Platform Planning

Platform Requirements

Following are the requirements for the dedicated Platform server node managing the Swarm implementation:

System

2+ CPU cores

8+ GB RAM

Virtual machine

The OVA file is configured to use 2 cores.

Storage

80+ GB available disk storage

Swarm nodes need to direct syslog logging messages at a dedicated partition on the Platform server.

Clusters that are large or have increased logging loads require more storage for logging.

OS

Ubuntu Server 16.04 (Xenial)

http://releases.ubuntu.com/xenial/

or

Platform Server OVA Image

Network

Static IP address

Configure a network interface with a static IP address on the managed network before installing Swarm Platform.

Note: Platform needs to be installed using Offline Mode if firewall settings prevent Internet access.

IPMI

Enabled

IPMI 2.0 or newer

To control the power state of managed chassis, Platform uses IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface), a standard for out-of-band (LOM, Lights-Out Management) device management and monitoring using a dedicated management channel.

iDRAC-equipped nodes to be used for Swarm Storage must have the setting Enable IPMI Over LAN  enabled, which allows Platform Server to power the machine and commission the node.

Note

If iDRAC cannot be set to Enable IPMI Over LAN, the chassis needs needs to be manually powered on twice so it can progress through the lifecycle. See Manual Power Control under Deploying Storage, below.

Network Planning

The Platform Server manages the allocation of IP addresses. There are three types of IP addresses (depending on the NIC configuration):

  1. Dynamic Range — IP addresses used for enlistment and commissioning

  2. Reserved Range — Special IP addresses for routers, network devices, etc.

  3. Swarm nodes — IP addresses used for storage processes

Following are two scenarios for managed IP addresses:

Storage subnet

10.0.1.0/24

(255.255.255.0)

Set of all IP addresses

10.0.1.1   - 10.0.1.254

(254 addresses)

Platform Server's IP

10.0.0.1

(1 address)

Dynamic Range (via platform bootstrap)

10.0.1.200 - 10.0.1.254

(55 addresses)

Reserved Range (via platform add iprange)

10.0.1.2   - 10.0.1.10

(9 addresses)

IP addresses available for Storage nodes

10.0.1.11  - 10.0.1.199

(189 addresses)

Implications:

  • There can be 189 Storage nodes on the network

  • 55 chassis can go through enlistment/commissioning at a time

Storage subnet

10.0.0.0/16

(255.255.0.0)

Set of all IP addresses

10.0.0.1   - 10.0.255.254

(65,534 addresses)

Platform Server's IP

10.0.0.1

(1 address)

Dynamic Range (via platform bootstrap)

10.0.0.11  - 10.0.0.110

(100 addresses)

Reserved Range (via platform add iprange)

10.0.0.2   - 10.0.0.10

(9 addresses)

IP addresses available for Storage nodes

10.0.0.111 - 10.0.255.254

(65,424 addresses)

Implications:

  • There can be 65,424 Storage nodes on the network

  • 100 chassis can go through enlistment/commissioning at a time

© DataCore Software Corporation. · https://www.datacore.com · All rights reserved.