Supporting the Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS)

Introducing and setting up MSCS to support failover of virtual servers.

This information applies to IBM MQ for Windows only.

The Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS) enables you to connect servers into a cluster, giving higher availability of data and applications, and making it easier to manage the system. MSCS can automatically detect and recover from server or application failures.

MSCS supports failover of virtual servers, which correspond to applications, Web sites, print queues, or file shares (including, for example, their disk spindles, files, and IP addresses).

Failover is the process by which MSCS detects a failure in an application on one computer in the cluster, and shuts down the disrupted application in an orderly manner, transfers its state data to the other computer, and reinitiates the application there.

• Introducing MSCS clusters
• Set up IBM MQ for MSCS clustering

Then tells you how to configure IBM MQ for MSCS clustering, in the following sections:

• Create a queue manager for use with MSCS
• Moving a queue manager to MSCS storage
• Put a queue manager under MSCS control
• Removing a queue manager from MSCS control

And then gives some useful hints on using MSCS with IBM MQ, and details the IBM MQ MSCS support utility programs, in the following sections:

• Hints and tips on using MSCS
• Support for MSCS utility programs

• Introducing MSCS clusters
  MSCS clusters are groups of two or more computers, connected together and configured in such a way that, if one fails, MSCS performs a failover, transferring the state data of applications from the failing computer to another computer in the cluster and re-initiating their operation there.
• Set up IBM MQ for MSCS clustering
  You configure IBM MQ for clustering by making the queue manager the unit of failover to MSCS. You define a queue manager as a resource to MSCS, which can then monitor it, and transfer it to another computer in the cluster if there is a problem.
• Create a queue manager for use with MSCS
  This procedure ensures that a new queue manager is created in such a way that it is suitable for preparing and placing under MSCS control.
• Moving a queue manager to MSCS storage
  This procedure configures an existing queue manager to make it suitable for putting under MSCS control.
• Put a queue manager under MSCS control
  The tasks involved in placing a queue manager under MSCS control, including prerequisite tasks.
• looksAlive and isAlive polling on MSCS
  looksAlive and isAlive are intervals at which MSCS calls back into the resource types supplied library code and requests that the resource performs checks to determine the working status of itself. This ultimately determines if MSCS attempts to fail over the resource.
• Removing a queue manager from MSCS control
  We can remove queue managers from MSCS control, and return them to manual administration.
• Hints and tips on using MSCS
  This section contains some general information to help we use IBM MQ support for MSCS effectively.
• Support for MSCS utility programs
  A list of the IBM MQ support for MSCS utility programs that we can run at a command prompt.

Parent topic: High availability configurations