.3.1 Configuration Rules for CPUs with Multiple DSSI Connections 6.3.2 Additional Guidelines for DSSI VAXcluster Systems 6.4 Configuration Rules for Ethernet VAXcluster Systems 6.5 Configuration Rules for FDDI VAXcluster Systems 6.6 Configuration Rules for CPUs with Multiple LAN (Ethernet or FDDI) Adapters 7 Optimizing VAXcluster System Design 7.1 Increasing Availability 7.1.1 Hardware Redundancy Methods 7.1.2 Failover Mechanisms 7.1.3 Environmental Protection 7.1.4 Quorum scheme 7.1.5 VAXcluster State Transitions 7.2 Guidelines for Selecting Disk Servers and Satellites 7.2.1 Disk Server I/O Capacity 7.2.2 CPU I/O Capacity 7.2.3 Ethernet I/O Capacity 7.2.4 Disk Drive I/O Capacity 7.2.5 Summary of Disk Server I/O Capacity 7.3 Lock Manager 7.4 Backup Strategy 7.4.1 Using HSC BACKUP or VMS BACKUP 7.5 Configuring System Disks 7.5.1 Booting Activity 7.6 Print Services in Your VAXcluster System 7.7 Tools for Managing your VAXcluster System 7.7.1 CLUSTER_CONFIG.COM Command Procedure 7.7.2 Show Cluster Utility 7.7.3 System Management Utility 7.7.4 VMS Local Area VAXcluster Failure Analysis 7.7.5 Optional Tools and Products A SPD Disk Storage Requirements B VAXcluster Software Product Description B.1 Description B.2 Hardware Support B.3 Software Requirements B.4 Optional Software B.5 Growth Considerations B.6 Ordering Information B.7 Software Licensing B.8 Software Product Services B.9 Software Warranty C Specifications for Mature Products C.1 CPU Information C.2 Adapter Information C.3 Storage Information C.4 Printer Information Glossary FIGURES 1-1 Ethernet VAXcluster Configuration 1-2 Typical VAXcluster Configuration with CI 1-3 DSSI VAXcluster Configuration 1-4 Multiple DSSI VAXcluster Configuration 1-5 FDDI Multi-Datacenter LAN-based VAXcluster 1-6 Large VAXcluster Configuration with Multiple Interconnects 5-1 Storage Hierarchy 5-2 Storage Hierarchy in a Simple Configuration 5-3 Complex Storage Subsystem 5-4 DSSI Shadow Sets 5-5 Dual-Hosted Mixed-interconnect Disks 5-6 Dual-Ported Mixed-interconnect Disks 6-1 Multi-CI VAXcluster System 6-2 Dual-Host MicroVAX 3400 Configuration 6-3 Multiple DSSI Segments in a VAXcluster System 6-4 Multiple LAN VAXcluster System TABLES 1-1 Attributes of VAXcluster Configuration Types 3-1 VAX System CPU Performance Characteristics 3-2 CPU Packaging Information 3-3 VAX System I/O Performance Characteristics 3-4 CPU Interconnect Options 3-5 CPU Storage Bus Options 4-1 Interconnect Connections 4-2 Ethernet Adapters 4-3 CI Adapters 4-4 DSSI Adapters for VAXcluster Systems 4-5 FDDI Adapter 5-1 Online Storage Capacity Work Sheet 5-2 Online Storage Performance and Availability Work Sheet 5-3 HSC Controller Channel/Drive Support 5-4 Storage Devices Listed by Interconnect 5-5 Disk Attributes 5-6 Storage Array Attributes 5-7 Library Attributes 5-8 Tape Attributes 5-9 Bus Type and I/O Rates for SDI Controllers 6-1 Maximum CI Adapters Per VAXcluster CPU 6-2 DSSI Adapters Per CPU 6-3 DSSI Bus ID Assignments 7-1 Disk Server I/O Capacity Based on 80% CPU Utilization 7-2 Ethernet Adapter I/O Capacity 7-3 Disk Server Capacity - Average (4-Block) I/O Operations Per Second 7-4 HSC BACKUP Versus VMS BACKUP 7-5 Selected Digital Printers A-1 Space Required on VMS System Disk B-1 Number and Type of Adapters Supported B-2 LAN Adapters Supported B-3 Trademark Information C-1 VAX System CPU Performance Characteristics C-2 VAX System I/O Performance Characteristics C-3 Disk Server Capacity - Average (4-Block) I/O Operations Per Second C-4 Ethernet Adapters C-5 CI Adapters C-6 Maximum CI Adapters Per VAXcluster CPU C-7 DSSI Adapters Per CPU C-8 Disk Attributes for Mature Drives C-9 Library Attributes C-10 Tape Attributes C-11 Bus Type and I/O Rates for SDI Controllers C-12 UNIBUS Storage Devices C-13 MASSBUS Storage Devices C-14 Disk Server I/O Capacity Based on 80 Percent CPU Utilization C-15 Selected Digital Printers