Hardware Requirements for Storage
Hardware requirements for implementing a storage cluster in a corporate enterprise and the best practices for maintaining it.
Note
Swarm installs and runs on enterprise-class (not consumer-grade) x86 commodity hardware.
Caution
Configure a cluster with a minimum of four nodes to guarantee high availability and failover in the event of a node failure.
Virtualization
Swarm storage nodes can run in a VM environment. Swarm supports VMware/ESXi and Linux KVM. Contact sales for more information and guidance.
Best Practice
Enable volume serial numbers on any virtual machines housing Swarm storage nodes (set disk.EnableUUID=TRUE).
Minimum Requirements
The following table lists the minimum hardware requirements for a storage cluster because Swarm nodes are designed to run using lights-out management (or out-of-band management), they do not require a keyboard, monitor, and mouse (KVM) to operate.
Component | Requirement |
---|---|
Node | x86 with Pentium-class CPUs |
Number of nodes | Four (to guarantee adequate recovery space in the event of node failure) |
Switch | Nodes must connect to switches configured for multicasting |
Log server | To accept incoming syslog messages |
Node boot capability | USB flash drive or PXE boot |
Network interfaces | One Gigabit Ethernet NIC with one RJ-45 port * |
Hard disks | One hard disk |
RAM | number of volumes x 4 GB (example: 2 volumes x 4 GB = 8 GB) |
NTP server | To synchronize clocks across nodes |
Recommended Requirements
The following table lists the recommended hardware requirements for a storage cluster.
Component |
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