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CentOS High Performance
CentOS High Performance

CentOS High Performance: Create high availability clusters to enhance system performance using CentOS 7

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CentOS High Performance

Chapter 2. Installing Cluster Services and Configuring Network Components

In this chapter, you will learn how to set up and configure the basic required network infrastructure and also the clustering components that we installed in the previous chapter.

In addition to this, we will review the basic and important concepts of firewalling and Internet protocols, and we will explain how to add the firewall rules that will allow communication between the nodes and the proper operation of the clustering services on each node.

If your native language is any other than English, you must have taken an English class or taught yourself (as I did) before being able to read this book. The same thing happens when two people who do not speak the same language want to communicate with each other. At least one of them needs to know the language of the other, or the two of them need to agree on a common idiom in order to be able to understand each other.

In networking, the equivalent of languages...

Configuring and starting clustering services

Having reviewed the key networking concepts that were outlined earlier, we are now ready to start describing the cluster services.

Starting and enabling clustering services

You will recall from the previous chapter that we installed the following clustering components:

  • Pacemaker: This is the cluster resource manager
  • Corosync: This is the messaging service
  • PCS: This is the synchronization and configuration tool

As you can probably guess from the preceding list, these components should run as daemons, a special type of process that runs in the background without the need of direct intervention or control of an administrator. Although we installed the necessary packages in Chapter 1, Cluster Basics and Installation on CentOS 7, we did not start the cluster resource manager or the messaging services. So, we now need to start them manually for the first time and enable them to run automatically on startup during the next system boot.

We will start by configuring...

Security fundamentals

At this point, we are ready to discuss network security to only allow the proper network traffic between the nodes. During the initial setup and while performing your first tests, you may want to disable the firewall and SELinux (which is described later in this chapter) and then go through both of them at a later stage—it is up to you depending on your grade of familiarity with them at this point.

Letting in and letting out

After having started and enabled the services mentioned earlier, we are ready to take a closer look at the network processes involved in the cluster configuration and maintenance. With the help of the netstat command, a tool included in the net-tools package for CentOS 7, we will print the current listening network ports and verify that corosync is running and listening for connections. Before doing so, you will need to install the net-tools package, as it is not included in the minimal CentOS 7 setup, using the following command:

yum –...

Getting acquainted with PCS

We are getting closer to actually setting up the cluster. Before diving into that task, we need to become familiar with PCS—the core component of our cluster—so to speak, which will be used to control and configure pacemaker and corosync. To begin doing that, we can just run PCS without arguments, as follows:

pcs

This returns the output shown in the following screenshot, which provides a short explanation of each option and command available in PCS:

Getting acquainted with PCS

We are interested in the Commands section, where the actual categories of clustering that can be managed through this tool are listed, along with a brief description of their usage. Each of them supports several capabilities, which can be shown by appending the word help to pcs [category]. For example, let's' see the functionality that is provided by the cluster command (which by the way, we will use shortly):

pcs cluster help
Usage: pcs cluster [commands]...
Configure cluster for use with pacemaker...

Setting up a virtual IP for the cluster

As mentioned in Chapter 1, Cluster Basics and Installation on CentOS 7, since a cluster is by definition a group of computers (which we have been referring to as nodes or members) that work together so that the set is seen as a single system from the outside, we need to ensure that end users and clients see it that way.

For this reason, the last thing that we will do in this chapter is configure a virtual IP, which is the address that external clients will use to connect to our cluster. Note that in an ordinary, non-cluster environment, you can use tools, such as ifconfig to configure a virtual IP for your system.

However, in our case, we will use nothing more and nothing less than PCS and perform two operations at once:

  • Creating the IPv4 address
  • Assigning it to the cluster as a whole

Adding a virtual IP as a cluster resource

Since a virtual IP is what is called a cluster resource, we will use pcs resource help to look for information on to how to create...

Summary

In this chapter, you learned how to set up and configure the basic required network infrastructure and also the clustering components that we installed in Chapter 1, Cluster Basics and Installation on CentOS 7. Having reviewed the concepts associated with security, firewalling, and Internet protocols, we were able to add the firewall rules that will allow the communication of each node with each other and the proper operation of the clustering services on each box.

We will use the tools discussed in this article throughout the rest of this book, not only to check on the status of the cluster or the individual nodes, but also as a troubleshooting technique in case things don't go as expected.

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Key benefits

  • Master the concepts of high performance and high availability to eliminate performance bottlenecks
  • Maximize the uptime of services running in a CentOS 7 cluster
  • A step-by-step guide that will provide knowledge of methods and approaches to optimize the performance of CentOS clusters

Description

CentOS is the enterprise level Linux OS, which is 100% binary compatible to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). It acts as a free alternative to RedHat's commercial Linux offering, with only a change in the branding. A high performance cluster consists in a group of computers that work together as one set parallel, hence minimizing or eliminating the downtime of critical services and enhancing the performance of the application. Starting with the basic principles of clustering, you will learn the necessary steps to install a cluster with two CentOS 7 servers. We will then set up and configure the basic required network infrastructure and clustering services. Further, you will learn how to take a proactive approach to the split-brain issue by configuring the failover and fencing of the cluster as a whole and the quorum of each node individually. Further, we will be setting up HAC and HPC clusters as a web server and a database server. You will also master the art of monitoring performance and availability, identifying bottlenecks, and exploring troubleshooting techniques. At the end of the book, you’ll review performance-tuning techniques for the recently installed cluster, test performance using a payload simulation, and learn the necessary skills to ensure that the systems, and the corresponding resources and services, are being utilized to their best capacity.

Who is this book for?

This book is targeted at system administrators: those who want a detailed, step-by-step guide to learn how to set up a high-availability CentOS 7 cluster, and those who are looking for a reference book to help them learn or refresh the necessary skills to ensure their systems and respective resources are utilized optimally. No previous knowledge of high-availability systems is needed, though the reader is expected to have at least some degree of familiarity with any spin-off of the Fedora family of Linux distributions, preferably CentOS.

What you will learn

  • Install a CentOS 7 cluster and network infrastructure
  • Configure firewall, networking, and clustering services and settings
  • Set up and test a HAC (high-availability cluster) to host an Apache web server and a MariaDB database server
  • Monitor performance and availability
  • Identify bottlenecks and troubleshoot issues
  • Improve performance and ensure high availability

Product Details

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Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Jan 30, 2016
Length: 146 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781785288685
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Product Details

Publication date : Jan 30, 2016
Length: 146 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781785288685
Category :
Tools :

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Table of Contents

7 Chapters
1. Cluster Basics and Installation on CentOS 7 Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Installing Cluster Services and Configuring Network Components Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. A Closer Look at High Availability Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Real-world Implementations of Clustering Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Monitoring the Cluster Health Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Measuring and Increasing Performance Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.8
(4 Ratings)
5 star 75%
4 star 25%
3 star 0%
2 star 0%
1 star 0%
Tim Crothers Apr 07, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Excellent resource for setting up clustered CentOS systems. Key topics like failover, fencing, HAC, HPC, and performance monitoring. I was able to easily extend the instructions covered to a four node cluster rather than the two node cluster covered in the book. All-in-all the best resource I've found yet for how to configure clustering on CentOS. Highly recommended.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
ruben Apr 06, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Starting with the basic principles of clustering, you will learn the necessary steps to install a cluster with two CentOS 7 servers. We will then set up and configure the basic required network infrastructure and clustering services. Further, you will learn how to take a proactive approach to the split-brain issue by configuring the failover and fencing of the cluster as a whole and the quorum of each node individually. Further, we will be setting up HAC and HPC clusters as a web server and a database server. You will also master the art of monitoring performance and availability, identifying bottlenecks, and exploring troubleshooting techniques.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Bill Jones Apr 08, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
AMAZING! I work at a datacenter and having the ability to deploy HTC and HPC server clusters is a must, having some guidance on doing so is also a must for training new hires into current methods. Staying current with a book library is essential, and this book was just perfect for that. Everything is covered as you'd expect, and now I can help architect solutions that can utilize CentOS over windows to help seal some deals as well. Truly outstanding!
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Winston Apr 04, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
This book is for high level system administrators who want to become proficient in CentOS. Newbie will need to look elsewhere, you must know how to use CentOS. You will get right into downloading CentOS and installing various packages to create high performance CentOS 7 cluster.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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