AIX: Hacmp history and evolution

IBM High Availability Cluster Multi-Processing goes back to the early 1990s.
HACMP development started in 1990 to provide high availability solution for
applications running on RS/6000 servers.
We do not provide information about the very early releases, since those
releases are nor supported or in use at the time this book was developed,
instead, we provide highlights about the most recent versions.

HACMP V4.2.2:
Along with HACMP Classic (HAS), this version introduced the enhanced
scalability version (ES) based on RSCT (Reliable Scalable Clustering
Technology) topology, group, and event management services, derived from
PSSP (Parallel Systems Support Program).

HACMP V4.3.X:
This version introduced, among other aspects, 32 node support for HACMP/ES,
C-SPOC enhancements, ATM network support, HACMP Task guides (GUI for
simplifying cluster configuration), multiple pre- and post- event scripts, FDDI
MAC address takeover, monitoring and administration support enhancements,
node by node migration, and AIX fast connect support.

HACMP V4.4.X:
New items in this version are integration with Tivoli®, application monitoring,
cascading with out fallback, C-SPOC enhancements, improved migration
support, integration of HA-NFS functionality, and soft copy documentation (HTML
and PDF).

HACMP V4.5:
In this version, AIX 5L is required, and there is an automated configuration
discovery feature, multiple service labels on each network adapter (through the
use of IP aliasing), persistent IP address support, 64-bit-capable APIs, and
monitoring and recovery from loss of volume group quorum.

HACMP V5.1:
This is the version that introduced major changes, from configuration
simplification and performance enhancements to changing HACMP terminology.
Some of the important new features in HACMP V5.1 were:

SMIT “Standard” and “Extended” configuration paths (procedures)
Automated configuration discovery
Custom resource groups
Non IP networks based on heartbeating over disks
Fast disk takeover
Forced varyon of volume groups
Heartbeating over IP aliases
HACMP “classic” (HAS) has been dropped; now there is only HACMP/ES,
based on IBM Reliable Scalable Cluster Technology
Improved security, by using cluster communication daemon (eliminates the
need of using standard AIX “r” commands, thus eliminating the need for the
/.rhosts file)
Improved performance for cluster customization and synchronization Normalization of HACMP terminology
Simplification of configuration and maintenance
Online Planning Worksheets enhancements
Forced varyon of volume groups
Custom resource groups
Heartbeat monitoring of service IP addresses/labels on takeover node(s)
Heartbeating over IP aliases
Heartbeating over disks
Various C-SPOC enhancements
GPFS integration
Fast disk takeover
Cluster verification enhancements
Improved resource group management

HACMP V5.2:
Starting July 2004, the new HACMP V5.2 added more improvements in
management, configuration simplification, automation, and performance areas.
Here is a summary of the improvements in HACMP V5.2:

Two-Node Configuration Assistant, with both SMIT menus and a Java™
interface (in addition to the SMIT “Standard” and “Extended” configuration
paths).
File collections.
User password management.
Classic resource groups are not used anymore, having been replaced by
custom resource groups.
Automated test procedures.
6 IBM Eserver pSeries HACMP V5.x Certification Study Guide Update
Automatic cluster verification.
Improved Online Planning Worksheets (OLPW) can now import a
configuration from an existing HACMP cluster.
Event management (EM) has been replaced by resource monitoring and a
control (RMC) subsystem (standard in AIX).
Enhanced security.
Resource group dependencies.
Self-healing clusters

HACMP V5.3 :

In addition to Smart Assist for WebSphere, HACMP 5.3 provides new Smart
Assist features:

– DB2® 8.1, 8.2 EE
– Oracle Application Server 10g (OAS)

Additional resource and resource group management features include:

– Cluster-wide resource group location dependencies (including XD)
– Distribution preference for the IP service aliases

Online Planning Worksheet functionality has been extended, and also the OLPW
configuration file format has been unified. In this version, it is possible to:

– Clone a cluster from an existing “live” configuration
– Extracting Cluster snapshot information to XML format for use with OLPW

OEM volume groups and file systems has been added to for Veritas Volume
Manager (VxVM), and Veritas File System (VxFS).
It is also possible to generate and send SMS pager messages (e-mail format)
when HACMP events occur.
Performance and usability have been improved using new architecture for
communication between Clinfo and the Cluster Manager.
Using Cluster Information (Clinfo) API versioning removes requirement to
recompile clients in the future.
Cluster Verification facilities continue to grow to help customers prevent problems
before they occur.

HACMP V5.4 :
Release date July 2006