Acer Altos

Server Cluster
Certification

What is PC-Server Cluster

Traditionally, one PC server will

serve a couple of tasks. In a

cluster enviroment,a couple of
servers cooperate to execute a
couple of tasks
Server 3
Network
Server
Server 1

Acer Altos Server Cluster Certification

Server 2

Why we need cluster

server
High Availablility

High Availability
Single device fail will
not cause the service
stopped

Scalability
Add more servers to
increase the capacity
of cluster server

Server 3
Network

Server 1

Server 2

Scalability
Server 3
Network

Server 1

Server 2

Server 1

Acer Altos Server Cluster Certification

Architecture of Cluster
Share nothing
Share disk
Backup server
Spare server
No Task sharing
Take over if server
Standby server
Sharing tasks
Take over if server

Share Disk

Network

Storage
Device

Share Nothing
fails
Network

fails

Acer Altos Server Cluster Certification

Storage
Device

Storage
Device

Clustering Bus
Clustered server could be interconnected by:
CPU/Memory Interconnects
Memory bus
Local bus Interconnects
PCI bus
Storage Interconnects
SCSI bus

Acer Altos Server Cluster Certification

Hardware & Software

needed

Hardware
needed

A multi-channel
storage device for
share disk
architecture
A private
communication for
cluster information
transfer

Software needed
Administration tools
config and monitor
cluster operation
Balance server tasks
A set of API to enable
cluster aware
application
Fail over operation

Acer Altos Server Cluster Certification

Technology bottleneck
Synchronization of the tasks
between servers
Resume the tasks of fail server
Two-node cluster will be the
first phrase of PC cluster
solution

Acer Altos Server Cluster Certification

Microsoft MSCS
Microsoft
announce to
release two-node
MSCS (wolfpack)
for NT by 2Q of
1997
BackOffice will
be modified as
cluster aware.

Window NT 4.0 +Wolfpack

= Window NT Enterprise
Server

Acer Altos Server Cluster Certification

Ethernet

Private LAN

Data

When will MSCS be

available?
MSCS is shipping as part of windows
NT Server 4.0 enterprise Edition.
Significant enhancements to Windows
NT Server, Enterprise Edition are
planned for Windows 2000 Server
Enterprise Edition
Most of these features are visible in and
supported in the Beta 2 for Windows 2000 Server
Enterprise Edition, which shipped in August 1998.

Acer Altos Server Cluster Certification

Advantage of MSCS
Easy to implement , no special
hardware required
Provide application,database, IP
address and network address failover
Easy cluster administration - GUI
Every node in cluster could execute
their own tasks, no resource wasted.
Resource Group failover

Acer Altos Server Cluster Certification

Disadvantage of MSCS
Clients must handle failures
Reconnect or retry
A shared storage is needed,it
may become the bottleneck
Must use TCP/IP or NBT

Acer Altos Server Cluster Certification

Acers Cluster Solutions

To comply with MSCS, Acer will
provide a RAID box connected to
on-board SCSI channel as the share
storage device.
Acer will also provide a SCSI
switch board to share the SCSI
storage on two hosts

Acer Altos Server Cluster Certification

RAID Box
A disk array is
configured as the
share storage
During failover,
applications are bring
up from the other host
and restore data from
the share storage
device

Acer Altos Server Cluster Certification

SCSI Channel 0

Host 2

Host 1

SCSI Channel 1

Disk array which support more

than two SCSI channels

SCSI Switch Card

Features
SAF-TE command control
Monitor SCSI device
Monitor Host environment
Enable sharing of SCSI storage
between two hosts

Acer Altos Server Cluster Certification

Acer Certification product

list

Acer Altos Server Cluster Certification

AcerAltos 21000
Device
This Device meets the following logo-level
classifications:
Windows NT4 x86: Windows NT 4.0
Compatible
Server 1 - AcerAltos 21000
Server 2 - AcerAltos 21000
SCSI/RAID Controller - Adaptec AHA-3950U2B (AIC-7897)
Shared SCSI/RAID Storage - IBM DDRS-34560

Acer Altos Server Cluster Certification

AcerAltos 9100B
Device
This Device meets the following logo-level
classifications:
Windows NT4 x86: Windows NT 4.0
Compatible
Server 1 - AcerAltos 9100B
Server 2 - AcerAltos 9100B
SCSI - Onboard Adaptec AIC 7880B w/External Connection

Acer Altos Server Cluster Certification

AcerAltos 1100
Device
This Device meets the following logo-level
classifications:
Windows NT4 x86: Windows NT 4.0
Compatible
Server 1 - AcerAltos 1100
Server 2 - AcerAltos 1100
SCSI controller - Adaptec AHA-2940

Acer Altos Server Cluster Certification

AcerAltos 19000Pro4
Device
This Device meets the following logo-level
classifications:
Windows NT4 x86: Windows NT 4.0 Compatible
Server 1 - AcerAltos 19000Pro4
Server 2 - AcerAltos 19000Pro4
Array Controller - Onboard Adaptec AIC 7880
Shared SCSI - AIC-7880 Dell Earthquake MB

Acer Altos Server Cluster Certification

AcerAltos 9100
Device
This Device meets the following logo-level
classifications:
Windows NT4 x86: Windows NT 4.0
Compatible
Server 1 - AcerAltos 9100
Server 2 - AcerAltos 9100
SCSI/RAID Controller - Adaptec AHA-2940
Shared SCSI/RAID Storage - Onboard Adaptec AIC 7880

Acer Altos Server Cluster Certification

Known problem
Shared disk need to use 9GB, 4GB will failed
(AA9100/M9N)
On-board SCSI cannot use dual SCSI channel,
shared disk need to connect to SCSI Host adapter
(Add-on card)
From UK. If 3950U2W has include SCSI BIOS
2.20.00, after single node testing, system will stop
during primary server restart. (Temporarily solution:
Change older SCSI BIOS to 2.10.00 or plug-in a new
SCSI Host Adaptec AHA-2940U2W and connect with
External Storage System -RS-700 at primary server.

Acer Altos Server Cluster Certification