1.8 Cluster software

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So far, we have discussed some of the hardware considerations of a cluster. We need now to address the software components that are part of a cluster. Aside from the actual application, which is not discussed in this redbook, there are system software considerations that must be taken into account. These include:

Operating system

As we have already mentioned, the low cost of obtaining Linux and the rich function available for developing and deploying applications that run on Linux has been the catalyst for increased interest in using Linux clusters to meet the needs of a variety of computing problems.
Cluster management software

A general cluster system management tool provides facilities to build, manage, and expand clusters efficiently. Cluster-ready software from IBM enables a cluster to look and act like a single system for end users and system administrators.

Although a cluster can be built using different cluster system management tools, such as the Extreme Cluster Administration Toolkit (xCAT) or the Open Source Cluster Application Resources (OSCAR), this redbook is primarily focused on IBM Cluster Systems Management (CSM) for Linux.
High performance file system support

Depending upon the actual application, many clusters require that a large number of nodes have concurrent, and very high-speed access to the same files. In these cases, it is important to provide a shared file system that provides data protection as well as the performance that is typically required for cluster-based applications.

Again, there are a variety of solutions available. In this redbook, we specifically address the IBM General Parallel File System (GPFS) for Linux. GPFS is a proven file system that has been used for years in AIX® clustering environments, and is available for Linux and IBM xSeries 300 hardware.

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