HP P4000 G2 manual File share resource planning issues, Load balancing, Resource planning

Load balancing

The creation of separate cluster groups for each virtual server provides more flexibility in balancing the processing load on the cluster between the two nodes. Each cluster group can be assigned to a cluster node using the preferred owner parameter. For example, if there are two cluster groups, the cluster could be set up to have the first cluster group owned by Node A and the second cluster group owned by Node B. This allows the network load to be handled by both devices simultaneously. If only one cluster group exists, it can only be owned by one node and the other node would not serve any network traffic.

File share resource planning issues

CIFS and NFS are cluster-aware protocols that support the Active/Active cluster model, allowing resources to be distributed and processed on both nodes at the same time. For example, some NFS file share resources can be assigned to a group owned by a virtual server for Node A and additional NFS file share resources can be assigned to a group owned by a virtual server for Node B.

Configuring file shares as cluster resources provides for high availability of file shares. Because the resources are placed into groups with a virtual server, ownership of the files can easily move from one node to the other, as circumstances require. If the cluster node owning the group of file shares should be shut down or fail, the other node in the cluster will begin sharing the directories until the original owner node is brought back on line. At that time, ownership of the group and its resources can be brought back to the original owner node.

Resource planning

1.Create a cluster group for each node in the cluster with an IP address resource and a network name resource.

Cluster resource groups are used to balance the processing load on the servers. Distribute ownership of the groups between the virtual servers.

2.For NFS environments, configure the NFS server.

NFS-specific procedures include entering audit and file lock information as well as setting up client groups and user name mappings. These procedures are not unique to a clustered deployment and are detailed in the Microsoft Services for NFS section within the “Other network file and print services” chapter. Changes to NFS setup information are automatically replicated to all nodes in a cluster.

3.Create the file share resources.

4.Assign ownership of the file share resources to resource groups.

a.Divide ownership of the file share resources between the resource groups, which are in turn distributed between the virtual servers, for effective load balancing.

b.Verify that the physical disk resource for this file share is also included in this group.

c.Verify that the resources are dependent on the virtual servers and physical disk resources from which the file share was created.

Permissions and access rights on share resources

File share and NFS Share permissions must be managed using the Failover Cluster Management tool and not through the individual shares on the file system themselves via Windows Explorer. Administering them through Failover Cluster Management allows permissions to migrate from one node to other. In contrast, permissions established using Explorer are lost if the share is failed or taken offline.

44 Cluster administration