Updated: 11 December 1998

Guidelines for OpenVMS Cluster Configurations

The following sections describe troubleshooting tips for solving common problems in an OpenVMS Cluster system that uses a SCSI interconnect.

A.7.4.1 Termination Problems

Verify that two terminators are on every SCSI interconnect (one at each end of the interconnect). The BA350 enclosure, the BA356 enclosure, the DWZZx, and the KZxxx adapters have internal terminators that are not visible externally (see Section A.4.4.)

A.7.4.2 Booting or Mounting Failures Caused by Incorrect Configurations

OpenVMS automatically detects configuration errors described in this section and prevents the possibility of data loss that could result from such configuration errors, either by bugchecking or by refusing to mount a disk.

A.7.4.2.1 Bugchecks During the Bootstrap Process

For versions prior to OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.2, there are three types of configuration errors that can cause a bugcheck during booting. The bugcheck code is VAXCLUSTER, Error detected by OpenVMS Cluster software.

When OpenVMS boots, it determines which devices are present on the SCSI bus by sending an inquiry command to every SCSI ID. When a device receives the inquiry, it indicates its presence by returning data that indicates whether it is a disk, tape, or processor.

Some processor devices (host adapters) answer the inquiry without assistance from the operating system; others require that the operating system be running. The adapters supported in OpenVMS Cluster systems require the operating system to be running. These adapters, with the aid of OpenVMS, pass information in their response to the inquiry that allows the recipient to detect the following configuration errors:

• Different controller device names on the same SCSI bus
  Unless a port allocation class is being used, the OpenVMS device name of each adapter on the SCSI bus must be identical (for example, all named PKC0). Otherwise, the OpenVMS Cluster software cannot coordinate the host's accesses to storage (see Section A.6.2 and Section A.6.3).
  OpenVMS can check this automatically because it sends the controller letter in the inquiry response. A booting system receives this response, and it compares the remote controller letter with the local controller letter. If a mismatch is detected, then an OPCOM message is printed, and the system stops with an VAXCLUSTER bugcheck to prevent the possibility of data loss. See the description of the NOMATCH error in the Help Message utility. (To use the Help Message utility for NOMATCH, enter HELP/MESSAGE NOMATCH at the DCL prompt.)
• Different or zero allocation class values.
  Each host on the SCSI bus must have the same nonzero disk allocation class value, or matching port allocation class values. Otherwise, the OpenVMS Cluster software cannot coordinate the host's accesses to storage (see Section A.6.2 and Section A.6.3).
  OpenVMS is able to automatically check this, because it sends the needed information in the inquiry response. A booting system receives this response, and compares the remote value with the local value. If a mismatch or a zero value is detected, then an OPCOM message is printed, and the system stops with a VAXCLUSTER bugcheck to prevent the possibility of data loss. See the description of the ALLODIFF and ALLOZERO errors in the Help Message utility.
• Unsupported processors
  There may be processors on the SCSI bus that are not running OpenVMS or that do not return the controller name or allocation class information needed to validate the configuration. If a booting system receives an inquiry response and the response does not contain the special OpenVMS configuration information, then an OPCOM message is printed and an VAXCLUSTER bugcheck occurs. See the description of the CPUNOTSUP error in the Help Message utility.
  If your system requires the presence of a processor device on a SCSI bus, then refer to the CPUNOTSUP message description in the Help Message utility for instructions on the use of a special SYSGEN parameter, SCSICLUSTER_Pn for this case.

In OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.2, SCSI devices on a misconfigured bus (as described in Section A.7.4.2.1) are not configured. Instead, error messages that describe the incorrect configuration are displayed.

A.7.4.2.3 Mount Failures

There are two types of configuration error that can cause a disk to fail to mount.

First, when a system boots from a disk on the shared SCSI bus, it may fail to mount the system disk. This happens if there is another system on the SCSI bus that is already booted, and the other system is using a different device name for the system disk. (Two systems will disagree about the name of a device on the shared bus if their controller names or allocation classes are misconfigured, as described in the previous section.) If the system does not first execute one of the bugchecks described in the previous section, then the following error message is displayed on the console:

%SYSINIT-E- error when mounting system device, retrying..., status = 007280B4

The decoded representation of this status is:

VOLALRMNT, another volume of same label already mounted

This error indicates that the system disk is already mounted in what appears to be another drive in the OpenVMS Cluster system, so it is not mounted again. To solve this problem, check the controller letters and allocation class values for each node on the shared SCSI bus.

Second, SCSI disks on a shared SCSI bus will fail to mount on both systems unless the disk supports tagged command queuing (TCQ). This is because TCQ provides a command-ordering guarantee that is required during OpenVMS Cluster state transitions.

OpenVMS determines that another processor is present on the SCSI bus during autoconfiguration, using the mechanism described in Section A.7.4.2.1. The existence of another host on a SCSI bus is recorded and preserved until the system reboots.

This information is used whenever an attempt is made to mount a non-TCQ device. If the device is on a multihost bus, the mount attempt fails and returns the following message:

%MOUNT-F-DRVERR, fatal drive error.

If the drive is intended to be mounted by multiple hosts on the same SCSI bus, then it must be replaced with one that supports TCQ.

Note that the first processor to boot on a multihost SCSI bus does not receive an inquiry response from the other hosts because the other hosts are not yet running OpenVMS. Thus, the first system to boot is unaware that the bus has multiple hosts, and it allows non-TCQ drives to be mounted. The other hosts on the SCSI bus detect the first host, however, and they are prevented from mounting the device. If two processors boot simultaneously, it is possible that they will detect each other, in which case neither is allowed to mount non-TCQ drives on the shared bus.

A.7.4.3 Grounding

Having excessive ground offset voltages or exceeding the maximum SCSI interconnect length can cause system failures or degradation in performance. See Section A.7.8 for more information about SCSI grounding requirements.

A.7.4.4 Interconnect Lengths

Adequate signal integrity depends on strict adherence to SCSI bus lengths. Failure to follow the bus length recommendations can result in problems (for example, intermittent errors) that are difficult to diagnose. See Section A.4.3 for information on SCSI bus lengths.

A.7.5 SCSI Arbitration Considerations

Only one initiator (typically, a host system) or target (typically, a peripheral device) can control the SCSI bus at any one time. In a computing environment where multiple targets frequently contend for access to the SCSI bus, you could experience throughput issues for some of these targets. This section discusses control of the SCSI bus, how that control can affect your computing environment, and what you can do to achieve the most desirable results.

Control of the SCSI bus changes continually. When an initiator gives a command (such as READ) to a SCSI target, the target typically disconnects from the SCSI bus while it acts on the command, allowing other targets or initiators to use the bus. When the target is ready to respond to the command, it must regain control of the SCSI bus. Similarly, when an initiator wishes to send a command to a target, it must gain control of the SCSI bus.

If multiple targets and initiators want control of the bus simultaneously, bus ownership is determined by a process called arbitration, defined by the SCSI standard. The default arbitration rule is simple: control of the bus is given to the requesting initiator or target that has the highest unit number.

The following sections discuss some of the implications of arbitration and how you can respond to arbitration situations that affect your environment.

A.7.5.1 Arbitration Issues in Multiple-Disk Environments

When the bus is not very busy, and bus contention is uncommon, the simple arbitration scheme is adequate to perform I/O requests for all devices on the system. However, as initiators make more and more frequent I/O requests, contention for the bus becomes more and more common. Consequently, targets with lower ID numbers begin to perform poorly, because they are frequently blocked from completing their I/O requests by other users of the bus (in particular, targets with the highest ID numbers). If the bus is sufficiently busy, low-numbered targets may never complete their requests. This situation is most likely to occur on systems with more than one initiator because more commands can be outstanding at the same time.

The OpenVMS system attempts to prevent low-numbered targets from being completely blocked by monitoring the amount of time an I/O request takes. If the request is not completed within a certain period, the OpenVMS system stops sending new requests until the tardy I/Os complete. While this algorithm does not ensure that all targets get equal access to the bus, it does prevent low-numbered targets from being totally blocked.

A.7.5.2 Solutions for Resolving Arbitration Problems

If you find that some of your disks are not being serviced quickly enough during periods of heavy I/O, try some or all of the following, as appropriate for your site:

• Obtain the DWZZH--05 SCSI hub and enable its fair arbitration feature.
• Assign the highest ID numbers to those disks that require the fastest response time.
• Spread disks across more SCSI buses.
• Keep disks that need to be accessed only by a single host (for example, page and swap disks) on a nonshared SCSI bus.

Another method that might provide for more equal servicing of lower and higher ID disks is to set the host IDs to the lowest numbers (0 and 1) rather than the highest. When you use this method, the host cannot gain control of the bus to send new commands as long as any disk, including those with the lowest IDs, need the bus. Although this option is available to improve fairness under some circumstances, this configuration is less desirable in most instances, for the following reasons:

• It can result in lower total throughput.
• It can result in timeout conditions if a command cannot be sent within a few seconds.
• It can cause physical configuration difficulties. For example, StorageWorks shelves such as the BA350 have no slot to hold a disk with ID 7, but they do have a slot for a disk with ID 0. If you change the host to ID 0, you must remove a disk from slot 0 in the BA350, but you cannot move the disk to ID 7. If you have two hosts with IDs 0 and 1, you cannot use slot 0 or 1 in the BA350. (Note, however, that you can have a disk with ID 7 in a BA353.)

Any active device, such as a DWZZx, that connects bus segments introduces small delays as signals pass through the device from one segment to another. Under some circumstances, these delays can be another cause of unfair arbitration. For example, consider the following configuration, which could result in disk servicing problems (starvation) under heavy work loads:

Although disk 5 has the highest ID number, there are some circumstances under which disk 5 has the lowest access to the bus. This can occur after one of the lower-numbered disks has gained control of the bus and then completed the operation for which control of the bus was needed. At this point, disk 5 does not recognize that the bus is free and might wait before trying to arbitrate for control of the bus. As a result, one of the lower-numbered disks, having become aware of the free bus and then submitting a request for the bus, will gain control of the bus.

If you see this type of problem, the following suggestions can help you reduce its severity:

• Try to place all disks on the same bus segment.
• If placing all disks on the same bus segment is not possible (for example if you have both some RZ28 disks by themselves and an HSZxx, try to use a configuration that has only one isolator between any pair of disks.
• If your configuration requires two isolators between a pair of disks (for example, to meet distance requirements), try to balance the number of disks on each bus segment.
• Follow the suggestions in Section A.7.5.2 to reduce the total traffic on the logical bus.

With proper procedures, certain SCSI devices can be removed from or inserted onto an active SCSI bus without disrupting the ongoing operation of the bus. This capability is referred to as hot plugging. Hot plugging can allow a suitably configured OpenVMS Cluster system to continue to run while a failed component is replaced. Without hot plugging, it is necessary to make the SCSI bus inactive and remove power from all the devices on the SCSI bus before any device is removed from it or inserted onto it.

In a SCSI OpenVMS Cluster system, hot plugging requires that all devices on the bus have certain electrical characteristics and be configured appropriately on the SCSI bus. Successful hot plugging also depends on strict adherence to the procedures described in this section. These procedures ensure that the hot-plugged device is inactive and that active bus signals are not disturbed.

The terms shown in bold in this section are used in the discussion of hot plugging rules and procedures.

• A SCSI bus segment consists of two terminators, the electrical path forming continuity between them, and possibly, some attached stubs. Bus segments can be connected together by bus isolators (for example, DWZZx), to form a logical SCSI bus or just a SCSI bus.
• There are two types of connections on a segment: bussing connections, which break the path between two terminators, and stubbing connections, which disconnect all or part of a stub.
• A device is active on the SCSI bus when it is asserting one or more of the bus signals. A device is inactive when it is not asserting any bus signals.
  The segment attached to a bus isolator is inactive when all devices on that segment, except possibly the bus isolator, are inactive.
• A port on a bus isolator has proper termination when it is attached to a segment that is terminated at both ends and has TERMPWR in compliance with SCSI--2 requirements.

Follow these rules when planning for and performing hot plugging:

• The device to be hot plugged, and all other devices on the same segment, must meet the electrical requirements described in Annex A, Section A.4, of the SCSI-3 Parallel Interface (SPI) Standard, working draft X3T10/855D.¹ The SPI document places requirements on the receivers and terminators on the segment where the hot plugging is being performed, and on the transceivers, TERMPWR, termination, and power/ground/signal sequencing, of the device that is being hot plugged.
• Hot plugging must occur only at a stubbing connection.
  This implies that a hot-plugged device can make only one connection to the SCSI bus, the device must not provide termination for the SCSI bus, and the device's connection must not exceed the maximum stub length, as shown in Figure A-3. An example of a SCSI bus topology showing the valid hot plugging connections is illustrated in Figure A-13.

  Figure A-13 SCSI Bus Topology

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• Take precautions to ensure that electrostatic discharge (ESD) does not damage devices or disrupt active signals on the SCSI bus. You should take such precautions during the process of disconnecting and connecting, as well as during the time that SCSI bus conductors are exposed.
• Take precaution to ensure that ground offset voltages do not pose a safety hazard and will not interfere with SCSI bus signaling, especially in single-ended configurations. The procedures for measuring and eliminating ground offset voltages are described in Section A.7.8.
• The device that is hot plugged must be inactive during the disconnection and connection operations. Otherwise, the SCSI bus may hang.²

  Note Ideally, a device will also be inactive whenever its power is removed, for the same reason.

  
  The procedures for ensuring that a device is inactive are described in Section A.7.6.3.
• A quorum disk must not be hot plugged. This is because there is no mechanism for stopping the I/O to a quorum disk, and because the replacement disk will not contain the correct quorum file.
  The OpenVMS Cluster system must be reconfigured to remove a device as a quorum disk before that device is removed from the bus. The procedure for accomplishing this is described in OpenVMS Cluster Systems.
  An alternate method for increasing the availability of the quorum disk is to use an HSZxx mirror set as the quorum disk. This would allow a failed member to be replaced while maintaining the quorum disk functionality.
• Disks must be dismounted logically before removing or replacing them in a hot-plugging operation. This is required to ensure that the disk is inactive and to ensure the integrity of the file system.
• The DWZZx must be powered up when it is inserted into an active SCSI bus and should remain powered up at all times while it is attached to the active SCSI bus. This is because the DWZZx can disrupt the operation of the attached segments when it is powering up or down.
• The segment attached to a bus isolator must be maintained in the inactive state whenever the other port on the bus isolator is terminated improperly. This is required because an improperly terminated bus isolator port may pass erroneous signals to the other port.
  Thus, for a particular hot-plugging operation, one of the segments attached to a bus isolator must be designated as the (potentially) active segment, and the other must be maintained in the inactive state, as illustrated in Figure A-14. The procedures for ensuring that a segment is inactive are described in Section A.7.6.3.

  Figure A-14 Hot Plugging a Bus Isolator

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  Note that, although a bus isolator may have more than one stubbing connection and thus be capable of hot plugging on each of them, only one segment can be the active segment for any particular hot-plugging operation.
• Take precautions to ensure that the only electrical conductor that contacts a connector pin is its mate. These precautions must be taken during the process of disconnecting and connecting as well as during the time the connector is disconnected.
• Devices must be replaced with devices of the same type. That is, if any system in the OpenVMS Cluster configures a SCSI ID as a DK or MK device, then that SCSI ID must contain only DK or MK devices, respectively, for as long as that OpenVMS Cluster member is running.
  Different implementations of the same device type can be substituted (for example, an RZ26L can be replaced with an RZ28B). Note that the system will not recognize the change in device type until an attempt is made to mount the new device. Also, note that host-based shadowing continues to require that all members of a shadow set be the same device type.
• SCSI IDs that are empty when a system boots must remain empty as long as that system is running. This rule applies only if there are multiple processors on the SCSI bus and the MSCP server is loaded on any of them. (The MSCP server is loaded when the MSCP_LOAD system parameter is set to 1).
  This is required to ensure that nodes on the SCSI bus use their direct path to the disk rather than the served path. When the new device is configured on a system (using SYSMAN IO commands), that system serves it to the second system on the shared SCSI bus. The second system automatically configures the new device by way of the MSCP served path. Once this occurs, the second system will be unable to use its direct SCSI path to the new device because failover from an MSCP served path to a direct SCSI path is not implemented.

Use the following procedures to ensure that a device or a segment is inactive:

• To ensure that a disk is inactive:
  1. Dismount the disk on all members of the OpenVMS Cluster system.
  2. Ensure that any I/O that can occur to a dismounted disk is stopped, for example:
     • Disable the disk as a quorum disk.
     • Allocate the disk (using the DCL command ALLOCATE) to block further mount or initialization attempts.
     • Disable console polling by all halted hosts on the logical SCSI bus (by setting the console variable SCSI_POLL to OFF and entering the INIT command).
     • Ensure that no host on the logical SCSI bus is executing power-up or initialization self-tests, booting, or configuring the SCSI bus (using SYSMAN IO commands).
• To ensure that an HSZxx controller is inactive:
  1. Dismount all of the HSZxx virtual disks on all members of the OpenVMS Cluster system.
  2. Shut down the controller, following the procedures in the HS Family of Array Controllers User's Guide.
  3. Power down the HSZxx (optional).
• To ensure that a host adapter is inactive:
  1. Halt the system.
  2. Power down the system, or set the console variable SCSI_POLL to OFF and then enter the INIT command on the halted system. This ensures that the system will not poll or respond to polls.
• To ensure that a segment is inactive, follow the preceding procedures for every device on the segment.

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