OS Provisioning System Software Architecture

The OS provisioning plug-in provides a framework to provision heterogeneous operating systems onto various target hosts that support different protocols, such as IPMI, ALOM, LOM, ILO, SC, and telnet.

Software Architecture Big Picture

The following diagram provides the functional components in use for the OS provisioning plug-in. The diagram assumes that the N1 Grid SPS Master Server is outside the firewall, and the other components are inside the firewall. The OS provisioning server assumes that the user set up the network layer 2 connectivity, which consists of subnets, VLAN's, and so on. All the network information is registered with the OS provisioning server.

Figure 1–1 Software Architecture Diagram

The figure describes the following relationships among the OS provisioning components and uses slightly abbreviated terminology:

• Remote Client – The N1 Grid SPS remote client runs the browser interface and command-line interface. The remote client can be a separate system from the Master Server.

• N1G SPS Master – The N1 Grid SPS Master Server is the main processing engine of the N1 Grid SPS software.

• N1 OSP Plug-In – The OS provisioning plug-in is installed on the Master Server. The plug-in provides functionality to install operating systems on different hardware platforms that support different protocols.

• N1 OSP Server – The OS provisioning control server, usually referred to as the OS provisioning server, is the main processing engine of the OS provisioning plug-in. The OS provisioning server runs the OS provisioning service (N1G OSP Service), which orchestrates the OS provisioning activities. The OS provisioning server controls the target hosts through a control network using appropriate network management protocols (such as IPMI, ALOM, LOM, ILO, and terminal server). These protocols over the control network are used to automate the power, boot, and console services.

  The OS provisioning server supports extensive network topologies (multiple subnets, VLANs, and so on). The OS provisioning server has a bundled DHCP server to serve relevant IP addresses and other boot specific information to target hosts .

• Boot and Install Servers – Three servers are shown supporting OS specific Boot and Install servers:

  • Solaris B + I Server – The Solaris boot and install server uses the JumpStart^TM Enterprise Toolkit (JET) to automate the installation of the Solaris distribution media and installation profile.

  • Linux B + I Server – The Linux boot and install server uses the Linux Kickstart technology.

  • Windows B + I Server – The Windows boot and install server uses Windows Remote Installation Services (RIS) technology.

  The boot and install servers have OS-specific boot and install services for automation and monitoring purposes. You have to set up the Linux and Windows boot and install servers outside of the OS provisioning plug-in. For Linux systems, you have to install the N1 Grid SPS Remote Agent (RA) manually. For Solaris systems, the OS provisioning plug-in installs and configures the RA.

Network Protocols

The OS provisioning plug-in uses the following network protocols:

• DHCP – DHCP is used for allocating IP addresses and boot metadata between the OS provisioning server and the target hosts through a switch fabric.

• Network management protocols – Protocols, such as IPMI, ALOM, LOM, ILO and terminal server, are used through a Control Network from the OS provisioning server to the target hosts.

• TFTP, Active Directory, NFS, and FTP protocols – The boot and install servers use the appropriate protocols to communicate and to install the OS onto the target hosts.