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(C)Copyright 1993-1995 SysKonnect,
a business unit of Schneider & Koch & Co. Datensysteme GmbH.
All rights reserved
==========================================================================
SKFM_MSL.TXT

Readme File for SKFM_MSL.MSL
	SK-NET FDDI MSL Driver for NetWare SFT III v3.11


Mirrored Server Link (MSL) Driver

November 10, 1995
Software Version 1.10


This file contains
(1) overview
(2) important installation prerequisites
(2) valid driver keywords
==========================================================================


(1) OVERVIEW
============

SKFM_MSL.MSL is a driver for Netware SFT III v3.11.  
The driver corresponds to the MSL Specification Version 1.00 
from February 5, 1993.

We do our Mirrored Server Link not on a dedicated point to point connection
but on a standard FDDI LAN.  Due to this, it is possible to have more than 
one pair of mirrored servers on this FDDI ring, or to include a third standby 
server into the ring (which may be configured as a hardware backup for a 
mirrored server pair).
So configuration possibilites with the SKFM_MSL.MSL are very comprehensive
(you have only the limitations of FDDI).
***


(2) IMPORTANT INSTALLATION PREREQUISITES
========================================

ADJUST TIMEOUT SETTINGS
Before you start disk accesses on the server (for example when copying 
Public and System Files during installation) you have to set the timeout 
value to a greater value. 
Therefore enter the following command:

	set Mirrored Server Comm ACK Wait Time Out = 2.0
	(default: 0.8)

You may add this line to the configuration file IOSTART.NCF to set the 
parameter automatically at startup of your system.


ADJUST MEMORY SETTINGS
If you set the parameter 'Maximum Physical Receive Packet Size' to a higher 
value than the default value (default: 1514), you possibly may have to 
increase the memory given to the IOEngine. 
Therefore use the parameter 'New Start Address For Unclaimed Memory Block'. 
Refer to the SFT III manual to get more information about this.


ADJUST MSL-RETRY SETTINGS
You should make sure to load the driver with a MSL-Retry size greater or 
equal to 1.  Doing so, you will avoid possible problems performing task 
switches at your server.
Therefore use the parameter 'MSLRetry' to specify the desired retry count.

Syntax:
	load SKFM_MSL.MSL MSLRetry=1
***


(3) VALID DRIVER KEYWORDS
=========================

SPECIFIC DRIVER KEYWORDS
Due to features listed above the driver knows some specific keywords.

-MIRROREDSERVER (optional)
     specifies the MAC address of the other server.  (default: Broadcast) 
     Because the number of Broadcast packets on a LAN should not be very 
     high, you should specify the address of the other server.

     Syntax:
	load SKFM_MSL.MSL MIRROREDSERVER=00005A400764

-CONID (optional)
     specifies the Connection ID of the MSL.  (default: 0)
     If you use a Connection ID for your mirrored server pair, be sure
     that both servers use the same ID. 
     If you mirror more than one server pair on the same FDDI ring and have 
     not defined MIRROREDSERVER you must use this keyword.  Each server  
     pair must have a different connection ID.
     The Connection ID is a two byte hex value.

     Syntax:
	load SKFM_MSL.MSL ConID=0808

-MSLRETRY (optional)
     specifies the number of retries if no acknowledge is received
     (default 0).  Due to the fact that we are on a LAN, it is possible
     that packets are lost because of RingOpChanges or other trouble on the
     Medium.  If this happens the MSL is down and SFT III will restart the
     secondary server to reestablish the connection.  If you specify a
     number of MSLRetries the driver itself will do a retry if an 
     acknowledge is missing, so SFT III does not need to restart the 
     secondary server if a packet was lost (the restart of the secondary 
     server is a critical process because during the restart and 
     synchronisation you have no mirrored servers). 
     The maximum value for MSLRetry is 5.

     Syntax:
	load SKFM_MSL.MSL MSLRetry=1

-WINDOWSIZE (optional)
     specifies the size of the window for data transmission.  On the MSL
     you have to send an acknowledge for each packet.  With this parameter
     you can specify how much packets are sent without receiving an
     acknowledge (burst mode).  If there is heavy load on the MSL with big
     packets, it is desirable to have a big windowsize.  You will see
     this scenario during memory synchronization or if there are many write
     accesses to the disk (the data have to be put over the MSL to the
     secondary server).  If you have many read accesses to the disk there
     will be a lot of small packets on the MSL.  If now the windowsize is
     smaller, it is possible to queue many small messages (24 bytes) into
     one packet.  This mechanism reduces the overhead for transmitting
     many packets.
     The maximum value for WindowSize is 8.

     Syntax:
	load SKFM_MSL.MSL WindowSize=1
     	(default: 4)


SUPPORTED SMT PARAMETERS
In addition to the driver parameters given above, you can specify the 
following SMT parameters as on an FDDI LAN driver (they are all optional):

-PMFPASSWD
     This keyword defines the password that all remote PMF (Parameter
     Management Frame) requests must provide to change FDDI attributes
     within the adapter.
     The value for PMFPASSWD is 8 ASCII characters long and not
     case sensitive since lower case letters will be converted to upper
     cases.  Password protection can be disabled by setting this keyword
     to all zeros (default), or by not specifying a PMFPASSWD.

-USERDATA
     This keyword provides local write access to the User Data
     attribute, registered as fddiSMT 17 in the SMT Standard.
     The User Data must be an ASCII string for compliance
     with the FDDI SMT Standard.

-LERCUTOFFA / LERCUTOFFB
     This keywords provide local write access to the LER Cutoff
     attributes, registered as fddiPORT 58 in the SMT Standard.
     This attributes identify the excessive Link Error Rate that
     removes Port A/B (or Port S).
     This keywords are specified as absolute values of the base 10 
     logarithm of the LER Cufoff value.
     The valid range reaches from 1E-4 to 1E-15.  If a value
     is specified which lies outside the limits, the upper/lower
     limit will be taken.  If no value is specified,
     the default value for LERCUTOFFA/LERCUTOFFB (1E-7) will be used.

-LERALARMA / LERALARMB
     This keywords provide local write access to the LER
     Alarm attributes, registered as fddiPORT 59 in the SMT Standard.
     This attributes identify the excessive Link Error Rate
     that signals an alarm at Port A/B (or Port S).
     This keywords are specified as absolute values of the base 10 
     logarithm of the LER Alarm value.
     The valid range reaches from 1E-4 to 1E-15 for both keywords.  If a 
     value is specified which lies outside the limits, the upper/lower
     limit will be taken.  If no value is specified,
     the default value for LERALARMA/LERALARMB (1E-8) will be used.

-TMIN
     This keyword provides local write access to the 2's complement T-Min
     attribute, registered as fddiMAC 55 in the SMT Standard.
     The value for TMIN is specified in milliseconds.
     The valid range reaches from 5 ms to 165 ms.  If a value is specified 
     which lies outside the limits, the upper/lower limit will be taken.  
     If no value is specified, the default value for TMIN (5 ms) will be 
     used.

-TMAX
     This keyword provides local write access to the 2's complement T-Max
     attribute, registered as fddiMAC 53 in the SMT Standard.
     The value for TMAX is specified in milliseconds.
     The valid range reaches from 5 ms to 165 ms.  If a value is specified 
     which lies outside the limits, the upper/lower limit will be taken.  
     If no value is specified, the default value for TMAX (165 ms) will be 
     used.

-TREQ
     This keyword provides local write access to the 2's complement T-Req
     attribute, registered as fddiMAC 51 in the SMT Standard.
     The value for TREQ is specified in milliseconds.
     The valid range reaches from 5 ms to 165 ms.  If a value is specified 
     which lies outside the limits, the upper/lower limit will be taken.  
     If no value is specified, the default value for TREQ (165 ms) will be 
     used.

-TVX
     This keyword provides local write access to the TVX attribute,
     registered as fddiMAC 54 in the SMT Standard.
     This attribute provides local control of the recovery time from 
     transient ring errors.
     The value for TVX is specified in microseconds.
     The valid range reaches from 2500 us to 10000 us.  If a value is 
     specified which lies outside the limits, the upper/lower limit will 
     be taken.  If no value is specified, the default value for TVX 
     (2700 us) will be used.

*** End of information file ***