IBM 440 manual Clustering

sources. These types of servers benefit from the processing power offered by the x440.

Key e-business software vendors include IBM (WebSphere) and BEA.

2.1.4 Clustering

A cluster is group of independent computers, also known as nodes, that are linked together to provide highly available resources (such as file shares) for a network. Each node that is a member of the cluster has both its own individual disk storage and access to a common disk subsystem.

When one node in the cluster fails, the remaining node or nodes assume responsibility for the resources that the failed node was running. This allows the users to continue to access those resources while the failed node is out of operation.

In addition, x440 in conjunction with VMware offers clustering, which can be seen as another key solution for server consolidation. For example, a two-node IIS cluster and a two-node file server cluster can be consolidated into a single x440 server. This helps customers to save costs, facilitate cluster management, and improve cluster performance through high-speed SMP Expansion Ports.

The x440 with its high-availability features is an optimal platform to protect mission-critical applications. The x440 offers two types of clustering for server consolidation purposes:

￿One-box cluster

This provides simple clustering to deal with software crashes or administrative errors. The cluster consists of multiple virtual machines (VMs) on a single physical machine. It supports shared disks without any shared SCSI hardware. It supports the heartbeat network without any extra network adapters.

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