Summary

   


The implementation of a new system can often be a complex task, frequently aggravated by financial constraints and pressures. The system manager should be able to offset a number of costs to the project or department requesting the implementation. The complications are much greater when a continuous operation is required, on a 24x7 basis. Staff, management, and financial considerations all play a part here and need to be resolved satisfactorily to provide the required level of service.

A new system creates a number of issues relating to its environment, such as its accommodation in the computer room, the power requirements, environmental control, and so on. All of these can have an effect on the existing systems already present in the room, so the system manager must be mindful of the current operation and must take special care to avoid disruption wherever possible.

Upgrading existing systems carries a different risk from the new installation in that an operational system is being modified. Clustered solutions, such as the Sun cluster software, greatly assist the system manager in reducing the impact on the business and eliminating downtime of the operation. This is achieved by having a number of systems share the workload so that when one is removed from the cluster to be upgraded, the others merely take on the work that was being carried out by that system. On completion of the upgrade, the system simply rejoins the cluster, and the operation continues uninterrupted.

The system manager must always consider contingency in case of a failure. Part of his preparation for an upgrade has to be the consideration of fallback plans so that he can quickly restore the system to its former state, if required. The use of a test environment helps in the evaluation of potential problems, and a full backup provides the contingency that is needed; however, the backup must be tested before declaring its integrity.

Most companies have a policy on applying patches. They either install all the patches available, install just the patches that directly affect their operation, or don't install any. I always recommend the first option of installing at least the recommended patches and the security patches ”it could make a lot of difference when trying to resolve a problem via the Sun help desk.


   
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Solaris System Management
Solaris System Management (New Riders Professional Library)
ISBN: 073571018X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2001
Pages: 101
Authors: John Philcox

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