Re: Booting HP-UX 11 server using O.S. on EMC disks

From: Douglas Siebert (dsiebert_at_excisethis.khamsin.net)
Date: 07/22/03 

Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 01:39:45 +0000 (UTC)

garyburstow@hotmail.com (gary burstow) writes:

>Thanks everyone for the responses, and yes it very strange to want to
>slow down a boot!

>Let me answer some of the points raised:

>Finding storage that comes up quicker is not an option as I'm
>constrained by the kit I already have. This is a fairly old setup
>which is not going to be upgraded and will eventually be replaced.

>The kit does not include a UPS, that would be nice!

>The reason the OS is on the EMC disks and not the internal is that the
>symm is attached to a mirror at our DR site which is fully sync'ed.
>This allows us to attach similar servers at the DR site and quickly
>boots from the original OS's on the EMC disks. So internal disk are
>not an option.

>The reason this issue has only recently come to light is that the
>continual upgrade to the symm firmware has over time increased its
>boot time, to be expected really!

>Alan, I will look into reconfiguring the auto-boot timout as this,
>although not ideal might do the job. Does anyone have any idea if
>this is possible and how to do it?

I'd add two local disks and have a three way mirror between the two local
disks and the EMC space. Quorum will allow it to boot just on the two
local disks while the EMC is still starting up, when it becomes available
a few minutes later it won't take long to sync up. If you have a
disaster you'll still have a good copy of the OS on the EMC and can boot
manually using '-lq' to override the quorum and mirror it to local disks
on that site after you are up and running.

But I gotta ask, if you are willing to spring for EMC frames at two sites,
SRDF licenses for each (I assume that's how you mirror them) and are doing
DR, why in the heck don't have you have a UPS and generator so you don't
worry about this problem. The price of that is a drop in the bucket
compared to what you paid for the EMC. 

-- 
Douglas Siebert                          dsiebert@excisethis.khamsin.net
"Suppose you were an idiot.  And suppose you were a member of Congress.
 But I repeat myself." -- Mark Twain

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