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398 Administering cluster functionality
Overview of cluster volume management
enabled, all the nodes in the cluster can share VxVM objects such as shared disk
groups. Private disk groups are supported in the same way as in a non-clustered
environment. This chapter discusses the cluster functionality that is provided
with VxVM.
Note: You need an additional license to use this feature.
This chapter does not discuss Veritas Storage Foundation Cluster File System
(SFCFS) nor cluster management software such as Veritas Cluster Server (VCS).
Such products are separately licensed, and are not included with Veritas Volume
Manager. See the documentation provided with those products for more
information about them.
For information about administering a cluster that is under the control of HP
Serviceguard, refer to the HP Serviceguard Storage Management Suite
documentation.
For additional information about using the Dynamic Multipathing (DMP)
feature of VxVM in a clustered environment, see “DMP in a clustered
environment” on page 132.
For information about administering campus cluster configurations (also known
as stretch cluster or remote mirror configurations), see “Administering sites and
remote mirrors” on page 431.
Overview of cluster volume management
In recent years, tightly-coupled cluster systems have become increasingly
popular in the realm of enterprise-scale mission-critical data processing. The
primary advantage of clusters is protection against hardware failure. Should the
primary node fail or otherwise become unavailable, applications can continue to
run by transferring their execution to standby nodes in the cluster. This ability
to provide continuous availability of service by switching to redundant
hardware is commonly termed failover.
Another major advantage of clustered systems is their ability to reduce
contention for system resources caused by activities such as backup, decision
support and report generation. Businesses can derive enhanced value from their
investment in cluster systems by performing such operations on lightly loaded
nodes in the cluster rather than on the heavily loaded nodes that answer
requests for service. This ability to perform some operations on the lightly
loaded nodes is commonly termed load balancing.
The cluster functionality of VxVM works together with the cluster monitor
daemon that is provided by VCS or by the host operating system. When
configured correctly, the cluster monitor informs VxVM of changes in cluster