InfoServer System Operations Guide Oct94

This "InfoServer System Operations Guide" (October 1994, Version 3.2) is a comprehensive manual designed for InfoServer managers. Its primary purpose is to explain how to manage an InfoServer system, set up services for client systems on a local area network (LAN), and troubleshoot operational problems. The document focuses on software management and refers to other guides for hardware installation and troubleshooting.

The guide details InfoServer's core functions as a high-performance virtual device server, capable of serving physical device media (such as compact discs and SCSI tapes) and logical disk partitions to network clients, making them appear as local devices. It covers automatic features like compact disc automounting for various file systems (HFS, ODS-2, HSG, ISO 9660, ULTRIX UFS) and its role in MOP downline loading for OpenVMS and other Ethernet products. Key features also include LASTport protocols for high-performance access, a service rating scheme for load balancing, specific naming conventions for server resources, and read/write-access policies for data integrity.

A significant portion of the document is dedicated to server management commands, providing detailed syntax and examples for tasks such as:

• Data Management: Backing up, restoring, copying, and erasing InfoServer-formatted disks and partitions.
• Service & Partition Management: Creating, deleting, and modifying attributes of services and disk partitions.
• System Configuration: Setting server-wide parameters like cache size, crash dump settings, LAT group codes, prompt, and remote device access.
• Monitoring & Reporting: Displaying detailed information and counters for devices, Ethernet, LAT, MOP, partitions, and overall server status and statistics.
• System Maintenance: Updating system functions or software, purging old software versions, and rebooting the server.

Advanced operations include configuring InfoServer for regularly updated compact discs, assigning passwords to protect data, serving media under multiple names, creating and managing disk partitions, serving external read/write disks, defragmenting and replicating disks, making downline loadable images available, configuring X terminals, enforcing network license limits, and using its Compact Disc Recorder (CD-R) function.

Finally, the guide provides extensive troubleshooting information for common issues such as client system connection failures, slow device access, inability to enter commands from local or remote consoles, InfoServer software boot problems, and forgotten InfoServer passwords, offering specific corrective steps for each scenario. Appendices offer a quick reference for command syntax and explanations of server messages.