HP HyperFabric manual Dynamic Resource Utilization DRU Supported, Load Balancing Supported

Planning the Fabric

TCP/UDP/IP

ServiceGuard uses a “heartbeat” to monitor the cluster. The HyperFabric links cannot be used for the heartbeat. Instead, an alternate LAN connection such as 100BaseT, Ethernet, Token Ring, or FDDI must be made between the nodes for use as a heartbeat link.

End-To-End HA: HyperFabric provides end-to-end HA on the entire cluster fabric at the link level. If any of the available routes in the fabric fails, HyperFabric transparently redirects all the traffic to a functional route and, if configured, notifies ServiceGuard or other enterprise management tools.

Active-Active HA: In configurations where there are multiple routes between nodes, the HyperFabric software uses a hashing function to determine an adapter or a route through which it sends messages. This is done on a message-by-message basis. All of the available HyperFabric resources in the fabric are used for communication.

In contrast to Active-Passive HA, where one set of resources is not utilized until another set fails, Active-Active HA provides the best return on investment because all of the resources are utilized simultaneously. ServiceGuard is not required for Active-Active HA operation.

For more information on setting up HA HyperFabric clusters, see Figure 2-3 “TCP/UDP/IP High Availability Switched Configuration” on page 24.

•Dynamic Resource Utilization (DRU): Supported

If you add a new resource (node, adapter, cable or switch) to a cluster, the HyperFabric subsystem dynamically identifies the added resource and starts using it. The same process takes place when a resource is removed from a cluster. The difference between DRU and OLAR is that OLAR applies only to the addition or replacement of adapter cards from nodes.

•Load Balancing: Supported

When an HP 9000 HyperFabric cluster is running TCP/UDP/IP applications, the HyperFabric driver balances the load across all available resources in the cluster, including nodes, adapter cards, links, and multiple links between switches.

•Switch Management: Not Supported

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