Data availability

GPFS is fault tolerant and can be configured for continued access to data
even if cluster nodes or storage systems fail. This is accomplished though
robust clustering features and support for data replication.
GPFS continuously monitors the health of the file system components.
When failures are detected appropriate recovery action is taken automatically.
Extensive logging and recovery capabilities are provided which maintain
metadata consistency when application nodes holding locks or performing
services fail. Data replication is available for journal logs, metadata and data.
Replication allows for continuous operation even if a path to a disk or a disk
itself fails.
GPFS Version 3.2 further enhances clustering robustness with connection
retries. If the LAN connection to a node fails GPFS will automatically try and
reestablish the connection before making the node unavailable. This provides
for better uptime in environments experiencing network issues.
Using these features along with a high availability infrastructure ensures a
reliable enterprise storage solution.