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1994-04-19
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NOVELL TECHNICAL INFORMATION DOCUMENT
TITLE: Partition Manipulation
DOCUMENT ID: TID
DOCUMENT REVISION: A
DATE: 30MAR94
ALERT STATUS: Yellow
INFORMATION TYPE: Issue
README FOR: NA
NOVELL PRODUCT and VERSION:
NetWare 4.01
ABSTRACT:
This document includes suggestion for NetWare Directory Services.
------------------------------------------------------------------
DISCLAIMER
THE ORIGIN OF THIS INFORMATION MAY BE INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL TO
NOVELL. NOVELL MAKES EVERY EFFORT WITHIN ITS MEANS TO VERIFY
THIS INFORMATION. HOWEVER, THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS
DOCUMENT IS FOR YOUR INFORMATION ONLY. NOVELL MAKES NO EXPLICIT
OR IMPLIED CLAIMS TO THE VALIDITY OF THIS INFORMATION.
------------------------------------------------------------------
ISSUE
Recommendations for Using This Information
This is not an official letter from Novell. The following
are simply pointers from what I have learned from working
with users and nothing more. For this reason, you will not
find my suggestions documented in manuals. I would also
like to point out that some may feel that my suggestions
create extra work that is not really necessary. While I
somewhat agree with this statement, my point is that the
extra safety incurred by following my suggestions is worth
the extra time taken. Also, partition and replica
manipulation is not performed that often when compared to
the rest of NetWare Directory Services (NDS) management.
When it comes to manipulating replica rings or partitions
over WANs, a little bit of planning goes a long ways.
Checking the WAN Condition when Manipulating Typical Objects
In my opinion, there are windows of time in a wide area
network in which partition replication is not as robust as
typical object manipulation and synchronization. In other
words, while I would never bother to check the condition of
my WAN when manipulating typical objects, I would first
check its condition before manipulating partitions. To do
so I would run DSTRACE on the servers that have replicas of
the partition that I am manipulating.
Avoid Creating Partition or Copying Replicas Through Install
First of all, a lot of the problems that get escalated to me
could be totally prevented if we avoided creating partitions
or copying replicas through install. For that reason, I
suggest that you never create a new partition or copy a
replica through install. This way if install is aborted or
redone, there is no possibility of getting into a situation
where NDS inconsistencies exist, or more frequently, locked
out because the NDS is busy.
If you want to install a new file server into a new
partition, first create the partition within partition
manager. Then when installing NDS onto your file server,
insert it into the current partition. When install prompts
you to copy a replica to this server, answer no. At this
point, install is complete.
Multiple Install Recommendations
If for some reason you want to redo INSTALL over and over,
use the following procedure:
1. Delete the volume object through NetAdmin.
2. Deinstall NDS from the server.
3. Then delete the server object through Part Manager.
Using this procedure, you will be able to reinstall as many
times as you would like. Two exceptions where you must
create partitions with install are with the first server in
a Tree or with a NetWare 3.x upgrade.
Master Replicas of New Partitions
If the end result that you want to accomplish is to have a
master replica of this new partition placed on this new file
server, do that through Partition Manager after install. Do
not perform any replica operations to that partition until
after you have verified through DSTRACE that all copies of
that partition have been updated.
If any of the file servers that has a copy of the partition
on it shows errors, resolve those errors first before
performing any other changes to that replica. Those other
changes include changing a partition to Master. Over busy
WANs, please give it some time for the NDS to update and
possibly resolve some errors.
Multiple Installs on the Same Server
I run into a fair number of users that have been locked out
of their NDS database because of doing multiple installs of
the same server. When you want to deinstall a server out of
a tree, remove all copies of the replica from the server
through partition manager instead of through install. After
you have verified the replicas have been moved (through
DSTRACE), go ahead and deinstall the server in the same
manner previously discussed.
Broken Trees
The biggest cause of updates not occurring and corruption
not being cleaned up is a broken Tree. DSTRACE will alert
you if you have a broken Tree. If a server is removed
without doing a proper deinstall (crashed and you do not
want to replace it), double check on the servers that have
copies of the partition containing the server (with DSTRACE
again), then remove the server with partition manager. Then
go into NetAdmin and delete the objects that were contained
on that server.
Manipulating Replicas without Waiting for a DSTRACE Clean Up
If you want the ability to manipulate replicas at a site
without waiting for DSTRACE to clean up, have at least two
servers per remote site that have replicas. This way, if
NDS needs to be removed and reinstalled (hard disk crash,
server crash, strange NDS corruption of a master replicas),
you have the ability to immediately reinstall without first
fixing DSTRACE errors. To do so, follow the steps that I
already outlined and do not copy a replica over to the
reinstalled server until DSTRACE is clean with all servers
involved in the replica ring. This way a newly reinstalled
server can immediately access the other servers partition
until DSTRACE is cleaned up. Also, make sure that you run
DSPAT in all your NetWare 4.01 servers.
Hints for Maintaining NDS
Never Rename Your File Server
Another hint that will help your NetWare Directory
Services easier to maintain is to never rename your
file server or give it a different internal IPX number.
Most people never have a problem renaming file servers;
however, when a problem does arise, it can be difficult
to resolve. Life is easier if you just do not rename
the file server. If you must rename you file server,
the safest way to do so is to deinstall your file
server out of the tree and reinstall it using the
methods previously listed.
Never Assign Two File Servers the Same Internal IPX
Number
Even more detrimental to you NDS tree, is assigning two
file servers the same internal IPX number. If you do
not like using the random IPX number generated by
install make sure, 100 percent, that the IPX number you
enter is not duplicated, even for a little while. I
have seen damage done to the NDS tree by having
duplicate IPX numbers that is not repairable.
Do Not Enable Auditing
Please do not enable auditing. If you already have
enabled auditing, you need to completely disable it.
If you need auditing, you will need to upgrade your
NetWare Directory Services to version 296. If you see
a problem of high utilization on the file servers,
along with extremely slow performance, you might be
seeing problems associated with auditing. Disabling
auditing at this point will not fix the problem, you
must upgrade your NDS to version 296.