IBM 201 manual Intel Ethernet adapter teaming, Fault tolerance

vOnce the cache file usage exceeds the automatic deletion threshold (also configured in the PSM Volumes panel for the drive; the default value is 90 percent), PSM automatically selects a persistent image on the volume and deletes it to reduce the cache file usage. It selects the persistent image with the lowest retention value (as described above in the Persistent Images panel section). If more than one persistent image has the same (lowest) retention value, then the oldest image will be selected for deletion. If this deletion does not reduce the cache file usage below the automatic deletion threshold, then it will continue to select and delete persistent images until the cache file usage is reduced below the automatic deletion threshold. For each deletion, PSM generates an error message to the system event log and to the Windows 2000 for Network Attached Storage alert log indicating that a persistent image was deleted.

You should periodically check the system event log or Windows 2000 for Network Attached Storage alert log to ensure that the cache file usage is not consistently high, forcing existing persistent images to be deleted and preventing new persistent images from being created. If you find that this is the case, you can increase the size of the cache file using the PSM Volumes page, but you will need to delete all persistent images currently on that volume as dynamic cache file resizing is not supported in this release.

5.Volume restore of the system volume (C: drive) is not supported. If you attempt to restore a persistent image containing the system volume, the restore operation will not take place.

6.Volume restore of a data volume may require a reboot of the node. You will be notified by the Restore Persistent Images panel whether a reboot is required after a restore operation is initiated.

Attention: The recovery process invalidates persistent images and leaves them in an inconsistent state. So, if you plan to use the Recovery CD, it is recommended that you first delete all persistent images to ensure a clean reload of the system software. For more information on using the Recovery CD, see “Using the Recovery Enablement Diskette and Recovery CD Set” on page 77.

Ethernet adapter teaming

This section describes how to enable adapter teaming on the Intel and Alacritech Ethernet adapters.

Intel Ethernet adapter teaming

The Ethernet adapters (Gb Ethernet SX and 10/100 Ethernet) that you install in the PCI slots of the NAS 200 support adapter teaming. With adapter teaming, two or more PCI Ethernet adapters can be physically connected to the same IP subnetwork and then logically combined into an adapter team. Such a team can support one of the following functional modes:

Fault tolerance

In fault tolerance mode, only one adapter in the team is fully active on the Ethernet network (for example, sending and receiving data) at any point in time, while the other adapters are in standby mode (receiving data only). If that adapter detects a link failure or fails completely, another adapter in the team automatically and rapidly takes over as the active adapter, and all Ethernet traffic being handled by the failing adapter is seamlessly switched to the new active adapter, with no interruption to network sessions (for example, file transfers) in progress at the time of the failover.

44NAS 200 User’s Reference