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Upgrading to a Cluster Configuration A-3
I
nstalling and Configuring the
Cluster Software
Instructions on installing the Microsoft Windows NT
Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 operating system and
clustering software are provided in the Microsoft docu-
mentation that accompanied the software. Refer to these
documents for information about installing these soft-
ware components.
Before installing Windows NT Server Enterprise Edition,
be sure to have the NIC and PowerEdge Expandable
RAID Controller driver diskettes handy for installation.
Refer to the Microsoft documentation for information
about installing the device drivers.
Before you can use the cluster software on your cluster
nodes, you must first upgrade the firmware on the Power-
Edge systems servers and the SDS 100 storage system(s).
You must also update the system configuration utility
with the cluster configuration file.
Upgrading the PowerEdge 4200
Firmware
To enable clustering on the PowerEdge system nodes,
both systems must have cluster-specific BIOS firmware
installed. To update the system BIOS for a Power-
Edge 4200 system, perform the following steps:
1. Insert the Customer BIOS Update for Dell Power-
Edge 4200 diskette into drive A of the PowerEdge
system and restart the system.
A message appears stating that the system is ready to
update the BIOS.
2. Type y to upgrade the firmware.
While the BIOS is updating, a series of status mes-
sages appears on the screen. Another message
appears when the upgrade is complete.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 on the second PowerEdge
system, if applicable.
Upgrading the PowerEdge SDS 100
Storage System Firmware
The updated PowerEdge system BIOS automatically
downloads the cluster-specific BIOS to the SDS 100 stor-
age system(s) via the system management bus (SMB)
cable during the power-on self-test (POST). Upgrade the
SDS 100 firmware by first ensuring that the SMB cable is
connected and then powering down the cluster and then
starting it up again. During start-up, the cluster-specific
firmware on the SMB-connected node checks the version
of the SDS 100 firmware. If the SDS 100 is found to be
running the wrong version of firmware, the node pro-
ceeds to upgrade it automatically with the correct
firmware version. Observe the system messages during
POST to verify that the BIOS is downloading to the stor-
age system(s).
Setting the Cluster Mode With BIOS
Setup
Use the following BIOS Setup procedure to enable Clus-
ter Mode on each node on the cluster:
1. Start the first cluster node and press <F2> during
POST.
The Dell System PowerEdge 4200/xxx Setup screen
appears.
2. Use the right-arrow key to select the Advanced
menu.
3. Use the down-arrow key to select the Cluster
option.
4. Press <Spacebar> to turn on Cluster Mode.
5. Select the Exit menu, select Save Changes &
Exit
, and press <Enter>.
6. Restart the system.
7. Repeat steps 1 through 6 on the second cluster
node.
I
nstalling and Configuring NICs
The PowerEdge Cluster requires at least two network
interconnects for cluster operation—one network for the
public LAN and one dedicated network for the
node-to-node communications. Having two networks on
the cluster enables fault-tolerance of the cluster’s net-
work communications and enables NIC replacement or
upgrades without losing network connectivity.