1.4 What is TruCluster Server?

Now that we know what a cluster is, what is TruCluster Server? TruCluster Server is an amalgam of Tru64 UNIX software, storage devices, cluster interconnects, and two or more AlphaServer systems that operate together as a single virtual system. Each cluster member can share resources, storage, and cluster-wide file systems under a single systems management domain.

TruCluster Server versions 5.0A, 5.1, and 5.1A provide the following features:

Cluster-wide namespace.
Cluster-wide access to disk and tape storage.
Cluster-wide Logical Storage Manager (LSM).
Connection Manager^[6].
Cluster application availability (CAA).
Cluster alias.
Highly available NFS server using cluster alias.
Cluster Communications Interconnect.
Distributed Lock Manager (DLM)^[5].
Single-systems management.
Single Security Domain.
Rolling Upgrade/Patch.
Expanded Process IDs (PIDs).

Again, with TruCluster Server, you are creating real single-systems image systems clusters from individual Tru64 UNIX servers. We will provide a more in-depth overview of Tru64 UNIX and TruCluster Server in Chapter 2.

^[6]Connection Manager is discussed in detail in Chapter 17.

^[5]Distributed Lock Manager is discussed in detail in Chapter 18.