New Features

• Optional Multicast: The cluster can be configured via the Storage Cluster Services (SCS 1.4) to not use multicast for inter-node communication. Changing between modes requires a full, non-rolling cluster reboot. (CUP-622)

• EC Performance: Depending on loads, hardware, and EC configuration, customers should see a significant performance improvement for EC read and small object reads and writes. Very large EC object writes may suffer slightly degraded performance. (SWAR-9486, SWAR-9543, and SWAR-9541)

• EC Object Conversion: The setting ec.convertToPolicy was added in Swarm 14.1 to convert EC objects to the current policy encoding at a rate based on ec.conversionPercentage. In Swarm 15.0, EC objects smaller than the minimum EC encoding size (based on policy) will be converted to whole replicas. This conversion results in more efficient storage and access of these objects. (SWAR-7444).

• Push Threads on Replication and S3 Backup Feeds: The meaning of push threads in replication feed and S3 backup feed definitions has changed to push threads per Swarm Storage node. Formerly, it was push threads per volume. The new default is 20 (previously 6). Customers should consider make a compensating change in their replication and S3 backup feed definitions. This change allows better throttling of these feeds in situations where bandwidth is limited. (SWAR-8672)

• Pausing a Misbehaving Replication/S3 Backup Feeds: A new feature has been added to pause a replication feed or S3 backup feed that is being subject to high rates of disconnections. The default limit for the setting feeds.pauseDisconnectPerHourLimit is 1000. This feature is intended to limit wasted retrying and limit trapped space creation in replication feed target clusters. When this occurs, a CRITICAL log message is issued. The feed can be resumed when the underlying issue has been resolved. (SWAR-9442)

• Measuring Disk Performance: A fio-based tool is added to measure disk performance, which is visible in the port 90 console and via the management API. (SWAR-9439)

Additional Changes

Changes include versions and fixes coming from testing and user feedback:

OSS Versions

See https://caringo.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/public/pages/3072983097 for the complete listing of packages and versions for this release.

Fixed in 15.0.0

• Overlay Index Inflation: Fixed an issue where the overlay index would not be fully populated during post-boot inflation, resulting in transient false 404 responses. (SWAR-9463)

• Overlay Index Monitoring: The overlay index-related stats are added to the node exporter and SNMP for monitoring the overlay index and its relation to performance. (SWAR-9465)

• Updating the Search Feed is Not a Blocker: An update to the search feed definition is possible to perform via port 90 console or Management API, without any blockage. This was a regression in 14.1 releases. (SWAR-9515)

• Incomplete Retires: Fixed an issue in 14.1 where retires would stop on remaining context objects in clusters with fewer than 16 nodes and, in some cases, remaining EC segments. (SWAR-9437)

• SCSP Processes: Improved resilience to unresponsive SCSP processes, reducing the operational impact on the cluster. (SWAR-9531)

• Versioned Objects Reclaim: Fixed an issue in 15.0.1 with EC versioned objects where they could become erroneously unavailable. (SWAR-9578)

• Node Instability: Addressed a cause of node instability in 15.0.1 which was introduced in 15.0.0 due to EC conversions and consolidations. (SWAR-9542)

Upgrade Impacts

These items are changes to the product function that may require operational or development changes for integrated applications. Address the upgrade impacts for each of the versions since the currently running version:

Watch Items and Known Issues

The following watch items are known:

• Configuring elasticsearch.yml's network.host (Important Elasticsearch configuration | Elasticsearch Guide [7.16] | Elastic) to "__site__" might not choose the right IP to allow master election if the server is multi-homed. Modify the elasticsearch.yml to enter a specific IP for the node and the configuration script will preserve it. (SWAR-9350) If you run into this issue, the fix is to:

  • systemctl stop elasticsearch on all ES nodes

  • remove all the contents of the path.data directory

  • change network.host: <IP of ES NIC in the Storage VLAN>

  • systemctl start elasticsearch

• Verify the configured “java.io.tmpdir” in “jvm.options” is writable to Elasticsearch for customers using Elasticsearch instances that fail to start with JNA warnings in Elasticsearch logs. Change “java.io.tmpdir” to /var/log/elasticsearch as per desired security preferences. (SWAR-9347)

• Swarm versions 10.0 onward are vulnerable to kernel issues manifested on some Intel CPUs. Symptoms include lowered performance, long mount times, and cluster instability. Swarm versions 14.1 and later provide a workaround for this issue, see Intel Skylake/Cascade Lake CPU Performance Issue). (SWAR-9055)

These are standing operational limitations:

• The Storage UI shows no NFS config if the Elasticsearch cluster is wiped. Contact DataCore Support for help in repopulating the SwarmFS config information. (SWAR-8007)

• Any incomplete multipart upload into a bucket leaves the parts (unnamed streams) in the domain if a bucket is deleted. To find and delete those parts, use the s3cmd utility (search the Support site for "s3cmd" guidance). (SWAR-7690)

• The chassis shuts down but does not come back up when restarting a cluster of virtual machines that are UEFI-booted (versus legacy BIOS). (SWAR-8054)

• Invalid config parameters that prevent the unassigned nodes from booting are created if subcluster assignments are removed in the CSN UI. (SWAR-7675)

To upgrade Swarm 9 or higher, proceed to How to Upgrade Swarm. For migration from Swarm 8.x or earlier, contact DataCore Support for guidance.