Hardware and Software Requirements

Hardware Requirements

• Servers - Two or more LifeKeeper for Linux supported servers.

• IP Network Interface Cards - Each server requires at least one network interface card. Remember, however, that a LifeKeeper cluster requires two communication paths; two separate LAN-based communication paths using dual independent sub-nets are recommended, and at least one of these should be configured as a private network. However using a combination of TCP and TTY is also supported.

Note: Due to the nature of software mirroring, network traffic between servers can be heavy. Therefore, it is recommended that you implement a separate private network for your SteelEye DataKeeper devices which may require additional network interface cards on each server.

• Disks or Partitions - Disks or partitions on the primary and backup servers that will act as the source and target disks or partitions.  The target disks or partitions must be at least as large as the source disk or partition.  

Note:  With the release of SteelEye Data Replication 7.1.1, it became possible to replicate an entire disk, one that has not been partitioned (i.e. /dev/sdd).  Previous versions of SteelEye Data Replication required that a disk be partitioned (even if it was a single large partition; i.e. /dev/sdd1) before it could be replicated.  SteelEye Data Replication 7.1.1 removed that restriction.

Software Requirements

• Operating System – SteelEye DataKeeper can be used with any major Linux distribution based on the 2.6 Linux kernel. See the LifeKeeper for Linux Release Notes for a list of supported distributions.  Asynchronous mirroring and intent logs are supported only on distributions that use a 2.6.16 or later Linux kernel. Multiple target support (i.e., support for more than 1 mirror target) requires a 2.6.7 or later Linux kernel.

• LifeKeeper Installation Support - In most cases, you will need to install the following package (see the “Product Requirements” section in the LifeKeeper for Linux Release Notes for specific SteelEye DataKeeper requirements):

HADR-generic-2.6

This package must be installed on each server in your LifeKeeper cluster prior to the installation of SteelEye DataKeeper.  The HADR package is located on the LifeKeeper Installation Support CD, and the appropriate package is automatically installed by the Installation Support setup script.

• LifeKeeper Software - You must install the same version of the LifeKeeper Core on each of your servers. You must also install the same version of each recovery kit that you plan to use on each server. See the LifeKeeper for Linux Release Notes for specific LifeKeeper requirements.

• SteelEye DataKeeper software - Each server in your LifeKeeper cluster requires SteelEye DataKeeper software. Please see the Installation section in the LifeKeeper for Linux Technical Documentation for specific instructions on the installation and removal of SteelEye DataKeeper.