Clustering - Installing and
Configuring
Do all platform VMs have to be on the
same L2/L3 segment?
No. However, it is best to keep all platform
nodes on a common network with low latencies between nodes. This is because many of
the distributed components replicate data among the nodes and high latencies can
cause system performance and stability issues.
Can a cluster be upgraded using
in-product upgrade feature?
Online upgrades are not supported for cluster
till 3.7. From 3.8 and the succeeding releases, a cluster can be upgraded using the
online upgrade method.
What happens if there is a failure
during the cluster creation process?
It is a best practice to take a backup of the
primary platform and proxies before starting the cluster creation process. If there
is a failure, delete the secondary platform nodes and recover primary platform and
collector VMs from the backup.
- If you are unable take a backup using EMC Avamar or VMware VDP, take the snapshots of the platform and the collector VMs when the VMs are switched off.
- Snapshots are not recommended in production environments and VMware does not recommend you to run VMs with snapshots for more than 3 days.
- You cannot consider snapshots as a backup.
What happens to the existing data and
configuration when I expand the single node deployment to a cluster?
All data and configuration is maintained
without any change. The data will be accessible after cluster creation.
Can you have platform VM in
different regions?
No, we require the Platform nodes to
co-located be in the same site. The collector servers can be geo-distributed.
Can platform hosted on vSAN Stretch
clusters (2 Data centers …)?
Yes, vSAN clusters within same or across
data centers would still ensure certain IO performance like local storage.
Can we host cluster nodes on
different vSAN Clusters?
Yes, Different nodes of a Platform cluster
could be hosted on different underlying datastores.
Do you need to backup platform
nodes?
Yes, backups must be taken using VMware
recommended snapshot/backup technologies.
How to estimate the bandwidth
between the cluster collector VM on a region and the platform VM cluster on another
region?
In some large deployments, we have seen this
number ranging from 1 mbps to 20 mbps. There is much of deduplication or compression
that happens in collector VM before data is sent to platform VM.
How much network traffic will be
between cluster node?
Traffic usually depends on size of cluster
& type of data center environment.
For installations with 30-50k VMs:
- Between clusters: 50-400Mbps approx.
- Between collector & platform: 100Kbps-15Mbps approx.
What is the maximum admissible
latency between nodes in a cluster?
The platform nodes have to be co-located in
the same site. In such cases, the latency is minimal. If the platform nodes are
hosted on vSAN stretch clusters (two data centers), the vSAN clusters within or
across the clusters ensure certain IO performance like local storage. The
applications running on data centers such as
VMware Aria
Operations for Networks
work fine. You can host different nodes of
a platform cluster on different underlying data stores. But you need to ensure that
all the platform VMs in a cluster are co-located within the same site. What is the maximum admissible
latency between the collector VMs on a region and the platform VM cluster on another
region?
See the System Recommendations and Requirements topic
in
VMware Aria Operations for
Networks Installation Guide
What should be size of
collector/platform VM?
Use large brick configuration: refer installation
guide.