IBM AIX Continuous Availability Features - IBM Redbooks
IBM AIX Continuous Availability Features - IBM Redbooks
IBM AIX Continuous Availability Features - IBM Redbooks
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2.4.6 2-Port Adapter-based Ethernet failover<br />
The <strong>IBM</strong> 2-Port 10/100/1000 Base-TX Ethernet PCI-X Adapter, and the <strong>IBM</strong> 2-Port Gigabit<br />
Ethernet-SX PCI-X Adapter, provide an alternate failover capability. The failover configuration<br />
requires both ports to be connected to a switch module. One of the ports is configured as the<br />
primary, and the other is configured as the backup. Only the primary port is configured with<br />
an IP address. If the primary port loses its connection to the switch module, the backup port<br />
will take over seamlessly.<br />
2.4.7 Shared Ethernet failover<br />
2.5 Storage tools<br />
2.5.1 Hot swap disks<br />
The shared Ethernet failover needs two Virtual IO Server (VIOS) logical partitions (LPARs) of<br />
an <strong>IBM</strong> eServer p5 (POWER5) or p6 (Power6) node. A shared Ethernet adapter can be<br />
configured on both LPARs for the same networks. The shared adapter with higher priority is<br />
the primary. The backup is inactive when the primary is up, and it automatically becomes<br />
active when the primary fails.<br />
Built into <strong>AIX</strong> is the powerful and flexible storage Logical Volume Manager (LVM). In addition,<br />
<strong>AIX</strong> also manages the hardware (devices) to access physical storage, and device drivers to<br />
manage data (file system). All these tools have been designed with availability and<br />
serviceability in mind. These tools include:<br />
► Hot swap disks<br />
► System backup (mksysb)<br />
► Alternate disk installation<br />
► Network Installation Manager (NIM)<br />
► Logical Volume Manager (LVM)-related options<br />
► Enhanced Journaled File System (JFS)-related options<br />
► <strong>AIX</strong> storage device driver-related options<br />
These tools are explained in more detail in the following sections.<br />
Utilizing the combination of hardware features available in most POWER servers, storage<br />
subsystems and <strong>AIX</strong>, the hot swap disk feature provides the ability to replace a failed, or<br />
failing, hard drive dynamically without requiring any downtime. <strong>AIX</strong> provides many utilities<br />
such as mkdev, cfgmgr, and rmdev to support the disk replacement.<br />
While this concept is not new by today’s standards, it represents yet another ability that<br />
contributes to overall system availability. This ability can be used in conjunction with both PCI<br />
hot plug management (see 2.1.9, “PCI hot plug management” on page 15), and hot spare<br />
disks (see “Hot spare disks in a volume group” on page 43).<br />
2.5.2 System backup (mksysb)<br />
Although mksysb backup is not considered a true “availability” feature by normal standards,<br />
the tool is mentioned here as one of the best methods for convenient backup and recovery.<br />
Maintaining a backup of your system for recovery is strongly recommended. By using backup<br />
40 <strong>IBM</strong> <strong>AIX</strong> <strong>Continuous</strong> <strong>Availability</strong> <strong>Features</strong>
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