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Conference decwet::winnt-clusters

Title:	WinNT-Clusters
Notice:	Info directories moved to DECWET::SHARE1$:[NT_CLSTR]
Moderator:	DECWET::CAPPELLOF

Created:	Thu Oct 19 1995
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	863
Total number of notes:	3478

594.0. "NT Cluster over Routers ? when ?" by FROCKY::KRIEBEL () Mon Feb 03 1997 08:36

    Question:
    
    Customer has > 1000 NT clients, in > 40 subnets;
    Servers also in a seperate subnet, all connected
    via routers, no broadcast. Name resolution is done
    via WINS.
    
    3 NT clusters (all Alphaserver 4100) were installed
    recently.
    
    LANMAN shares can be seen and used, no problem.
    CLUSTER Shares are not visible from the clients
    
    Customer is very upset and dissatisfied, 
    he is willing to give back the Clusters soon.
    
    I think this behavior is a limitation of NT Cluster 
    (no bug, a feature :-)
    
    1. is this right ? is it a limitation ?
    2. is there anything we can do immediately to make a 
       cluster running under this network environment ?
    3. What (and when) will make NT Cluster work in a routed
       network (these are very common in large companies !!!)
       
    Thanks
    
    Guenter

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
594.1		MPOS01::naiad.mpo.dec.com::mpos01::cerling	I'm@witz.end	`Mon Feb 03 1997 15:25`	24
	>> I think this behavior is a limitation of NT Cluster >> (no bug, a feature :-) >> >> 1. is this right ? is it a limitation ? >> 2. is there anything we can do immediately to make a >> cluster running under this network environment ? >> 3. What (and when) will make NT Cluster work in a routed >> network (these are very common in large companies !!!) This issue has been discussed many times in this conference. The product is defined as a LAN solution, not a WAN solution. There are two options to get it working in a WAN. 1. allow broadcasts through routers. You, as everyone else, have found this to not be the answer. 2. connect to the individual nodes instead of the cluster alias. This does not give you the client failover, but it does give you the 'fastest field service in the world' for accessing the data on the backup system. Everything on the cluster works the same. It is just that the client has to know to reconnect; just as if they were Mac, DOS, or OS/2 users. tgc
594.2		MSE1::PCOTE	Rebuilt NT: 163, Rebuilt VMS:1	`Tue Feb 04 1997 20:47`	19
	rep. 0 > via routers, no broadcast. Name resolution is done > via WINS. rep. 1 > 1. allow broadcasts through routers. You, as everyone else, have > found this to not be the answer. Actually, if the customer exclusively utilizes WINS, meaning all clients are H-mode, then the issue of broadcast traffic (across routers) becomes of little consequence. The other alternative is wait for NT Cluster V1.1. WAN support is addressed via IP failover. Network file share support will hopefully be addressed in a service pack. And then, there's Wolfpack migration sometime this summer.