12 HP ProLiant Cluster F100 Installation Guide

•Dedicated interconnect using an Ethernet crossover cable—An Ethernet crossover cable (supplied in the HP ProLiant Cluster Starter kit) can be used to connect the NICs directly to create a dedicated interconnect. This option is applies to only two-node clusters.

•Dedicated interconnect using standard Ethernet cables and a private Ethernet hub—Standard Ethernet cables can be used to connect the NICs through a private Ethernet hub to create another type of dedicated interconnect. Do not use an Ethernet crossover cable when using an Ethernet hub because the hub performs the crossover function.

•Shared interconnect using standard Ethernet cables and a public hub— Standard Ethernet cables can also be used to connect the NICs to a public network to create a non-dedicated interconnect.

Network Interconnect

Standard Ethernet cables are used to provide this type of connection.

Microsoft Software

Microsoft® Windows® Server 2003, Enterprise Edition and Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Advanced Server are the operating systems for the HP ProLiant Cluster F100.

The Microsoft® clustering software provides the underlying technology to:

•Send and receive heartbeat signals between the cluster nodes.

•Monitor the state of each cluster node.

•Initiate failover and failback events.

Microsoft® Cluster Administrator enables you to:

•Define and modify cluster groups.

•Manually control the cluster.

•View the current state of the cluster.

For more information, refer to the Microsoft® documentation.