Metadata server states

This topic describes SAN File System metadata server states.

SAN File System metadata servers present different states depending on whether they are available or unavailable, or whether or not they are part of a cluster.

Table 1. SAN File System metadata server states
State type State name State description
Unavailable Not running The server is not running and cannot perform any functions.
Failed initialization A fatal error occurred during initialization and the server is suspended. The server remains suspended until an administrator can fix the problem that occurred during initialization.
Available, unclustered Initializing The server is running, but has not yet opened its communication ports.
Not added The server has not yet been added to the cluster. Because the master server does not know about servers that have not yet been added, this state is only available by logging into that server.
Joining The server is joining the cluster (has activated its communication).
Available, clustered Offline This state terminates all current client sessions and prevents new client sessions from being started, but still allows all server I/O. The offline state is used for restricting the cluster from client access.
Characteristics:
  • No cluster configurations are allowed in this state. Configuration changes will fail.
  • Metadata activity stops.
  • Existing locks are maintained.
  • File extensions (growing a file) are not allowed during this time, which guarantees a consistent metadata view for LUN-based backup.
  • SAN File System FlashCopy® is not available.
  • Administration command line interface client locks are revoked, caches flushed, and so on.
Fully quiescent Quiescence puts the server in a “quiet” client communications mode to allow other operations to occur, such as configuring a server or creating a FlashCopy image. Full quiescence cuts off all client communications with the server.
Characteristics:
  • No cluster configurations are allowed in this state. Configuration changes will fail.
  • SAN File System FlashCopy is not available.
  • Administration command line interface client locks are revoked, caches flushed, and so on.
Partly quiescent Quiescence puts the server in a “quiet” client communications mode to allow other operations to occur, such as configuring a server or creating a FlashCopy image. Partial quiescence allows existing metadata activity and client communication to continue, but prohibits new communication.
Online The server has fully initialized all of its subsystems, is a member of a cluster, and is serving client requests.
Unknown Unknown The server state cannot be determined.

Parent topic: States

Related concepts
Cluster

Related tasks
Creating a FlashCopy image

Related reference
Cluster states
Managing metadata servers

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