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Technology Profile
EMC ScaleIO offers a software-defined, clustered, block storage appliance. Since it pools commodity, readily available and/or existing infrastructure, it allows you to realize a scalable and performant storage solution entirely via software.
Description
ScaleIO offers a software only solution for storage applications including shared block devices as well as higher level applications such as container storage.
Impact
This article provides instructions for installing a ScaleIO cluster, configuring a volume, and exposing the volume to a client.
Audience
Architects, DevOps, Storage admins
Prerequisites
Required Compute:
- min: 5 nodes, 5 cores, ~20GB memory, ~500GB disk
Postrequisites
- Java Runtime
- VPN Access is required in order to administer the cluster via the GUI tool.
Cluster Configuration
The nodes in the cluster run the following components of interest: (see also ScaleIO Architecture)
- 1: SDS, MDM (primary), gateway
- 2: SDS, MDM (secondary)
- 3: SDS, MDM (tertiary)
- 4: SDS, TieBreaker
- 5: SDS, TieBreaker
- N: SDS
Deploying a EMC ScaleIO cluster
Load the EMC ScaleIO cluster Runner job.
Select a data center and specify a server group name your cluster will provision into.
Configure your server buildout with name, cpu, and memory.
Determine the number of servers for your cluster. A minimum of 5 servers are required. If the number of servers is greater than 5, additional nodes will configure as SDS components, contributing to the total storage pool.
Specify the size of the attached storage per node. Each node in the cluster will have this amount. Consequently, sufficient storage resources should be available.
Admin password is required and will be set on the MDM nodes.
Optionally provide a license key. The default configuration provides an unlicensed evaluation copy.
Optionally provide an ssh key to install on all nodes.
On completion, the Runner job will emit the IP address of the master MDM node. You'll want to jot this down and use it for administrating the cluster.
Administration
The management GUI is available for download here.
The cluster may also be administered via the scli command-line tool (installed on the MDM nodes)
or the REST gateway. Both of which are outside the scope of this article.
Create a Volume
From the dashboard, click on "Frontend" and then "Volumes".
Under "protection_domain1", right-click on "pool1" and then select "Add Volume".
Specify a name and size, click "OK".
Right-click on your new volume and select "Map Volumes" to connect it to client nodes.
Connecting Clients
In order to have clients access your volumes, additional software in the form of kernel module must be installed. Once the kernel module is installed, the client must be registered into the cluster.
To install on Linux systems, a separate SDC installer is available for clients.
The SDC installer will require the IP address of the primary MDM node as well as the admin password.
Performance
For optimal performance, consider using hyperscale or Bare Metal server types for the SDS nodes. To do so, pre-allocate these machines in a server group of your choice. Then point the cluster installer at the group.
Licensing
The costs associated with this installer are for the CenturyLink Cloud infrastructure only. EMC ScaleIO is free to use for evaluation purposes. An EMC ScaleIO license is required for normal operation and available for purchase from EMC directly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who should I contact for support?
For issues related to using EMC ScaleIO, licensing or troubleshooting the cluster, please visit EMC Support.
For issues related to cloud infrastructure (VMs, network, etc.), or if you experience a problem deploying the installer, please open a CenturyLink Cloud Support ticket by emailing noc@ctl.io or through the CenturyLink Cloud Support website.
