Sun Cluster Software Installation Guide for Solaris OS

Sun Cluster Configurable Components

This section provides guidelines for the following Sun Cluster components that you configure:

Add this information to the appropriate configuration worksheet.

Table 1–4 Worksheets for Sun Cluster Configuration

Configuration Worksheet 

Location 

Table 2–2 or Table 2–3

How to Configure Sun Cluster Software on All Nodes (scinstall)

Table 2–6

How to Install and Configure Sun Cluster Software (SunPlex Manager)

Table 2–7

How to Install Solaris and Sun Cluster Software (JumpStart)

Table 2–9

How to Configure Sun Cluster Software on Additional Cluster Nodes (scinstall)

Cluster Name

Specify a name for the cluster during Sun Cluster configuration. The cluster name should be unique throughout the enterprise.

Node Names

The node name is the name that you assign to a machine when you install the Solaris operating environment. During Sun Cluster configuration, you specify the names of all nodes that you are installing as a cluster. In single-node cluster installations, the default node name is the same as the cluster name.

Private Network


Note –

You do not need to configure a private network for a single-node cluster.


Sun Cluster software uses the private network for internal communication between nodes. A Sun Cluster configuration requires at least two connections to the cluster interconnect on the private network. You specify the private-network address and netmask when you configure Sun Cluster software on the first node of the cluster. You can either accept the default private-network address (172.16.0.0) and netmask (255.255.0.0) or type different choices if the default network address is already in use elsewhere in the enterprise.


Note –

After the installation utility (scinstall, SunPlex Manager, or JumpStart) has finished processing and the cluster is established, you cannot change the private-network address and netmask. You must uninstall and reinstall the cluster software to use a different private-network address or netmask.


If you specify a private-network address other than the default, the address must meet the following requirements:

If you specify a netmask other than the default, the netmask must minimally mask all bits that are given in the private-network address.

Private Hostnames

The private hostname is the name that is used for internode communication over the private-network interface. Private hostnames are automatically created during Sun Cluster configuration. These private hostnames follow the naming convention clusternodenodeid-priv, where nodeid is the numeral of the internal node ID. During Sun Cluster configuration, the node ID number is automatically assigned to each node when the node becomes a cluster member. After the cluster is configured, you can rename private hostnames by using the scsetup(1M) utility.

Cluster Interconnect


Note –

You do not need to configure a cluster interconnect for a single-node cluster. However, if you anticipate eventually adding nodes to a single-node cluster configuration, you might want to configure the cluster interconnect for future use.


The cluster interconnects provide the hardware pathways for private-network communication between cluster nodes. Each interconnect consists of a cable that is connected in one of the following ways:

During Sun Cluster configuration, you specify the following information for two cluster interconnects:


Note –

Clusters with three or more nodes must use transport junctions. Direct connection between cluster nodes is supported only for two-node clusters.


You can configure additional private-network connections after the cluster is established by using the scsetup(1M) utility.

For more information about the cluster interconnect, see “Cluster Interconnect” in Sun Cluster Overview for Solaris OS and Sun Cluster Concepts Guide for Solaris OS.

IP Network Multipathing Groups

Add this planning information to the Public Networks Worksheet.

Internet Protocol (IP) Network Multipathing groups, which replace Network Adapter Failover (NAFO) groups, provide public-network adapter monitoring and failover, and are the foundation for a network-address resource. A multipathing group provides high availability when the multipathing group is configured with two or more adapters. If one adapter fails, all of the addresses on the failed adapter fail over to another adapter in the multipathing group. In this way, the multipathing-group adapters maintain public-network connectivity to the subnet to which the adapters in the multipathing group connect.

Consider the following points when you plan your multipathing groups.

For more information about IP Network Multipathing, see “Deploying Network Multipathing” in IP Network Multipathing Administration Guide (Solaris 8) or“Administering Network Multipathing (Task)” in System Administration Guide: IP Services (Solaris 9). Also see “IP Network Multipathing Groups” in Sun Cluster Overview for Solaris OS and Sun Cluster Concepts Guide for Solaris OS.

Quorum Devices

Sun Cluster configurations use quorum devices to maintain data and resource integrity. If the cluster temporarily loses connection to a node, the quorum device prevents amnesia or split-brain problems when the cluster node attempts to rejoin the cluster. You assign quorum devices by using the scsetup(1M) utility.


Note –

You do not need to configure quorum devices for a single-node cluster.


Consider the following points when you plan quorum devices.

For more information about quorum devices, see “Quorum Devices” in Sun Cluster Overview for Solaris OS and Sun Cluster Concepts Guide for Solaris OS.