SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition

Release Notes

Version 8.9.1

(Version 8 Update 9 Maintenance 1)

Released January 10, 2023

!IMPORTANT: End of Support for 2008 R2
SIOS is ending support for Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise and DataCenter Editions on January 9, 2024.
SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition Version 8.9.0 is the last version that will support Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise and DataCenter Editions. It is currently only supported in Azure. Any subsequent releases will not support an install or upgrade for Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2.

!IMPORTANT: If using Windows 2008 R2
SIOS DataKeeper includes a kernel-mode driver (ExtMirr.sys) which is signed with a SHA-256 signature. If you are installing on a Windows 2008 R2 system that has not been updated with Microsoft hotfixes, it might not be able to boot with such a driver. Please refer to this bulletin from Microsoft for more information, in particular the first event listed which applies to Windows 2008 R2 SP1.

Existing SIOS customers wishing to upgrade from DataKeeper v8.6.2 or greater may do so without concern. Only customers upgrading from versions older than v8.6.2 need to ensure their OS supports SHA-265 driver signing prior to performing the upgrade.

Important!!

Read This Document Before Attempting To Install Or Use This Product!
This document contains last minute information that must be considered before, during and after installation.

Introduction

SIOS Datakeeper Cluster Edition is a highly optimized host-based replication solution which integrates seamlessly with Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2008 R2/2008 R2 SP1 and Windows Server 2022 Failover Clustering. Features of Windows Server Failover Clustering such as cross-subnet failover and tunable heartbeat parameters make it easy for administrators to deploy geographically dispersed clusters. SIOS DataKeeper provides the data replication mechanism which extends both versions of Windows Clustering, allowing administrators to take advantage of these advanced features to support non-shared disk high availability configurations.

Once SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition is installed, a new storage class resource type called DataKeeper Volume is available. This new SIOS DataKeeper Volume resource can be used in place of the traditional Physical Disk shared storage resource to enable geographically dispersed clusters, also known as multi-site clusters.

Quick Links

What’s New in this Release? Bug Fixes Hot Fixes and Add-on Support Packages Discontinued Features DataKeeper Cluster Edition Requirements DataKeeper Requirements Local Security Policy Requirement Known Issues Quick Start Guide

New Features of Supported Versions of SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition v8

*Refer to https://docs.us.sios.com/allwindows.php for older versions of the documentation.

Description
New in This Release
AWS Cross Region Support.
Display warning in DK GUI if a connected server has Automatically Manage Pagefiles enabled.
Added Total Bytes column for volumes on the Server Overview page.
Users will now see a warning in the DK GUI if any target volumes are too small after resizing.
Upgrade AlphaVSS and IronPython to latest versions, 2.0.0 and 2.7.12 respectively.
Show volume size in mirror creation dialogs.
User systems will receive a notification if there are any mirrored volumes on a system configured with “System Managed” page files.
Automatically update reported size when a volume is shrunk or expanded.
Stop supporting Windows operating systems older than Server 2012 and Client 10.
Bug Fixes
New in Version 8.9.0
SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition Version 8.9.0 is the last version that will support Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise and DataCenter Editions. It is currently only supported in Azure. Any subsequent releases will not support an install or upgrade for Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2.
Bug Fixes
New in Version 8.8.2
Windows Server 2022 Support
Windows 2011 Support
Fixed memory leak in ExtMirrSvc. See this IMPORTANT NOTICE for more information.
Bug Fixes
New in Version 8.8.1
Bug Fixes
New in Version 8.8.0
Bug Fixes
New in Version 8.7.2
Support for VMware vSphere 7.0 See the Support Matrix for supported configuration details.
New in Version 8.7.1
DataKeeper Cluster Edition now supports Azure Stack on Windows 2019
Bug Fixes

Bug Fixes

The following is a list of the latest bug fixes and enhancements.

	Description
PW-1805	Display warning in DK GUI if a connected server is missing a job.
PW-2834	Unexpected lock of clustered volume
PW-5643	Add a message to the event log if a mirror fails to connect to the old source during switchover.
PW-6053	Fixed data corruption issue if the target node is unlocked, written, and crashes in a short amount of time.
PW-6697	Never allow users to select same volume for both the source and target of a mirror.
PW-6768	Remove all references to deprecated volume.exe tool.

Hot Fixes and Add-on Support Packages

The patches are located here.

Hotfix/Add-on Support Package	Bug Description	Patch Description
DKPatch_PW-8024-8911	NDLG locked my volume	This patch properly prevents NDLG from locking the volume

Discontinued Features of DataKeeper Cluster Edition v8

Discontinued in This Release

Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise and DataCenter Editions are no longer supported

Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 is no longer supported

Discontinued in v8.9.0

Windows 7 is no longer supported

Windows 8 is no longer supported

DataKeeper Cluster Edition Requirements

*Important: When restoring a DataKeeper volume or recovering/restoring a new system(s) and its related DataKeeper Volumes from a backup or snapshot, it is required that a FULL RESYNC be forced via the DK GUI on all restored DataKeeper volumes. This must be done to ensure an identical replica of the data will reside on the Source(s) and Target(s).
The steps for forcing a FULL RESYNC are as follows:
• Launching the DataKeeper GUI
• Selecting the mirror(s)
• Choose Break Mirror
  ◦After the mirror(s) status reflects Broken, select Resync Mirror (this is a FULL Resync).

*Important: SIOS Technology Corp. recommends that users use Domain accounts that have local Admin privileges on all servers running DataKeeper. If you are using Local accounts, the username and passwords must match on all servers running DataKeeper. This recommendation is for all editions and all platforms.

	Requirements
Server Components	See the DKCE Support Matrix All servers should run the same version of Windows and the same version of DataKeeper software. Make sure you verify the following settings prior to installing and configuring SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition. Follow Microsoft best practices for deploying geographically dispersed clusters, including changing the quorum mode majority node setting with a file share witness. DataKeeper Failover Cluster registration is automatic and occurs 60 seconds after the following events have occurred on each cluster node: A DataKeeper Cluster Edition license has been installed on each cluster node. The Windows server Failover Clustering feature has been installed on each server. A Windows server Cluster configuration has been formed. Hotfix – KB 951308 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/951308 If protecting Hyper-V resources, Hotfix KB 958065 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/958065 Note: These hotfixes are not required for Windows Server 2008 R2/2008 R2 SP1. Contact Microsoft for a fix that will allow NICs to be added to a Virtual Machine after the VM has been placed into a Failover Cluster. (For more information, see Hyper-V Host Cluster Error.)
User Interface	See the DKCE Support Matrix MMC 3.0 – download from: https://download.cnet.com/Microsoft-Management-Console-3-0-for-Windows-XP-KB907265/3000-2206_4-10741230.html

DataKeeper System Requirements

*Note: Memory and CPU usage will increase based on the number, size, and write activity of the mirrors.

	Minimum Requirements
Memory	1 GB RAM
Processor	Refer to Windows Server Processor Requirements
Disk size	53 MB required for install

Local Security Policy Requirement

If your Windows servers are not in a domain and you are going to run the DataKeeper Service as the local system account, the Local Security policy setting “Network Access: Let Everyone permissions apply to anonymous users” must be enabled.

Known Issues

Missing Job Information warning displayed during mirror creation or deletion

During job creation, the warning “This computer is missing SIOS DataKeeper Job information for the following target volume(s): <vol>” might be displayed in the GUI briefly. The warning will go away after a few seconds. This is a transient condition that can occur during mirror creation and deletion, and does not indicate an error.

Windows 2016

• Occasional job creation failure

SCVMM 2012

If using DataKeeper with SCVMM 2012, you must use SCVMM 2012 SP1.

Windows Server 2012

For issues and enhancements related to Windows Server 2012, see the following topics:

WSFC 2012 Failover Cluster Manager UI Defect
Manual Creation of a Mirror in WSFC
WSFC 2012 Cluster Creation Default Setting Issue
WSFC 2012 File Shares Cannot be Created for File Server Resource
WSFC 2012 Server Manager — Incorrect Volume Display
WSFC 2012 Server Manager — DataKeeper “Disk” Not Shown as Clustered
Windows Server 2012 Default Information Missing During Mirror Creation
Windows Server 2012 DataKeeper MMC Snap-in Crash
Windows Server 2012 — Simultaneous Move of Multiple Clustered File Server Roles Can Result in DataKeeper Switchover Failures
Windows Server 2012 iSCSI Target Role Does Not Support Dynamic Disks
Using iSCSI Target with DataKeeper

Windows 2008 R2

SIOS DataKeeper includes a kernel-mode driver (ExtMirr.sys) which is signed with a SHA-256 signature. If you are installing on a Windows 2008 R2 system that has not been updated with Microsoft hotfixes, it might not be able to boot with such a driver. Please refer to this bulletin from Microsoft for more information, in particular the first event listed which applies to Windows 2008 R2 SP1.

If you are updating SIOS DataKeeper, and your previous version was version 8.6.2 or later, then your system does have SHA-256 driver support (the 8.6.2 driver is signed with SHA-256). In that case you can safely install this version of DataKeeper.

Also see the Known Issues and Workarounds and Restrictions sections of DataKeeper Cluster Edition Technical Documentation.

DataKeeper Cluster Edition Quick Start Guide

To get started using SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition, refer to the DataKeeper Cluster Edition Quick Start Guide.

Technical Support

As a SIOS Technology Corp. customer with a valid Support contract, you are entitled to access the SIOS Technology Corp. Support Self-Service Portal.

The SIOS Technology Corp. Support Self-Service Portal offers you the following capabilities:

• Search our Solution Knowledge Base to find solutions to problems and answers to questions

• Always on 24/7 service with the SIOS Technology Corp. Support team to:
  • Log a Case to report new incidents.
  • View Cases to see all of your open and closed incidents.
  • Review Top Solutions providing information on the most popular problem resolutions being viewed by our customers.

Contact SIOS Technology Corp. Support at support@us.sios.com to set up and activate your Self-Service Portal account.

Contacting Support during Business Hours:

Please call if you have a critical issue involving a down production system or application where your data cannot be accessed using the SIOS Technology products.

1-877-457-5113 (Toll Free)

1-803-808-4270 (International)

For any other issues or questions, please open a case by logging into the Self Service Portal or sending an email to support@us.sios.com.

For After Hours Support For Critical Issues:

Outside of business hours and on the weekends, emergency support with guaranteed two-hour response time 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year is included under Product Support. After hours Support is only available for critical issues involving a down production system or application where your data cannot be accessed using the SIOS Technology products. These issues are handled by contacting the numbers below. Please note that emails to support@us.sios.com are not monitored outside of business hours and on the weekends. Non-critical issues are handled during business hours.

1-877-457-5113 (Toll Free)

1-803-808-4270 (International)

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