[Info-vax] satellite with more than one boot server

[Phillip Helbig---undress to reply]

In article <Bk3XXRgOnZgg at eisner.encompasserve.org>,
koehler at eisner.nospam.encompasserve.org (Bob Koehler) writes: 

> > First, somewhat unrelated: any boot server can serve the MOP downoad 
> > request, whether or not the satellite boots from it, right?
> 
>    Any MOP server that is serving MOP in the cluster can download the
>    image.  Any disk server that is serving the system disk can
>    complete the boot service.

OK, that's what I though.

> > Is there any reason not to configure a satellite to boot from more than 
> > one boot server in a given cluster?
> 
>    Having more than one provides redundancy, you can set up the
>    satellite so that it can run while either server is down.

Right, which is why I asked if there is any reason NOT to do this.

> > Is there a better way to do this than setting up identical 
> > configurations on each bootserver node?  (Note: In this post, and in my 
> > cluster, each boot server has its own system disk.)
> 
>    It would be best for redundancy if the satellite's system disk was
>    dual-pathed to two disk servers.  

OK, but I don't have such a setup and it is not on the horizon.

>    If you setup two identical
>    environments on two served disks you need to be able to tolerate
>    the system booting to either one.  If you setup one environment
>    on a non-dual pathed disk, any MOP server can honor the initial
>    load but that disk server will have to be up to complete the boot.
>    (The system disk name is part of the MOP data sent to the satellite.)

Right, so they would have to be identical.  Actually, I plan to have all 
SYS$SPECIFIC on all system disks anyway, whether used or not, to make it 
easier to upgrade one disk then copy it.  Obviously, I have to keep 
these in synch, but I am doing that anyway, independent of the satellite 
stuff.