SP0744


Server Manager/R for VINES

Version 1.4 Release Notes


Overview

The Server Manager/R collection agent for VINES is being revised to support
the latest version of the Network Operating System.  Bug fixes and
enhancements are included in this release.  The following notes describe the
modifications made for Version 1.4.

Because of a bug in the VINES 5.xx system, this version of  Server Manager/R
will only function with Version 5.52(5) of VINES.  Versions after 5.52(5)
will be supported by this release.  Any previous versions (5.00(x), 5.50(x),
5.52(1)) will not be supported with release 1.4 of the collection agent.

Since this version of the collection agent uses the new 5.5x APIs, 4.11(x) is
no longer supported with this release.


VINES Version 5.xx Support

The API functions in the 5.xx Application Toolkit for VINES were renamed and
in some circumstances function arguments were modified.  Some supporting
include files were either eliminated or replaced.  A tool kit utility called
XNAME was used to automatically convert the functions from the old naming
conventions to the new.   Include file and function argument modifications
were performed manually.


Slot vs. Controller Instance Problem

Previous versions of the VINES IDA driver provided the "instance" (i.e. first
controller, second controller) of the controller to the collection agent.
Due to adjustments made to the IDA driver (in the vicinity of 5.xx),
reporting the controller instance was replaced with reporting the EISA slot
number.  The result of this change caused the SMF utility to display
"C<slot>" which would have been misleading to the user.  Since the collection
agent was already being revised, the decision was made to modify the
collection agent to report "S<slot>" to the SMF utility.  The difficulty in
getting the IDA driver modified to re-support controller instance coupled
with the time schedule required for supporting the current collection agent
modifications reinforces this decision .


Increased Object Support

In order to handle the possibility of  large drive array systems,  the number
of objects supported in the collection agent has been increased.  The number
of new Controller Objects is eight, which is the same number supported under
the Accelerator Object.  The number of Logical Drive Objects has been
increased from eight to 16.  The number of VINES Disks Objects has also been
increased from eight to 16.  The number of Physical Drive Objects will remain
at 32.


Controller Object Support

The collection agent will now support the new Controller Object and not the
Accelerator Object.  The accelerator-related attributes are now handled in
the Controller Object.  The Controller F/W Revision within the Logical Drive
Object Identification Attribute has been moved to the Controller Object
Identification Attribute.

In order to support attributes related only to a specific controller, three
different controller data arrays were created.  The first array supports the
original IDA attributes, the second adds logical drive IDs that support the
posted write cache (which is provided on the IDAES and IDA-2 controllers).
The third controller array is SMART-specific which includes additional
support for ProLiant firmware revisions.


COMPAQ SMART SCSI Array Controller

Modifications were made to include support for the COMPAQ SMART SCSI Array
Controller.  This IDA controller with posted write cache will appear in the
SMF utility as any other IDA controller.  Its object name "SMART" is
displayed by the SMF utility.

To provide immediate support for future IDA controllers, the function that
constructs the object title will no longer check for the latest EISA ID.  New
IDA controllers that do not have functional or name support will be
designated as "NEW" so that SMF support can be provided until the collection
agent can be modified to support the new controller.

Support for the Sense Bus Statistics BMIC command was added in order to
obtain the firmware revisions of ProLiant products attached to a SMART
controller.  Support for this command is not complete until the VINES IDA
driver is modified to support this feature.  In the event that a SMART
controller is attached and this command is issued and fails because it is not
supported, the phrase "N/A" will replace the firmware revision string and an
appropriate error message will be logged.


Logical Drive Object Changes

The current Logical Drive Object data array has not been enhanced to support
the SMART controller.  As with the Controller Object data array, an
additional data array has been added for logical drives that contain
attributes that gather data on a port basis.  The Signature entry in the
Identification Attribute has been removed.


Physical Drive Object Changes

A "port" designation has been added to support the SMART controller port
concept.  Since it is integrated into the Physical ID Attribute, it will be
displayed regardless of the controller type.  Controllers that do not support
multiple ports will have the port value set to 1.

The "Realloc Avail (Factory) entry in the Identification Attribute has been
removed.  Two new Physical Drive Attributes have been added: Corrected Read
Errors and Spin-Up Cycles.  The following attributes are no longer supported:

                        Functional Test 0
                        Other Timeout
                        Spin-Up Retries
                        Recovery Failed - Read
                        Recovery Failed - Write
                        Format Error
                        POST Error
                        Realloc Abort


Posted Write Cache Support Fixes

The current versions of the Server Manager/R collection agent supported the
posted write cache (accelerator) on the IDA-2 controller only if the
controller contained the first logical drive.  If the controller did not
contain the first logical drive, the accelerator object would attempt to
attach itself to the controller designated as the first logical drive.  If
this controller was not supported by the collection agent, the accelerator
object would not be supported or displayed by the SMF utility.  This problem
was a product of the initial design of the collection agent.

Support for a second IDA-2 controller with accelerator could also cause
confusion with the SMF utility.  If the first IDA-2 controller contained more
that one logical drive, the accelerator object of the second IDA-2 controller
could be attached to the second logical drive of the first IDA-2.  This would
cause the SMF utility to display two accelerator objects, but the information
in the second accelerator would be the same information contained in the
first.  The correct information reported by the second accelerator would be
lost.

This work was completed before the knowledge that the Controller Object would
replace the Accelerator Object.


Minor Bug Fixes and Changes

A three-line "object creation error" log entry was reduced to one line and
vague debug codes were eliminated.

IDA physical drive 8 would not be reported in the Drive IDs Attribute in the
Logical Drive Object.