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High availability for file servers

To have a truly highly available BMC Server Automation implementation, the file server must be highly available. The file server high-availability implementation must meet the following requirements:

  • Each Application Server at the primary site must have read and write access to the file server data.
  • Each Application Server at the primary site must have a consistent view of the data on the file server. Changes made to data in the file server must be immediately available to all Application Servers running at that site.

Implementation

You can implement a highly available BMC Server Automation file server by using either of the following methods:

The method that you choose depends on the technologies available in your organization.

Network attached storage

In a multinode Application Server environment with an existing highly available network attached storage (NAS) solution already in place, the easier way to implement high availability on the file server is to add the file server to the NAS solution.

Warning

Note

Microsoft Windows file servers cannot persistently mount a network share; therefore, the NAS solution is generally available only for file servers based on UNIX.

To implement a highly available file server by using a NAS solution, the following actions must occur:

  • Each Application Server network mounts the network-available file system in read-write mode from the highly available NAS solution. The location of the network mount is the same across all Application Servers to ensure a uniform Application Server configuration.
  • During Application Server software installation, provide the following information:
    • For the file server host name, use an alias that points to localhost (127.0.0.1).
    • For the file server path, specify the path to the file server directory on the NAS file system.

The following figure shows high availability implemented with a NAS file server:

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Application clustering

A second option for implementing a highly available file server is to use an application clustering solution, such as Veritas Cluster Server. The details of implementing a cluster software installation are specific to the chosen software solution, but the basic requirements are as follows:

  • Install the high-availability cluster software on two server nodes.
  • Place a virtual IP address (VIP) specifically for the file server under the control of the cluster software. This VIP floats between the two cluster nodes according to the availability of the underlying server.
  • Configure the two servers with visibility to the same storage unit. For example, in a SAN environment, a storage logical unit (LUN) is presented to both servers.
  • Ensure that the file server file system resides on the storage unit that is shared by both servers. Access to the file server occurs as follows:
    • The file server VIP is associated with the file system. When the VIP is enabled on one of the server nodes, the file system is mounted on that server. This file system is mounted on only one of the nodes of the cluster at any one time.
    • The Application Servers access the file server through the RSCD agent. Because the RSCD is always active, service starts and stops are not required.
  • Specify the host name of the file server VIP and the location of the file system associated with that VIP on each Application Server.

The following figure shows high availability implemented with a file server cluster:

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BMC Server Automation 8.3