4.1 Guidelines for Using DFS in a Cluster Environment

DFS supports clusters based on Novell Cluster Services. Consider the guidelines in this section when using DFS in a cluster environment.

4.1.1 Guidelines for Using DFS Junctions in a Cluster Environment

When clustering servers with Novell Cluster Services in a DFS management context, consider the following guidelines:

  • Volumes that contain DFS junctions or are junction targets can reside in an NCS cluster.

  • Clustering does not break junctions. DFS automatically updates the VLDB when clusters are created in a DFS management context.

4.1.2 Guidelines for Using DFS Move and Split in a Cluster Environment

When clustering servers with NCS in a DFS management context, consider the following guidelines:

  • For OES 2 SP2 and earlier versions, move and split operations are supported where both the source volume and the target volume are unshared (that is, their pools are not cluster-enable).

  • For OES 2 SP3 and later versions, DFS supports move and split operations from a shared volume to another shared volume and also an unshared volume to another unshared volume in a cluster environment.

NOTE:When moving or splitting volumes, perform the move or split only from an active node.

4.1.3 Guidelines for Clustering the VLDB Service

When planning your NCS cluster solution for VLDB services, consider the following guidelines:

  • The two replica servers for a DFS management context can reside on different clusters in the management context.

  • If you create two replicas in the same cluster, the two instances cannot be mounted on the same node in the cluster at the same time. Use the cluster configuration settings to configure which nodes to use for failover for each of the replicas.

  • DFS does not support mixed-platform clusters. Use all OES 2 Linux nodes or all OES 2 NetWare nodes in the cluster.