Force Partner Removal

The Force Partner Removal feature can be used to (1) sever a partner relationship because of a non-responsive partner or (2) to create two standalone servers. This is one of the Unreachable Partner Operations on the Partner tab of the Storage Server Properties dialog box.

In order to clarify the steps in this topic, we will refer to the storage server where we are originating the removal of the partner as the “remaining” partner and we will refer to the storage server that is being forcibly removed as the “removed” partner.

WARNING:  If you are removing a non-responsive partner, then you must perform the removal from the working “remaining” partner.
If you are forcing partner removal as a means of creating two standalone servers, it is important to know the results of the operation in order to determine which server to begin the operation from.

Results of the Force Partner Removal operation:

  • Deletes the configuration of the removed server from the remaining server.

  • Leaves both servers in standalone configurations.

  • If the primary volumes of a mirror are on the remaining server, they will be converted into linear virtual volumes and will remain mapped to application servers. Secondary volumes of a mirror on the remaining server will be unmapped and the virtual volumes will be removed from the configuration.

Follow these steps to force removal of a partner:

  1. Before performing this operation, close all SANmelody windows and Computer Management on the storage server being removed.  

  2. On the remaining partner, ensure that the storage server is in Read/Write mode in the SANmelody software.

  3. Open the Storage Server component.

  4. In the right pane, right-click the remaining storage server node and choose Partner. The Partner tab of the Storage Properties box opens.

  5. In the Unreachable Partner Operations area, click Force Partner Removal and click OK.
     SANmelody forcepartnerremoval Force Partner Removal

  6. You will receive a warning message. Please read carefully and click OK to continue or Cancel the operation.
    SANmelody forcepartnerremoval2 Force Partner Removal

  7. Open Disk Manager, right-click Physical Disks and then click Rescan Disks. This will also remove the partner storage resources seen by the storage server.

  8. Apply the configuration.

  9. If you want to configure the “removed” partner as a standalone server, continue to the next section.

 

To configure the removed partner as a standalone SANmelody server:

  1. Open the SANmelody interface on the removed server and select the Storage Server component in the console tree.

  2. You will receive a message that the removed storage server is in Allow Incoming Partner Request state. Click OK to reset the server to a standalone configuration.
    SANmelody forcepartnerremoval3 Force Partner Removal

  3. You will receive a message to close and re-open Computer Management. Click OK.
    SANmelody forcepartnerremoval4 Force Partner Removal

  4. Close and re-open Computer Management.

  5. Open Disk Manager, right-click Physical Disks and then click Rescan Disks to remove the partner storage resources seen by the storage server.

  6. Apply the configuration.

 

Force Partner Removal