[Linux-cluster] power controller is interal/loss of pwer prevents failover: any ideas

[Eric Kerin]

On Fri, 2006-09-08 at 11:16 -0700, Rick Rodgers wrote:
> Does anyone know of a good solution to providing good failover 
> for somthing like a Dell 1850? The issue here is that the power 
> souce plug in the back provides power for both the internal power
> controller
> and the node itself. So if you pull the cord it will not failover
> because
> it can not Stonith the failed node (power controller is down also).
> 

While you can't eliminate your chances of that happening while using the
internal fence device, you can reduce the chance by using dual power
supplies.  Obviously if both power supplies go to the same PDU then you
only buy so much.

For my cluster, I use two external power controllers (APC 7900's) to
fence my nodes, two to provide redundant power paths and no single point
of failure for power.  While I could use the built in RIB card (HP
Servers) this method reduces the possible failure points.

Thanks, 
Eric Kerin
eric at bootseg.com