HP ProLiant 1850R Compaq's Cluster Management Initiative - Page 9

physical cluster in the enterprise. Other functions supported by the Intelligent Cluster Administrator include:  Add/change/delete configuration log entries  Compare any two configurations in the log  Compare any cluster configuration in the log with current configurations  Designate one entry in the log as the "ideal" cluster state  Export the current configurations, or any configuration in the log  Verify any configuration in the log against the current cluster  Import any saved configuration to the log or to the cluster The import/export utilities are particularly helpful in maintaining and deploying uniform clusters. All the administrator needs to do is point to any configured cluster, extract the current configuration, modify it if necessary, and then archive it for disaster recovery situations or deploy it to the same or another cluster. Furthermore, the Intelligent Cluster Administrator can do all this dynamically without needing to reboot the cluster. The Intelligent Cluster Administrator with it's anytime anywhere browser based implementation is an innovative tool that frees the administrator from the inflexibility of a dedicated management console. This innovative facility clearly establishes Compaq as a leader in NT MSCS cluster development / deployment, and helps to reduce cost of ownership by providing cluster management flexibility and control. Compaq has advanced the state of the art in cluster administration of enterprise business critical solutions and made it possible to easily manage and deploy MSCS clusters. The Intelligent Cluster Administrator is a significant step towards providing a common, intuitive, easy to understand, and consistent system management interface. Comparable Alternatives Both IBM and HP are on a similar cluster management path and they are beginning to develop and deploy integrated cluster policy and management solutions. However, their current products are point solutions that are not as tightly integrated with the system management interface, as the Compaq products. Hewlett-Packard's ClusterView product is a hardware centric cluster monitor that supports a single point for monitoring UNIX and NT clusters. ClusterView supports a visual mapped-based interface, and event notification. It enables the automatic detection, monitoring, and control of remote clusters and certain cluster components. ClusterView requires HP's OpenView and Network Node Manager when used in conjunction with HP MC/ServiceGuard and Microsoft Cluster Server. This is a heavy investment in overhead if you are not committed to HP's Open View framework manager. While it has the advantage of supporting both HP-UX MC/Service Guard and NT MSCS clusters, it still requires MSCS "Cluadmin" to add, change, and delete cluster configurations. ClusterView's reliance on optional software products such as the OpenView / Network Node manager adds cost, additional complexity, and more processing overhead. IBM's Cluster System Management (ICSM) product is designed to manage NetFinity MSCS clusters. It supports plug-in modules for IBM NetFinity Manager, Intel LANdesk HARVARD RESEARCH GROUP  Box 297  HARVARD, MA 01451 USA  http:/www.hrgresearch.com 9