System Administrator Viewpoint

To the system administrator, the SunPlex system looks like a set of servers (nodes) cabled together, sharing storage devices. The system administrator sees:

• Specialized cluster software integrated with Solaris software to monitor the connectivity between cluster nodes

• Specialized software that monitors the health of user application programs running on the cluster nodes

• Volume management software that sets up and administers disks

• Specialized cluster software that enables all nodes to access all storage devices, even those not directly connected to disks

• Specialized cluster software that enables files to appear on every node as though they were locally attached to that node

Key Concepts - System Administration

System administrators need to understand the following concepts and processes:

• The interaction between the hardware and software components

• The general flow of how to install and configure the cluster including:

  • Installing the Solaris operating environment

  • Installing and configuring Sun Cluster software

  • Installing and configuring a volume manager

  • Installing and configuring application software to be cluster ready

  • Installing and configuring Sun Cluster data service software

• Cluster administrative procedures for adding, removing, replacing, and servicing cluster hardware and software components

• Configuration modifications to improve performance

Suggested System Administrator Conceptual References

The following sections contain material relevant to the preceding key concepts:

• "Administrative Interfaces"

• "High-Availability Framework"

• "Global Devices"

• "Disk Device Groups"

• "Global Namespace"

• "Cluster File Systems"

• "Quorum and Quorum Devices"

• "Volume Managers"

• "Data Services"

• "Resources, Resource Groups, and Resource Types"

• "Public Network Management (PNM) and Network Adapter Failover (NAFO)"

• Chapter 4, Frequently Asked Questions

Relevant SunPlex Documentation - System Administrator

The following SunPlex documents include procedures and information associated with the system administration concepts:

• Sun Cluster 3.0 12/01 Software Installation Guide

• Sun Cluster 3.0 12/01 System Administration Guide

• Sun Cluster 3.0 12/01 Error Messages Guide