sun.com | docs.sun.com | How To Buy | My Sun | Worldwide Sites |  |

| Previous Contents Index Next
Chapter 3 # Planning Your Cluster Planning your cluster configuration is essential. Before you start to install your cluster, you must consider what hardware and software you require. This chapter helps you to choose your cluster configuration and a method to install the Foundation Services on your cluster. This chapter describes the hardware and software required for a two-node cluster and for larger clusters. It also points to documents that provide detailed information about hardware configurations and installation. For information about cluster requirements and installation methods, see the following sections: Defining Your Cluster Hardware and Software Requirements Installation Methods ## Defining Your Cluster You can use a cluster to perform the following tasks: Test newly developed applications. Run existing user applications. Run the Foundation Services without a user application, to take advantage of the high availability of Reliable NFS, the Reliable Boot Service, and the DHCP services. Your choice of cluster hardware and software is influenced by the type of applications you have or the type of applications that you are developing. Before you choose your cluster hardware, consider the following questions: Do you want diskless nodes or dataless nodes in your cluster? How many nodes do you require in your cluster? What types of boards, network cards, and disks do you need? What switches, I/O cards, and terminal concentrator do you need? How can you access the cluster from an external network? For example hardware configurations that represent a range of typical clusters, see the Netra High Availability Suite Foundation Services 2.1 6/03 Hardware Guide. If you plan to configure a small cluster now and add nodes to it in the future, configure your cluster for its maximum size. A cluster can contain fewer diskless nodes or dataless nodes than it is configured for, but it cannot contain more. For information about adding nodes to a cluster, see the Netra High Availability Suite Foundation Services 2.1 6/03 Cluster Administration Guide. ## Hardware and Software Requirements This section summarizes the hardware and software that you require for a cluster. To install a cluster you need the following hardware: An installation server with which to install the software on the cluster A cluster on which to run the software The following figure illustrates the hardware required to install a cluster. Figure 3-1 Hardware Required for Installation For detailed information about setting up your installation server and about your example cluster configurations, see the Netra High Availability Suite Foundation Services 2.1 6/03 Hardware Guide. For information about how to install a cluster, see the Netra High Availability Suite Foundation Services 2.1 6/03 Custom Installation Guide. ### Hardware Requirements for a Cluster For a cluster, you require the following hardware types: Master-eligible node hardware Optional diskless node hardware or dataless node hardware Ethernet switches A terminal server Two network interface cards on each node Optional supplementary Ethernet interface cards for external access For information about the boards, cards, and disks that you can use, see the Netra High Availability Suite Foundation Services 2.1 6/03 Hardware Guide. ### Software Requirements for a Cluster To run the Foundation Services on a cluster of two master-eligible nodes, you require the Solaris operating system. For information about other supported software, see the Netra High Availability Suite Foundation Services 2.1 6/03 Release Notes. ## Installation Methods The Foundation Services provide `nhinstall`, a tool for installing a cluster. The `nhinstall` tool provides an easy installation with a high level of flexibility. You can also install a cluster manually. Note - You cannot install dataless nodes using the `nhinstall` tool. For information about the requirements of the `nhinstall` tool and manual installation, see Hardware and Software Requirements.
Previous Contents Index Next

Copyright 1994-2004 Sun Microsystems