Safe Creation of Shared Disk Volume Instances

!Please be sure to follow the instructions for the version you are using.

Instructions for v10.0.2

In order to safely create a shared-storage volume resource, the user must ensure that only one system at a time has write access to the volume at any time. This includes the time prior to the creation of the SIOS Protection Suite instance.
Since SIOS Protection Suite cannot recognize that the volume is shared before an instance is created, manual steps must be taken to ensure that the volume is never writable on two or more systems at the same time.
To protect the volume from simultaneous write access, use the following procedure. In this example, two systems – SYSA and SYSB – are connected to shared storage. This storage is configured with a single volume which should be assigned the drive letters E on both systems, then protected with SIOS Protection Suite volume instances.

1. Power on SYSA, while leaving SYSB powered off.
2. Install LifeKeeper if it has not been installed.
3. Assign drive letter E to the volume; format with NTFS if not formatted yet.
4. Power off SYSA. (*1)
5. Power on SYSB.
6. Install LifeKeeper if it has not been installed.
7. Assign drive letter E: to the shared volume.
8. In a command prompt, run the following command:
   “%ExtMirrBase%\EMCmd” LOCKVOLUME E
9. Power on SYSA. (*1) It will come up with the E: volume writable.
10. Create a volume resource for E: on SYSA, then extend it to SYSB.
    

    
    (*1) An alternative to powering SYSA off is to use Disk Management to take the shared physical disk offline on SYSA, then bring it back online after the filesystem has been created on SYSB.
    

Instructions for v10.0.1 and earlier

The creation of a shared disk volume resource with LifeKeeper will ensure that only one system at a time has write access to the volume. LifeKeeper is able to recognize that the volume is shared during instance creation so no special steps are required prior to instance creation other than to ensure the drive letter is the same on both systems.

To protect the volume from simultaneous write access, use the following procedure. In this example, two systems – SYSA and SYSB – are connected to shared storage. This storage is configured with a volume assigned with the drive letter E on both systems, then protected with LifeKeeper volume instances.

1. Install LifeKeeper and DataKeeper on both SYSA and SYSB if they have not been installed. Reboot after installing.

2. Assign drive letter E to the volumes; format with NTFS if not formatted yet.

3. Create volume resources for E: on SYSA and extend to SYSB.

4. When prompted for the application to protect, choose “Volume”.

5. Choose the letter of the shared volume to protect.

6. During the extend, when prompted for the Volume type choose “Shared Disk”.

Once the volume resource instance is created for the shared disk, the volume should be writable on the active system and locked on the standby.