IBM 440 manual One-box cluster running VMware with virtual shared storage

x440 server

Node A1

Node A2

"Shared" storage

Two node cluster

Figure 2-1 One-box cluster running VMware with virtual shared storage

Using VMware, this allows you to set up a one-box cluster, which provides the following benefits:

–Much lower cost than for duplicate systems required for traditional-based clustering

–Protects against all OS and application faults

–Reduces management tasks

￿Cluster across multiple systems

This type of cluster also uses virtual machines. The virtual disks are stored on real shared disks, so all virtual machines can access them. Using this type of cluster, you can protect your mission-critical applications in a cost-effective way. For example, you can set up a cluster to protect your Web server applications and you can configure a second cluster to protect your file server.

You can consolidate four clusters of two machines each to two physical machines with four virtual machines each. This provides protection from both hardware and software failures.

42 IBM ^xSeries 440 Planning and Installation Guide