Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!ames!umd5!umbc3!thierbac
From: thierbac@umbc3.UMD.EDU (Ed Thierbach )
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: Re:  Thoughts On Creating And Using A Cluster Common System Disk...
Message-ID: <1019@umbc3.UMD.EDU>
Date: 15 Jun 88 16:27:59 GMT
References: <8806150744.AA24120@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Reply-To: thierbac@umbc3.UMD.EDU (Ed Thierbach
Organization: University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Lines: 40

In article <8806150744.AA24120@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> IMHW400@INDYVAX.BITNET writes:
>Thanks to the author of the original posting, for much food for thought.
>There are a couple of points I'd like to see cleared up, though.
>
>1)      OK, *how* do you make a single-node cluster?  When we put in our
>        first VAX a year ago, it *wouldn't boot* until we set VAXCLUSTER=0!
>        Yes, we have an HSC and CI hardware.  What is the magic incantation
>        that will satisfy VMS as to the existence of a cluster, when there
>        is only one service node?
>
I had a single-node CI-based cluster for a year, consisting of a VAX 8300
and dual HSC50s.  As I recall, the system parameters were set thusly:

	VAXCLUSTER=1
	VOTES=1
	QUORUM=1
	SCSNODE="our_node_name"
	SCSSYSTEMID=our_scs_node_number

Make sure SCSNODE and SCSSYSTEMID are defined; without them, SCS may have a
hard time figuring things out.  SCSNODE should be the same as your DECnet
node name (to avoid confusion), and SCSSYSTEMID should be set according to
the formula:

	(DECnet area number * 1024) + DECnet node number

We didn't use a quorum disk; a single node worked just fine that way.
However, if you're just setting up the cluster, I'd recommend using one,
just so it's already in place when you add your second cluster node.
(If I had been working here when DEC set the 8300 up, I probably would
have had them set up a quorum disk.)  The Guide to VAXclusters tells how
to set them up.

I haven't gone through the V5 upgrade yet, but maybe it sets up the 
cluster SYSGEN parameters if it discovers you're not clustered yet.
Maybe one of the net's "V5 veterans" can fill us in.

Hope all this helps out somewhat.

--Ed Thierbach
--Roy F. Weston, Inc.
--thierbac@umbc3.umd.edu