Emc IP Holding Company LLC

Inna Reznik

Ahia Lieber

Peter John McCann

Eran Banin

Joe Caisse

Techniques for providing a fencing scheme for cluster systems without inherent hardware fencing. Storage nodes in an HA cluster communicate with one another over communication paths implemented through a variety of mechanisms, including drives and network connections. Each storage node in the HA cluster executes a fencing enforcer component operable to enforce actions or processes for initiating fencing of itself and/or initiating self-fencing of another storage node in the HA cluster determined to be malfunctioning. By providing for richer communications between storage nodes in an HA cluster and a richer set of actions or processes for fencing a malfunctioning storage node including self-fencing, the malfunctioning storage node can be made to exit the HA cluster in a more controlled fashion. In addition, a remaining storage node in the HA cluster can more safely take on the role of primary storage node with reduced risk of data corruption on shared resources.

Enhanced fencing scheme for cluster systems without inherent hardware fencing

Techniques for providing a framework for handling execution of HA flows in an active-active storage node configuration. The techniques include receiving notifications of functional statuses of processes and/or equipment associated with storage nodes in the active-active configuration, making determinations regarding how to address HA events occurring on the processes and/or equipment associated with the storage nodes based on the received notifications, and, in response to a request to execute an HA flow for a respective HA event, determining whether to refuse the request to execute the HA flow, service the request to execute the HA flow, abort one or more HA flows in execution, and/or postpone execution of the HA flow to a later time based on one or more dependencies defining conditions for the HA flow. In this way, mutual interference of HA flows or other process threads in the active-active configuration can be reduced or eliminated.

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Tel Aviv, Israel

Inna Reznik