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HP OpenVMS Systemsask the wizard |
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The Question is: BACKGROUND We have a cluster which comprises of two VAX 4000-150A sharing disks thru DSSI. Both nodes run OpenVMS 5.5-2H4. The cluster may be seen as a black box where an application runs on one of the nodes - the other node being used in case of problems on the fir st node. The shared disks are spread equally over two Storage Works and only one half is ever used for the live production machine at a time. OBJECTIVE To upgrade; OpenVMS to 7.1 and the application (supplied by a third party) to be compatible with OpenVMS 7.1 and address Y2K issues. This within a timespan of 6 to 8 months. QUESTION Is it technically possible to have this cluster with one node on 5.5-2H4 and the other on 7.1 ? I have read the SPD's for both cluster versions of OpenVMS and warrented support not offered for such a mixed cluster. Does this mean that it is not technically possible or that it is just not supported? Thanks in advance Trevor Owens The Answer is : Please see the OpenVMS and OpenVMS Cluster Software Product Descriptions (SPDs) for the "warranted" and "migration" support configurations. Supported configuration information is generally derived from a knowledge that a particular configuration does not work, or from a lack of knowledge due to the lack of sufficient testing. Specific identification of the reason(s) is not generally provided. The Wizard is aware of customer sites that have strayed beyond the supported cluster configuration requirements, with varying results. The Wizard would obviously tend not to recommend this configuration, and would particularly not recommend this configuration where products such as volume shadowing, disk defragmenters, or similar were in use. All management of DECnet proxies and such will likely have to occur on the V7.1 node -- when configurations including older releases as well as OpenVMS VAX V6.1 or later or OpenVMS Alpha V6.2 are in use, DECnet proxy management should always be from the OpenVMS VAX V6.1 or later or the OpenVMS Alpha V6.2 or later node(s). V7.1 and later do include a new MOUNT utility and related new support, there is a compatibility kit available for OpenVMS V6.2 releases -- the new release is expected to be compatible with the older versions such as the original V6.2 version, but the older versions are known to have problems that the new version corrects. No similar kit is available for releases prior to V6.2. NB: Though the Wizard does not wish to discourage the upgrade, the Wizard must note that a Y2K Readiness kit is available for OpenVMS VAX V5.5-2H4.
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