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               RELEASE NOTES for OCTOPUS version 3.1
               Published April 1998
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

A.  Octopus 3.1 Package
B.  Installing Octopus
C.  Uninstalling Octopus
D.  Octopus 3.1 Features
E.  Octopus 3.1 Known Problems
F.  Octopus 3.1 Corrections

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A.  OCTOPUS 3.1 PACKAGE

In your Octopus 3.1 package, you'll find:

*  Octopus media, an Octopus CD 
   Octopus media contains the executable code that runs on Intel
   and ALPHA platforms, as certified by Microsoft for Windows NT.

*  "Octopus User's Guide"
   This guide contains instructions for installing, configuring,
   administering and troubleshooting Octopus software.

You can have one of four Octopus 3.1 packages:

*  OctopusHA+ (High Availability Plus) 3.1
   This CD package is an upgrade to Octopus HA+ 3.0, also previously 
   known as Octopus SASO and Octopus Server with SASO 2.0.  This 
   package provides switch-over capabilities to ensure server availability, 
   in addition to other Octopus features.

*  Octopus DataStar 3.1
   This CD package is an upgrade to Octopus DataStar 3.0 
   previously known as Octopus Server 2.0.  This package
   provides the same capabilities as OctopusHA+ but without
   switch-over.

*  OctopusDP 3.1 for NT Workstation
   This floppy disk package is an upgrade to Octopus WinStation 2.0
   for NT Workstation.  This package safeguards data on Windows NT
   workstations.

*  OctopusDP 3.1 for Windows 95
   This floppy disk package is an upgrade to Octopus WinStation 2.0
   for Windows 95.  This package safeguards data on Windows 95 systems.

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B.  INSTALLING OCTOPUS

For complete information on installing Octopus 3.0 software and
upgrading from previous versions, see the "User's Guide."

1 Start Windows NT.

The user ID you use to log on to Windows NT must have administrative privileges.

Octopus will not install properly while the Windows NT performance is running, so make sure the performance meter is turned off before you install Octopus.

2 Insert the Octopus CD in the CD Drive.

Octopus HA+ has an autostart program that automatically starts the Setup program when you insert the CD into the CD Drive. 

If the installation program doesn't run, or if you are installing from diskettes, please do the following

a) Select Run from the Windows NT Start menu.

The Run dialog box appears.
 
b) Depending on the package that you have, type:
* 	   [drive]:\HAP\setup, for OctopusHA+
* 	   [drive]:\DataStar\setup, for Octopus DataStar
* 	   [drive]:\setup, for OctopusDP

c) Click OK.

The Octopus Setup dialog box appears.
 
3 Click Continue.

Octopus displays the License Key dialog box. If you have already installed Octopus on the current system, then the License Key will already be filled out. 
 
4 If the License Key dialog box is blank, enter your unique license key

For information on obtaining a license key, see "Obtaining a License Key" in Chapter 1, of the Octopus User's Guide.

5 Click Continue.

The Site Select dialog box appears, with the name of the current server in the Install Site box.
 
6 To install Octopus on the local system, click Continue.

If you have remote administration capabilities, you can also install Octopus on a connected network server.  To select a network server you can type the remote server name.

7 Octopus checks the disk space available on the system.  If there is not enough space to install Octopus, then you see an error message.  You can either click Yes to continue installing Octopus or click No to stop the installation and return to the Windows desktop.
  
8 The Install Paths dialog box appears:
 
9 In Prog Path, type the path name where you want the Octopus programs installed.

10 In Data Path, type the path name where you want the Octopus DATA directory installed.

11 Click Continue.

If you are installing Octopus on a remote system, then you need to insert the unique license key for that system as well and then click Continue

12 To exit, click Finish.

13. Reboot your system.

Octopus software is installed and ready for use.

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C.  UNINSTALLING OCTOPUS

1.  Use the Octopus Client to attach to the site from which you
    want to uninstall Octopus 3.0 software.

2.  Click OPTIONS on the MAINTENANCE menu.  The Octopus - Options
    dialog box appears.

3.  Click AUTO START SERVICE to turn this option off (the check
    box must be blank).

4.  Click OK.  Octopus closes the dialog box.

5.  Click STOP SERVER on the FUNCTIONS menu, and click YES on the
    the confirmation message.

6.  Click EXIT on the FUNCTIONS menu.

7.  Reboot the computer.

8.  Insert the Octopus media into the appropriate drive.

9.  Click RUN in the Windows NT START menu.  The Run dialog box
    appears.

10. Depending on the Octopus package that you have, type:

    [drive]:\HAP\uninstal       for Octopus HA+
    [drive]:\DataStar\uninstal  for Octopus DataStar
    [drive]:\uninstal           for OctopusDP

    "[drive]" is the letter that corresponds to your CD or floppy
    disk drive.  For example, you might type:

    d:\HAP\uninstal

11. Click OK.  The Site Select dialog box appears.

12. Select the appropriate site, and click UNINSTALL.  

13. Click YES on the confirmation message.

14. Octopus uninstalls the software and displays an information 
    message.  Click OK.

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D.  OCTOPUS 3.1 FEATURES

Octopus 3.1 provides the following new features.  For complete
information on new and existing features, see the "User's Guide."


* Shared Disk

Octopus now supports shared disk devices for high availability switch-over, 
in addition to continuing to support high availability switch-over with replicated data.  

In order to use the shared disk device, Octopus allows you to configure the individual drives on the shared disk so that each drive can only be accessed by one of the servers connected to the device.  Then, if one of the servers connected to the shared disk fails, the other server takes over for the other shared drive. Octopus will switch-over services from the failed source system to the target system and remount the shared drive originally allocated to the failed source without requiring the target system to reboot. 

A shared-disk device must be physically connected to two servers, for example Server A and Server B. In a typical configuration, the shared disk device has two physical drives, for example Drive F and Drive G. Both of these drives are accessible to both of the servers connected to the shared disk device. Octopus HA+ must be installed on both Server A and Server B. Both connected systems will be configured to fail-over to each other, so each system will be a source and target system to the other system.
 
On each server, users will select one of the shared disk drives to failover to that server (for example, configure Drive F to switch-over to Server A during a failure, and select Drive G to switch-over to Server B). This automatically disables the server from accessing the drive (for example, Server A can no longer access Drive F, and Server B can no longer access Drive G).

Once Server A fails, the heartbeat stops and Server B assumes the identity of Server A.  At the same time, OctopusHA+ remounts Drive G on Server B, which allows the services running on Server B access to the data on that drive.


* Continuous Scheduled Synchronization

In Octopus 3.1, users can not only schedule the date and time when they want Octopus to synchronize a specification, but they can also determine when and how often Octopus will resynchronize the specification. This feature ensures that the specifications created in Octopus are less likely to be out-of-synch.  

Users can enable this feature both through the Specifications dialog box using the Synchronize tab as well as highlighting a specification in the main window and clicking the Synchronize Spec button. This feature is only enabled when users have scheduled the date and time when the specification is to be synchronized. 
 
Once users have determined the schedule synchronization date and time, they can select the time interval that they want (for example, days), and select the number to determine how often Octopus will resynchronize the specification (for example, every two days).


* Copy on Close

Octopus 3.1 gives users the option of mirroring files after they have been closed, rather than in real time while the files are still open. Copy on Close is intended specifically for users of Windows NT 3.51. It ensures that data written to the cache is mirrored from the source system to the target system. If you are using Windows NT 4.0, then Copy on Close is not necessary for this purpose.

Copy on Close can also be used for the following scenarios:

- If users require folders and files to have the exact same modification date and time.

- If Octopus is used primarily for file distribution, Copy on Close would allow users to distribute files only once they have been closed by the original user.


* The Octopus Solution for Safeguarding Microsoft Exchange

Using Octopus 3.1, you can utilize the new Octopus solution to failover Microsoft Exchange. For this Microsoft Exchange solution to work, users must use Octopus 3.1 on both the source and the target systems, and both systems must be installed with Windows NT 4.0 and Service Pack 3. 

The solution requires that users install Microsoft Exchange first on the target and then on the source system. Before users install Microsoft Exchange on the target system, they will force a takeover of the source machine by the target, so Microsoft will be installed on the target machine when it is assuming the source machine's identity.

Once Exchange is installed on both systems, users need to create a specification to mirror all Microsoft Exchange data from the source to the target system. Then, when the source machine fails, the target machine will take over for the source and assume all of Microsoft Exchange's duties. 


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E.  OCTOPUS 3.1 KNOWN PROBLEMS

Octopus 3.1 has the following known problems.

* During a remote uninstall, Octopus will not remove the Octopus program group 
  from the start menu.

* Remote uninstall can not be performed from a computer that does not have Octopus
  already installed with a License Key that allows remote administration.

* If you create a Mirror Files specification to mirror a single file in a MAC Volume and you
  then change the name of the file on the source, it will not be deleted on the target
  system but it will be renamed.  If you change the name of a file to match the name of
  the single file being mirrored it will not appear on the target.

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F.  OCTOPUS 3.1 CORRECTIONS

Octopus 3.1 corrects the following defects in the software.  Corrections
are listed by build number, so that you can determine the build of 
Octopus that you require.

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Corrections in Build 227
* Octopus no longer ignores log files during setup when their archive bit is
  not set.

* Several options in the Target Options dialog box were visually enhanced to 
  reduce confusion.

* The Octopus Account Tab in Target Options can only be enabled for an ASO 
  switch-over

* Octopus now turns off the Disk Space Monitor warning space if the disk space
  was freed.

* Octopus now correctly mirrors Mac Volumes: simple text fix, corrected the
  extra directory path problem, 

* Fixed problems in Octopus when mirroring permissions as names, for example 
  corrupted permissions during mirroring in an Octopus one-to-many server 
  configuration and directories.

* Octopus now correctly runs executables that have spaces. Octopus now requires
  you to enclose the executable quotes.

* Octopus now allows you to uninstall the Octopus software without the original
  installation media.

* Octopus fixed a problem that caused intermittent license key failure in
  certain cases.

* Octopus no longer resynchronizes a scheduled sync if the system is rebooted after
  its synchronization is completed.
