Console Access Devices

You must have console access to all cluster nodes. To gain console access, use one of the following devices:

• The terminal concentrator that you purchased with your cluster hardware

• The System Service Processor (SSP) on Sun Enterprise E10000 servers (for SPARC based clusters)

• The system controller on Sun Fire^TM servers (also for SPARC based clusters)

• Another device that can access ttya on each node

Only one supported terminal concentrator is available from Sun and use of the supported Sun terminal concentrator is optional. The terminal concentrator enables access to /dev/console on each node by using a TCP/IP network. The result is console-level access for each node from a remote workstation anywhere on the network.

The System Service Processor (SSP) provides console access for Sun Enterprise E1000 servers. The SSP is a machine on an Ethernet network that is configured to support the Sun Enterprise E1000 server. The SSP is the administrative console for the Sun Enterprise E1000 server. Using the Sun Enterprise E10000 Network Console feature, any workstation in the network can open a host console session.

Other console access methods include other terminal concentrators, tip(1) serial port access from another node and, dumb terminals. You can use Sun^TM keyboards and monitors, or other serial port devices if your hardware service provider supports them.