Configuration Guidelines for Sun Cluster Data Services

This section provides configuration guidelines for Sun Cluster data services.

Determining the Location of the Application Binaries

You can install the application software and application configuration files on one of the following locations.

• The local disks of each cluster node - The advantage to placing the software and configuration files on the individual cluster nodes is that if you want to upgrade the application software later, you can do so without shutting down the service. The disadvantage is that you then have several copies of the software and configuration files to maintain and administer.

• The cluster file system - If you put the application binaries on the cluster file system, you have only one copy to maintain and manage, but you must shut down the data service in the entire cluster to upgrade the application software. If you can spare a small amount of downtime for upgrades, put a single copy of the application and configuration files on the cluster file system.

  See the planning chapter of the Sun Cluster 3.0 U1 Installation Guide for information on creating cluster file systems.

Verifying the nsswitch.conf File Contents

The nsswitch.conf file is the configuration file for name-service lookups. This file determines the following information.

• which databases within the Solaris environment to use for name-service lookups

• in what order to consult the databases

Some data services require that you direct "group" lookups to "files" first. For these data services, change the "group" line in the nsswitch.conf file so that the "files" entry is listed first. See the chapter for the data service you are configuring to determine whether you need to change the "group" line.

See the planning chapter in the Sun Cluster 3.0 U1 Installation Guide for additional information on how to configure the nsswitch.conf file for the Sun Cluster environment.

Planning the Cluster File System Configuration

Depending on the data service, you might need to configure the cluster file system to meet Sun Cluster requirements. See the chapter for the data service that you plan to configure to determine whether any special considerations apply.

See the planning chapter of the Sun Cluster 3.0 U1 Installation Guide for information on creating cluster file systems.