ONTAP Hardware

Clusters and iSCSI failover

Willybobs27
3,538 Views

I have a FAS 3140 cluster.

Luns on one head (Head A) are being presented to a Windows Server running SQL using iSCSI. No active LUNs are on Head B

Do I have to create iSCSI sessions / connections to the head (Head B) that doesn't run the live service to cater for Cluster Failover?

2 REPLIES 2

radek_kubka
3,538 Views

Hi,

Do I have to create iSCSI sessions / connections to the head (Head B) that doesn't run the live service to cater for Cluster Failover?

Nope, that's not required. In a fail-over situation the remaining cluster head will take over 'virtual' identity of the failed head with its igroups, LUN mappings, etc.

But there are some caveats:

- NIC ports from both heads need to have access to the same subnets / VLANs

- Addresses of IP interfaces on Head A need to be manually specified in the config of Head B, so it can take over these IP addresses, should the failure occur.

Regards,
Radek

BrendonHiggins
3,538 Views

Yes it does work but make sure your system is configured correctly first.  Download the HA Configuration Checker (cf-config-check.cgi) tool and test the config.  Even then it is best to take a 'pratice' before you do it with live data.  If your system is already in production, download the NetApp simulator and create a HA pair.  Then connect your iSCSI hosts to the VMs and begin testing.  This way you can confirm MPIO, IP routing and everything else is correct.

Hope it helps

Bren

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