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Introduction

This section describes how to configure a CHARON-VAX for a Windows CI cluster.

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General description

A virtual CIXCD is the functional equivalent of a hardware CIXCD host adapter with the exception that there is no physical layer to connect to a hardware CI infrastructure. The current hardware is much faster than the physical CI implementation, therefore if such a connection were even possible, it would limit the virtual system throughput.

For data storage, the CIXCD connects to one or more virtual HSJ50 controllers that are loaded as separate components in the configuration file. To configure VAX CI clusters, the virtual CIXCDs of the multiple CHARON-VAX/66x0 instances are interconnected via TCP/IP links.

It is advisable to start any field test based on the cluster examples provided below

Configuring virtual CI clusters requires many configurable parameters and these parameters need to be the same on all servers.

The current CI implementation for CHARON-VAX/66x0 supports up to 8 VAX nodes in a virtual CI cluster and handles a maximum cluster size of 128 nodes. A single virtual CI network supports up to 256 storage elements.

For more details on CI configuration follow this link.

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Configuration steps

To create a CHARON-VAX CI cluster, both of the following elements must be configured:

"CIXCD" host adapter
"HSJ50" storage controller

CI hardware topology is emulated by establishing TCP/IP channels between the emulated CIXCD host adapters of each CHARON-VAX system. The emulated HSJ50 storage controllers are then connected to every CIXCD host adapter in the virtual CI network.

Cluster operations require that (virtual) disks are simultaneously accessible by all CHARON-VAX nodes involved. This can be implemented, for instance, by using a properly configured iSCSI initiator / target structure or a fiber channel storage back-end. Disks on a multiport SCSI switch are not acceptable - because a SCSI switch does not provide true simultaneous access to multiple nodes.

It is advisable to start any field test with implementing the cluster examples provided below

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Example 1: Dual node CI cluster with 4 shared disks

In this example, setting up two emulated VAX 6610 nodes, two host machines, preferably running the same version of Windows, are required.

Assume that these host systems have network host names CASTOR and POLLUX in the host TCP/IP network.

The following are CHARON-VAX configuration files for the emulated VAX 6610 nodes running on CASTOR and POLLUX:

CASTOR node

...

load CIXCD PAA ci_node_id=1

set PAA port[2]=11012 host[2]=”pollux:11021”

load HSJ50 DISKS ci_host=PAA ci_node_id=101

set DISKS scs_system_id=3238746238 mscp_allocation_class=1

set DISKS container[0]="\\DiskServer\Share\dua0-rz24-vms-v6.2.vdisk" set DISKS container[1]="\\DiskServer\Share\dua1-rz24-vms-v6.2.vdisk"
set DISKS container[2]="\\DiskServer\Share\dua2-rz24-vms-v6.2.vdisk"
set DISKS container[3]="\\DiskServer\Share\dua3-rz24-vms-v6.2.vdisk" ...

POLLUX node

...

load CIXCD PAA ci_node_id=2

set PAA port[1]=11021 host[1]=”castor:11012”

load HSJ50 DISKS ci_host=PAA ci_node_id=101

set DISKS scs_system_id=3238746238 mscp_allocation_class=1

set DISKS container[0]="\\DiskServer\Share\dua0-rz24-vms-v6.2.vdisk"
set DISKS container[1]="\\DiskServer\Share\dua1-rz24-vms-v6.2.vdisk"
set DISKS container[2]="\\DiskServer\Share\dua2-rz24-vms-v6.2.vdisk"
set DISKS container[3]="\\DiskServer\Share\dua3-rz24-vms-v6.2.vdisk"
...

Let's review both configurations step-by-step.

The first two lines of both configuration files load and establish parameters for the "PAA" CIXCD host adapter. Only 3 CIXCD parameters are important for us in this situation:

Parameter

Description

ci_node_id

An integer value that specifies the address of the virtual CIXCD host adapter on the virtual CI network.

Possible values range from 0 through 127 (Initially set to 127).

port

An integer value that specifies the TCP/IP port number at which the emulated CIXCD host adapter listens for connections from another emulated CIXCD host adapter with a certain CI node id. Possible values range from 1024 through 32767.

host

A string value that specifies the TCP/IP host name (and optional TCP/IP port number) to connect to another emulated CIXCD host adapter with certain CI node.

The syntax for the string is “host-name[:port-no]” with possible values for "port-no" in the range from 1024 through 32767.

Thus, CASTOR connects to POLLUX's port 11021 and listens for POLLUX's connection on port 11012, POLLUX connects to CASTOR's port 11012 and listens for CASTOR's connection on port 11021

The third and fourth lines of both configuration file "DISKS" HSJ50 storage controller and its parameters:

Parameter	Description
ci_host	A string value that specifies an instance name of the emulated CIXCD host adapter serving the virtual CI network. If this value is not set, CHARON-VAX tries to locate the host adapter automatically. This automatic lookup works only if the CHARON-VAX configuration has exactly one instance of an emulated CIXCD host adapter.
ci_node_id	An integer value that specifies the address of the emulated HSJ50 storage controller on a virtual CI network. Possible values are from 0 through 7 (initially set to 0).
scs_system_id	A string value that specifies the SCSNODENAME of the emulated HSJ50 storage controller. The string consists of up to 10 characters. Possible characters are uppercase letters A through Z and the integers 0 through 9.
mscp_allocation_class	An integer value that specifies the ALLOCLASS of an emulated HSJ50 storage controller. Possible values range from 0 through 255 (initially set to 0).

In both configuration files, the data related to the emulated HSJ50 storage controller, the "DISKS" must be identical. Not following this rule can cause data corruption on the (virtual) disks.

The next lines demonstrate the mapping of the "DISKS" HSJ50 storage controller to the disk images, shared between both hosts. A "container" parameter is used for this purpose. This example assumes that all disk images are accessible from both host machines via a network share or some other realization.

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Example 2: Triple node CI cluster with multiple iSCSI disks

In this example we assume that all three host systems have an iSCSI initiator and are connected to a common iSCSI server. The iSCSI disk server provides 8 virtual disks with R/W access on all hosts. These disks are configured as "\\.\PhysicalDrive0" ... "\\.\PhysicalDrive7" on each of the host machines.

The storage configuration must be identical on all three nodes, it is recommended to describe the storage structure in a separate configuration file to be included in each CHARON-VAX configuration file with the "include" instruction (in this example the name of the configuration file set to "disksets.cfg") and store it on a common network share ("\\DiskServer\Share"):

load HSJ50 DISKS1 ci_node_id=4

set DISKS1 scs_system_id=3238746238 mscp_allocation_class=1

set DISKS1 container[1]="\\.\PhysicalDrive0"
set DISKS1 container[2]="\\.\PhysicalDrive1"
set DISKS1 container[3]="\\.\PhysicalDrive2"
set DISKS1 container[4]="\\.\PhysicalDrive3"

load HSJ50 DISKS2 ci_node_id=5

set DISKS2 scs_system_id=1256412654 mscp_allocation_class=2

set DISKS2 container[5]="\\.\PhysicalDrive4"
set DISKS2 container[6]="\\.\PhysicalDrive5"
set DISKS2 container[7]="\\.\PhysicalDrive6"
set DISKS2 container[8]="\\.\PhysicalDrive7"

CHARON-VAX configuration file for the emulated VAX 6610 node running on HOST001 is as follows:

...

load CIXCD PAA ci_node_id=1

set PAA port[2]=11012 host[2]=”host002:11021”
set PAA port[3]=11013 host[3]=”host003:11031

include \\DiskServer\Share\disksets.cfg
...

CHARON-VAX configuration file for the emulated VAX 6610 node running on HOST002 is as follows:

...

load CIXCD PAA ci_node_id=2

set PAA port[1]=11021 host[1]=”host001:11012”
set PAA port[3]=11023 host[3]=”host003:11032”

include \\DiskServer\Share\disksets.cfg ...

CHARON-VAX configuration file for the emulated VAX 6610 node running on HOST003 is as follows:

...

load CIXCD PAA ci_node_id=3

set PAA port[1]=11031 host[1]=”host001:11013”
set PAA port[2]=11032 host[2]=”host002:11023”

include \\DiskServer\Share\disksets.cfg
...

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