HP OpenCall SS7 Operating Conditions

The HP OpenCall SS7 product operates under the conditions and constraints described below.

LAN Environment

Inter-host LANs

The two LANs must be configured on separate IP subnets, and they must be isolated from any external network using bridges or routers:

Figure 1-1 Isolated LANs

To prevent unnecessary switchovers, the LANs must be dimensioned so that peak traffic (< 60% of bandwidth) does not saturate them, as this would delay the FTC and stack heartbeats and HP Opencall SS7 data traffic.




	NOTE: The LANs must be either Ethernet (100-BaseT) or FDDI.

Only two IP addresses with the same hostname are supported by HP OpenCall SS7. If you want to add another IP address, you must give it a new hostname.

Bridges or routers between hosts within the platform are not supported.

Figure 1-2 Bridges/Routers Between Hosts




	NOTE: In the case of a GDI configuration, each GDI signaling LAN should be on a separate, dedicated IP subnet.

Inter Back End LANs

There are no such restrictions on the type of LAN used between Back End hosts.

Swapping

An operational host must not swap. Main memory must be dimensioned so that all applications can run using only physical memory.

Disk-buffered I/O

Buffered file I/O cannot be used because it causes the host to stop occasionally for an undetermined time to flush the buffers to disk.

If an application requires disk-buffered I/O, then it must be run on a back end (BE), with HP OpenCall SS7 on a front end (FE).

OS Administration Constraints

The following OS administration constraints apply.

Copying Very Large Files

Avoid copying very large files (larger than tens of MBs) as this slows down the platform and may provoke a switchover.

Battery Backup

Battery backup of the platform is not supported. Architectures must be configured so that an /etc/shutdown is performed when it is re-powered.

Date, Time and Synchronizing Clocks

NTP Synchronization

HP OpenCall SS7’s High Availability component is compatible with ntp synchronization, without any special procedures that need to be followed.

Setting the Date and Time

Front-end Hosts

HP OpenCall SS7’s High Availability component allows you to change the date and time on front-end hosts, with the following restrictions:

Perform the “ clock-jump” on the standby user-application, not the active application.
TCAP, SCCP, and MTP timers set by user-applications and API timers that are set before the “clock jump”, are not guaranteed to function. If your application can recognize a “clock jump”, it is recommended (but not required) that you clear the buffers.

Platform Manager

The management processes run on the Platform Manager, which are not highly available, do not support a “clock jump”.