SIOS Protection Suite for Windows

Release Notes

Version 8.8.0

(Version 8 Update 8)

Released July 6, 2021

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.

To maintain the quality of our publications, we welcome your comments on their accuracy, clarity, organization and value.

Introduction

This information is provided for the person who installs, configures and/or administers the SIOS Protection Suite (SPS) for Windows product and contains important information such as version requirements, last-minute changes to instructions and procedures, product restrictions and known issues. It is important that you review this document before installing and configuring the SIOS Protection Suite software.

SIOS Protection Suite Product Descriptions

SIOS Protection Suite for Windows is a software bundle that integrates high availability clustering and data replication functionality to protect mission-critical data and applications and includes DataKeeper (DK), LifeKeeper (LK) and optional Recovery Kits.

LifeKeeper for Windows

LifeKeeper for Windows continues SIOS Technology Corp.’s tradition of providing world-class reliability for mission critical applications. LifeKeeper for Windows leverages over a decade of experience with high availability platforms by providing customers the ability to cluster multiple servers in order to monitor and restore their applications. In the event of a failure, LifeKeeper recovers all network interfaces, data and applications. Recovery occurs automatically and is transparent to clients, thus minimizing downtime and loss of business.

LifeKeeper for Windows enables continuous operations during planned downtime as well as in the event of a system or application failure. With LifeKeeper, the amount of downtime required for common maintenance tasks and upgrades is significantly reduced or eliminated.

DataKeeper for Windows

SIOS DataKeeper is a highly optimized host-based replication solution which ensures your data is replicated as quickly and as efficiently as possible from your source server across the network to one or more target servers.

New Features of SIOS Protection Suite for Windows v8

Feature Description
New in This Release
Recovery Kit for Route 53(™) Added a new SIOS Protection Suite for Windows Application Recovery Kit that provides a mechanism for updating Amazon Route 53 DNS information when switching from a failed primary server to a backup server.
Recovery Kit for EC2(™) Added a new SIOS Protection Suite for Windows Application Recovery Kit that provides a mechanism to recover an Elastic IP from a failed primary server to a backup server. It also provides a mechanism to enable the IP Recovery Kit to work in multiple availability zones.
General maintenance Bug Fixes
New in Version 8.7.2
OpenJDK 15 SIOS Protection Suite for Windows now supports and includes OpenJDK 15
PostgreSQL 13 SIOS Protection Suite for Windows now supports PostgreSQL 13.
See the Support Matrix for supported configuration details.
PostgreSQL 12 SIOS Protection Suite for Windows now supports PostgreSQL 12.
See the Support Matrix for supported configuration details.
Oracle Pluggable Database Recovery Kit Support for Oracle Pluggable Databases
vSphere 7.0 Support for VMware vSphere 7.0.
See the Support Matrix for supported configuration details.
EnterpriseDB v13 SIOS Protection Suite for Windows now supports EnterpriseDB v13.
See the Support Matrix for supported configuration details.
General maintenance Bug Fixes
New in Version 8.7.1
General maintenance Bug Fixes
New in Version 8.7.0
Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Support

SIOS Protection Suite for Windows now supports Microsoft SQL Server 2019

Restrictions:

• No protection for Optional Reporting Services

• New SQL Server features are not supported

• Supported on Server 2016 platforms and higher

Refer to SQL Server Services

AWS Nitro System SIOS Protection Suite for Windows now supports AWS Nitro System
Windows 2019 Support Full Support of Windows 2019 with Secure Boot
64-bit SIOS Protection Suite for Windows now supports both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the Java Runtime Environment
OpenJDK 12 SIOS Protection Suite for Windows now supports and includes OpenJDK 12
Oracle 19c SIOS Protection Suite for Windows now supports Oracle 19c
EnterpriseDB v11 and v12 SIOS Protection Suite for Windows now supports EnterpriseDB v11 and v12
General maintenance Bug Fixes
New in Version 8.6.4
Windows 2019 Support SIOS Protection Suite for Windows now supports Windows 2019 (Restrictions v8.6.4 only)
Delay Writes when Write Queue limit is reached Introduced the BlockWritesOnLimitReached tunable, which will delay writes when a mirror’s queue reaches the HighWater or ByteLimit, rather than pausing the mirror and going into a resync state.
PostgreSQL 11 SIOS Protection Suite for Windows now supports PostgreSQL 11
Oracle 18c SIOS Protection Suite for Windows now supports Oracle 18c
General maintenance Bug Fixes
New in Version 8.6.3
Queue Current Age This Performance Monitor Counter value is the age of the oldest write request in the write queue.
General maintenance Bug Fixes
New in Version 8.6.2
Integration with SIOS iQ DataKeeper now includes the DataKeeper Signal package to deliver events to SIOS iQ.
General maintenance Bug Fixes
New in Version 8.6.1
Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Support The SIOS Protection Suite SQL Server Recovery Kit supports Microsoft SQLServer 2017.
General Maintenance Bug Fixes
New in Version 8.6
VSS Provider SIOS VSS Provider has been disabled by default.
PostgreSQL Support Added a new SIOS Protection Suite for Windows core Application Recovery Kit that provides protection for PostgreSQL database clusters.
Windows 2016 Support SIOS Protection Suite for Windows now supports Windows 2016.
Tunable Write Queue Byte Limit Users can specify the maximum number of bytes that can be allocated for the write queue of a mirror by changing the WriteQueueByteLimitMB registry value.
General maintenance Bug Fixes
New in Version 8.5
CHANGEMIRRORTYPE This EMCMD command is used to change the mirror type of a mirror that is part of a DataKeeper job.
Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Support The SIOS Protection Suite SQL Server Recovery Kit supports Microsoft SQLServer 2016.
Tunable bitmap block size Users can modify the effective size of an entry in the DataKeeper intent log (bitmap) by changing the BitmapBytesPerBlock registry value.
General maintenance Bug Fixes
New in Version 8.4
Target Bitmap File Target writes are now tracked in a persistent target bitmap file.
General maintenance Bug Fixes
New in Version 8.3
DataKeeper Notification Icon The DataKeeper Notification Icon shows a summary of your DataKeeper mirrors in the Windows Notification Tray. In addition to the display functions, the DataKeeper Notification Icon also serves as a shortcut to managing your DataKeeper mirrors.
Oracle 12c and Oracle 12c Standard Edition 2 SIOS Protection Suite for Windows Version 8.3 and later supports Oracle 12c and Oracle 12c Standard Edition 2 (excluding pluggable database).
Powershell cmdlet support Powershell cmdlets that can be used to create job(s), create mirror(s), remove job(s), remove mirror(s) and fetch information about a volume used in DataKeeper (New-DataKeeperMirror, New-DataKeeperJob, Remove-DataKeeperMirror, Remove-DataKeeperJob, Add-DataKeeperJobPair, Get-DataKeeperVolumeInfo).
mirrorcleanup.cmd This command will remove all remnants of a mirror for a selected volume on the local system only and should only be run when recommended by SIOS Support.
DKHEALTHCHECK Support status and issue identification tool. Provides command line interface for basic mirror status and problem detection.
General maintenance Bug Fixes
New in Version 8.2.1
General maintenance Bug Fixes
New in Version 8.2
General maintenance Bug Fixes
New in Version 8.1
Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Support LifeKeeper Version 8.1 and later supports Windows Server 2012 R2.
General maintenance Bug Fixes
New in Version 8.0.1
General maintenance Bug Fixes
New in Version 8.0
General maintenance Bug Fixes

Discontinued Features of SIOS Protection Suite for Windows v8

Feature Description
Discontinued in This Release
None
Discontinued in v8.7.2
None
Discontinued in v8.7.1
None
Discontinued in v8.7.0
None
Discontinued in v8.6.4
None
Discontinued in v8.6.3
Data Rewind Removed Rewind feature from SPS for Windows

Bug Fixes

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

Description
PW-2284 emcmd . createjob should set shared volume configuration flags as appropriate
PW-2794 Handle volume dependencies when PDBS are added and removed
PW-2886 Warn users, and handle, missing and incorrectly initialized bitmap volumes
PW-2925 Additional Oracle support files gathered by lksupport script
PW-3241 EMTray doesn’t exit completely
PW-3412 Add information to logs to help debug Event ID 264 causing full resyncs
PW-3455 Server crashes when snapshot is taken
PW-3702 LK-W GUI can pick up the wrong version of perl from system PATH
PW-3787 Fix unexpected full resync after switchover

Hot Fixes and Add-on Support Packages

The patches are located here.

Hotfix/Add-on Support Package
Bug Description
Patch Description
LKW_PW4407_CygwinUpdate/ When you run LK, you end up with files named “NUL:” throughout the LKROOT tree. That’s because ksh creates that file if it pipes to “NUL:”, which almost all of our scripts do. This patch addresses occasional LK-W script failures that occur when a script attempts to open a file named NUL:.

SIOS Protection Suite for Windows Product Requirements

Requirements
SIOS Protection Suite

(Server Components)

All servers within a cluster should be running the same version of Windows. See the SPS Support Matrix 64-bit versions (x64, no Itanium) of all of the listed OS platforms are supported.

Note: While installing SIOS Protection Suite on Windows 2008 R2, a dialog box will prompt whether the installer should make the system configuration changes described below. If the installer is not allowed to make these changes, they will need to be made manually after installation is complete.

  • Windows Firewall
  • The Distributed Link Tracking Client must be disabled

For systems running SIOS Protection Suite for Windows and Microsoft FTP Service 7.5 for IIS 7.0, Windows 2008 R2 or later is required.

In addition, if your Windows servers are not in a domain, the Local Security policy setting “Network Access: Let Everyone permissions apply to anonymous users” must be enabled. If the servers are in a domain, then this setting is not required.

SIOS Protection Suite

(User Interface)

See the SPS 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
Virtual Environments

The operating system versions listed above are supported for guests running on the following virtual platforms:

  • Amazon EC2 (AWS)
  • VMware vSphere 6.5, 6.7, 7.0 (Please see our Support Matrix for additional information on which versions are supported.)
  • Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 or later
Memory The minimum memory requirement for a system supporting SIOS Protection Suite for Windows is based on the memory requirements for the operating system being used. Additional memory is required to run user applications in addition to that required for SIOS Protection Suite.
Ports

SIOS Protection Suite uses Port 82 for Remote Method Invocation (RMI) communication between the GUI server and client.

The LifeKeeper GUI uses Port 81 for its administration web server which should be different from any public web server. This is used by the GUI when run as a Java applet on a remote client.

In the event of conflict with an existing application, these ports can be changed by editing the RMI_PORT or WEB_PORT entries in the SIOS\LIFEKEEPER\JAVAGUI\SERVER registry key.

SIOS Protection Suite License One license is required for every server on which SIOS Protection Suite runs. This applies to both physical and virtual servers.
LAN Manager Recovery Kit Requires the “File and Print Sharing for Microsoft Networks” component (lanmanserver) to be installed on the Windows server. NetBIOS must also be enabled. Otherwise, the LAN Manager resource will not come in service.

DataKeeper System Requirements

Requirements
Memory (with no mirrors or jobs configured)

Baseline Memory Usage:

  • Emtray.exe = 7,560 KB
  • Extmirrsvc.exe = 2,504 KB
  • Mmc.exe = 56,944 KB
  • Poolmon.exe(EmDB & EmMi) = 102.704 KB
  • Extmirr.sys = 367 KB


Total = 167,277.7KB or 167.28 MB
Processor Refer to Windows Processor Requirements
Disk size 667 MB

Optional Recovery Kits

All optional SIOS Protection Suite Recovery Kits require a software license key in order to function with SIOS Protection Suite.

Kit Name Versions/Requirement(s)
Microsoft SQL Server Recovery Kit See the SPS Support Matrix
Oracle Recovery Kit See the SPS Support Matrix

GUI Requirements

LifeKeeper requires that the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) be installed on each server. The 64-bit Windows Java OpenJDK v15.0.1 is installed with the SIOS Protection Suite Core software. Java OpenJDK v15.0.1 has been fully tested with the LifeKeeper GUI Server and GUI Application components.

Installing and Removing SIOS Protection Suite for Windows

SIOS Protection Suite for Windows uses InstallShield to provide a standard installation interface with choices for Typical, Compact or Custom installation. See the SIOS Protection Suite Installation Guide for details about installing, removing or upgrading your SIOS Protection Suite software.

IMPORTANT
  • Customizations made to SIOS Protection Suite scripts must be reapplied after upgrading to all releases of SIOS Protection Suite for Windows v8.
  • Make sure you obtain the correct licenses; the old licenses will remain on the system and can be deleted with the license installer tool.
  • SIOS does not support upgrading SIOS Protection Suite from more than one major version back. If upgrading from a version prior to LifeKeeper for Windows v7.x to SIOS Protection Suite for Windows v8, uninstall the old version of LifeKeeper and reinstall SIOS Protection Suite for Windows v8.

Technical Notes

lkstart

This program starts LifeKeeper on the current system if it is not currently running. lkstart modifies entries in the %LKROOT%\etc\LKinit.config file pertaining to the LifeKeeper daemons so that they will be respawned if they die.

The –w option, with waitperiod in seconds, can be used to change the timeout interval. Use the –w argument to specify a wait period before the startup.

The LifeKeeper service can also be started using the Microsoft Services MMC under Administrative Tools or from a command prompt using either “sc start LifeKeeper” or “net start LifeKeeper”.

Note: This program must be run from the console.

Running CHKDSK.EXE on SIOS Protection Suite Protected Volume

Microsoft recommends running the utility chkdsk.exe to check and correct file system or disk errors on volumes that have not been cleanly shut down. However, depending on the extent of errors, the utility may take a very long time to complete. It may take several hours or even days for chkdsk to completely check the volume, or it may hang while checking the volume. Due to these reasons, SIOS Protection Suite does not run the chkdsk utility on protected volumes. SIOS Protection Suite does run the Microsoft utility chkntfs.exe to check whether a volume is dirty or not before bringing the volume in service. If a protected volume is found dirty, SIOS Protection Suite will log an error to the event log.

It is recommended that administrators periodically run chkdsk on SIOS Protection Suite protected volumes on the server where the volume resource(s) are in service. Administrators should take all the applications using the volume resource(s) out-of-service prior to running chkdsk.

Running CHKDSK.EXE During System Boot on a SIOS Protected Volume

Protection Suite protected volumes are typically not eligible for the chkdsk utility to run on them at system boot time because LifeKeeper and DataKeeper need to be able to lock the volumes. If a SIOS Protection Suite protected volume needs to be checked at boot time, the steps below can be performed on the active node.

For Mirrored Volumes or SDRS Volumes (shared at one site, replicated to a remote site)

  1. “%ExtMirrBase%\emcmd” . getconfiguration <drv> (save the number reported on the first line of output for later use after reboot)
  1. “%ExtMirrBase%\emcmd” . setconfiguration <drv> 32
  1. “%LKBIN%\lkstop” -f
  1. sc stop ExtMirrSvc
  1. sc config lifekeeper start= demand
  1. sc config ExtMirrSvc start= demand
  1. chkntfs /D
  1. chkntfs /c <drv>
  1. reboot

Perform the following steps after reboot.

  1. sc config lifekeeper start= auto
  1. sc config ExtMirrSvc start= auto
  1. sc start ExtMirrSvc
  1. “%ExtMirrBase%\emcmd” . setconfiguration <drv> (number reported by emcmd getconfiguration in step 1).
  1. reboot

For Shared Volumes

  1. “%LKBIN%\volume” -U <drv>
  1. “%LKBIN%\lkstop” -f
  1. chkntfs /c <drv>
  1. reboot

Perform following steps after reboot.

  1. “%LKBIN%\volume” -p <drv>
  1. “%LKBIN%\lkstop” -f
  1. “%LKBIN%\lkstart”

For Replicated Volumes

  1. “%LKBIN%\lkstop” -f
  1. chkntfs /D
  1. chkntfs /c <drv>
  1. reboot

Communication Paths Over Fibre Channel

When building a SIOS Protection Suite cluster using shared storage, it is important to maintain working communication paths between the nodes in the cluster. Communication paths should be created using TCP communication protocols. Normally, TCP communication paths are built on Ethernet network devices. SIOS Protection Suite, however, can use any type of connection on which the TCP protocol can run. If a shared storage cluster is being created using a Fibre Channel SAN, it is possible (and desirable) to use the Fibre Channel SAN as a SIOS Protection Suite communication path.

QLogic provides a miniport driver and an IP driver for Windows that will allow a QLogic Fibre Channel storage adapter to also run the TCP/IP protocol. This, in effect, allows the QLogic Fibre Channel adapter to function both as a storage adapter and as a network adapter. Once this driver is in place, the QLogic card can be configured, as any network card would, using standard network configuration techniques.

QLogic’s driver can be downloaded from the following web site:

http://driverdownloads.qlogic.com/QLogicDriverDownloads_UI/DefaultNewSearch.aspx

Using iSCSI Storage with SIOS Protection Suite

iSCSI storage can be used as shared storage and protected by SIOS Protection Suite. For shared storage environments, the iSCSI target device must be configured so that all server initiators have access to the disk. The vendor of the iSCSI storage device provides the interface and commands needed to configure the iSCSI device. A dependency on the Microsoft iSCSI Initiator service (MSiSCSI) should be added to the LifeKeeper service. This will ensure that the shared volume is available before LifeKeeper attempts to access the volume.

To create a dependency on MSiSCSI for the LifeKeeper service, use the registry editor regedt32.exe and select the subkey representing the LifeKeeper service under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LifeKeeper. The service key has a value name “DependOnService” with one value “EISM”. Double-click the value name “DependOnService” to open for editing. When the dialog box appears, add the service name “MSiSCSI” for Microsoft iSCSI Initiator service on a new line and click OK.

To verify that the dependency was created, open Administrative Tools->Services MMC snap-in. Go to LifeKeeper service and double-click to bring up the “Properties” dialog. When the dialog box appears, go to “Dependencies” page and verify that “Microsoft iSCSI Initiator” service is listed along with “LifeKeeper External Interface” in the “depends on” field.

System Load Considerations for Quickcheck and Deepcheck

SIOS Protection Suite launches a separate thread to monitor each protected resource in the system. These threads operate independently of one another. Typically, system load from Quickcheck and Deepcheck script execution will be randomly distributed. SIOS Protection Suite also works to distribute resource monitoring load by skipping a Quickcheck execution whenever a Deepcheck for the same resource is scheduled to run at the same time. However, because the check load is randomly distributed, there will occasionally be peaks in system load from resource monitoring. The more protected resources in the system, the larger these peaks will be and the more often they may occur. The largest peak will occur when LifeKeeper is started and Deepcheck scripts for each active resource are first launched. If the server can handle this first load peak in a satisfactory way, then there should not be a performance problem later.

VSS Shadow Copy

Protection Suite support for VSS Shadow Copy requires that shadow copies must NOT be stored on the SIOS Protection Suite protected volumes. However, shadow copies may be saved on another non-protected volume.

Known Issues and Restrictions

Known Issue

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.

Restrictions

Antivirus Software

Antivirus software may mistakenly detect LifeKeeper binaries as malware. You should configure an exclusion for the folder LKROOT (C:\LK by default) to prevent LifeKeeper utilities from being mistakenly put into quarantine.

SCVMM 2012

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

Server with Microsoft Failover Cluster Installed

SIOS Protection Suite is not supported on Enterprise or DataCenter class servers with Microsoft Cluster Server or Microsoft Failover Cluster features installed. It should never be the case that two “Clustering” solutions are deployed on the same group of servers. As part of this restriction, SIOS Protection Suite communication paths will not function using IP addresses (169.254.xxx.xxx) that are hosted by the Microsoft Failover Cluster Virtual Adapters (Virtual NICs).

FAT File System Support

SIOS Protection Suite does not support protection for volumes using the FAT or FAT32 file systems.

Fault Tolerant Disk Sets

While SIOS Protection Suite replicated volumes are supported using Windows fault tolerant disk sets (Software RAID), SIOS Protection Suite shared volumes are not compatible with Windows fault tolerant disk sets. Fault tolerant disk sets must be set up with dynamic disks and dynamic disks cannot be shared between two systems.

File Share Recovery Kit

  • The File Share Recovery Kit is supported only in an Active Domain environment, not in a Workgroup environment. File share permissions granted to local machine accounts, either in a workgroup environment or a domain environment, will not be preserved during failover because local User IDs are valid only on the local system where they originated; other systems will not recognize them. Even if two local User IDs are spelled the same way on two different machines, they will be treated as two different accounts and valid only on the system where they originated. Domain accounts, on the other hand, are identifiable and usable on any system in the domain.
  • The File Share Recovery Kit will not work if more than 9999 file shares are defined on the system. Any attempt to protect eligible file shares under SIOS Protection Suite will fail if the total number of user-defined shares exceeds 9999. This restriction also applies to editing file share resources. You will not be able to alter the list of protected shares if more than 9999 shares are defined on the system.

LAN Manager Recovery Kit

Microsoft supports LAN Manager functions only over the first IP address per network interface card (Microsoft bug SRX#9704116-48). This prohibits using LAN Manager functions over SIOS Protection Suite protected IP addresses. Therefore, the only way to switch over an alias computer name using the TCP/IP protocol is to allow dynamic IP#-to-LAN Manager name mapping for your clients. The recommended solution is to use a WINS server. You will need to make the SIOS Protection Suite servers (and all computers accessing the protected LAN Manager name) WINS clients of the same WINS server.

Low Virtual Memory Degrades System State

SIOS Protection Suite depends on memory being available when it is needed. If your system is reporting that it is low on virtual memory, that need must be resolved immediately.

A virtual memory shortage serious enough to degrade or delay communications and other internal system functions will very likely cause SIOS Protection Suite to malfunction. For instance, deepcheck of TCP/IP communication resources may be impacted enough to cause a false failure, and thus a failover of the resource to the backup server.

If SIOS Protection Suite communication with other servers in the cluster is degraded, it could cause a manually initiated switchover to fail. However, this will not affect SIOS Protection Suite’s ability to fail over protected resources when a server completely fails.

GUI interoperability

The LifeKeeper GUI may only be used to administer SIOS Protection Suite on Windows servers. Note that you can connect to and monitor a SIOS Protection Suite for Linux cluster. However, performing administrative tasks such as creating resources, editing properties, bringing servers in and out of service, is not supported at this time.

Discontinuing Serial Port Communication Paths

SIOS Protection Suite discontinued support for TTY communication paths in Version 7.2. Though SIOS does not recommend it, if currently using TTY communication paths, this option can be re-enabled by removing the (#) symbol on the TTYCA.EXE line in the /etc/lkinit.config file as shown below:

# … /bin/TTYCA.EXE|-t  1  X  X  X  X  X  X    <=
(TTY Comm Paths Disabled)
  … /bin/TTYCA.EXE|-t  1  X  X  X  X  X  X    <=
(TTY Comm Paths Enabled)

To enable or disable the TTY communication path feature, the LifeKeeper service must be stopped and restarted after editing lkinit.config. To stop LifeKeeper, run command {c:\lk}\bin\lkstop.exe –f (c:\lk being the LifeKeeper installation path). Make sure the GUI is closed and all processes associated have stopped. Restart LifeKeeper by entering {c:\lk}\bin\lkstart.exe.

The TTY technology is obsolete. TTY communication paths are not supported and should be replaced with TCP/IP communication paths.

Console Application Management

Launching console applications from SIOS Protection Suite is not supported on Windows Server 2008 and later. Server architecture and security improvements in Server 2008 including UAC and memory management, prevent background processes such as SIOS Protection Suite from starting console applications.

Bitlocker Does Not Support DataKeeper

According to Microsoft, Bitlocker is not supported to work with Software RAID configurations. Since DataKeeper is essentially a software RAID 1, Microsoft does not support Bitlocker working with DataKeeper.

The specific article and section can be found here:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee449438#BKMK_R2disks

Known Issues

For known issues, see the Troubleshooting section of SIOS Protection Suite for Windows Technical Documentation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I change my SIOS Protection Suite configuration database setting including resource values without reinstalling SIOS Protection Suite or rebuilding my resources?

Yes. Use the lk_chg_value.ksh command.

Can I upgrade my existing SIOS Protection Suite hierarchies from a previous version of SIOS Protection Suite for Windows to v8?

You may upgrade your existing SIOS Protection Suite for Windows software while preserving your resource hierarchies. Please refer to the Upgrading SIOS Protection Suite topic for the correct upgrade procedure. Note: SIOS does not support upgrading SIOS Protection Suite from more than one major version back. If upgrading from a version prior to LifeKeeper for Windows v7.x to SIOS Protection Suite for Windows v8, uninstall the old version of LifeKeeper and reinstall SIOS Protection Suite for Windows v8.

Does SIOS Protection Suite operate in a cluster with Microsoft Cluster Services (Windows 2003) or Windows Server Failover Cluster (Windows 2008 and later)?

No. SIOS Protection Suite v8.0.1 is an alternative clustering product and does not support either Microsoft Cluster Service or Windows Server Failover Clustering.

Does SIOS Protection Suite require that all servers in the cluster be identically configured?

No. As long as all servers are powerful enough to run any application that may run on them as the result of a failover operation and meet all other SIOS Protection Suite requirements, a cluster can be built. SIOS Protection Suite does not require identical hardware, but the software should be the same and configured with the same service pack levels.

Does SIOS Protection Suite for Windows support 64-bit environments?

Yes. SIOS Protection Suite for Windows supports only 64-bit platforms.

How do I change permissions on SIOS Protection Suite protected File Share resources?

The EditFileShareResource utility can be used to update a file share resource with all current file shares and permissions on the associated volume(s). This can be useful in environments where there are a large number of file shares, and file shares have been added or deleted since the resource was created or permissions have been modified. Using the utility can prevent the need to delete and re-create the file share resource. The EditFileShareResource utility is located under %LKROOT%\bin directory.

To invoke the utility, on the command line enter:

EditFileShareResource <Tag name>

where <Tag name> is the tag name of a file share resource that is currently in service.

The utility protects all eligible file shares defined on the volumes that are associated with the file share hierarchy. It deletes any previously protected shares that have been deleted from the system and adds newly defined shares (meeting the eligibility criteria) to the list. It will also update the file share permissions defined on the file share.

Documentation

A complete reference providing instructions for installing, configuring, administering and troubleshooting SIOS Protection Suite for Windows is available in the SIOS Protection Suite Technical Documentation. The following sections cover every aspect of SIOS Protection Suite for Windows:

Section Description
Introduction Provides an introduction to the SIOS Protection Suite for Windows product, including an overview of its components.
Installation Provides useful information for planning and setting up your SIOS Protection Suite environment, installing and licensing SIOS Protection Suite and configuring the LifeKeeper GUI to run on a remote system.
Configuration Contains detailed information and instructions for configuring the SIOS Protection Suite software on each server in your cluster.
Administration Discusses server-level tasks such as editing server properties, creating resources and creating or deleting comm paths and resource-level tasks such as editing, extending or deleting resources.
Man Pages Provides reference manual pages for the SIOS Protection Suite product.
User’s Guide Contains detailed information on the LifeKeeper GUI, including the many tasks that can be performed within the LifeKeeper GUI. Also includes information on Data Replication along with many more Advanced Topics.
DataKeeper Provides an overview of how DataKeeper replication works and contains complete information on configuring and administering DataKeeper. Topics include network considerations, common configuration issues and requirements necessary to successfully install and configure DataKeeper.
Troubleshooting Describes known issues and suggests solutions to problems that may be encountered during installation, configuration or use of SIOS Protection Suite for Windows.
Recovery Kits Contains planning and installation instructions as well as administration, configuration and user information for the Optional Recovery Kits (SQL Server and Oracle) that allow LifeKeeper to manage and control specific applications.

Quick Start Guides

To get started using SIOS Protection Suite for Windows, refer to the SIOS Protection Suite for Windows Quick Start Guide and the DataKeeper Quick Start Guide.

Training

SIOS Protection Suite training is available through SIOS Technology Corp. or through your SIOS Protection Suite provider. Contact your sales representative for more information.

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.

You can also contact SIOS Technology Corp. Support at:

1-877-457-5113 (Toll Free)

1-803-808-4270 (International)

Email: support@us.sios.com

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