1272 - HSM is disabled when a MirrorServer is added as a failback target

Modified on Mon, 21 Jul at 1:03 PM

Symptom

A StorageServer failure (e.g. due to hardware issues) occurs in a paired configuration of mirrored StorageServers such as the following:

SS1 (HSM on) to MS1 (HSM off)
SS2 (HSM on) to MS2 (HSM off)

While the issue is being resolved, the MirrorServers are promoted to be StorageServers, meaning the setup temporarily runs without mirrors.

At the point of failback, the StorageServers are demoted (i.e. added back to the promoted mirrors as new mirrors). We should now have the following:

MS1 (HSM off) mirroring to SS1 (HSM on)
MS2 (HSM off) mirroring to SS2 (HSM on)

However, we have this instead:

MS1 (HSM off) mirroring to SS1 (HSM off)
MS2 (HSM off) mirroring to SS2 (HSM off)

Despite the fact that the HSM Enabled setting was configured as "true" in the StorageServers' settings.xml files, the setting was overwritten when these servers were added as mirrors. No other settings were overwritten.

Cause

This occurs because the Storage Platform Console automatically changes the HSM value to the default (Disabled) when a MirrorServer is added.

Solution

Do not close the Console when the demoted StorageServers (now MirrorServers) are added to the promoted MirrorServers (now StorageServers). When you add the new MirrorServers, the default settings (including HSM Disabled) will be displayed. Do not click OK, as this will accept the default settings. Instead, click Cancel. This will fetch the settings, which will be correct once you configure the StorageServers again.