VAST Cluster deployments vary in architecture, scale, topology and networking. Each installation must be planned by one of our SEs before the equipment is shipped to your premises. This guide provides an overview of the options that may be incorporated into your installation plan and the settings you may need to configure during Easy Install.
Each installation comprises:
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One or more CBoxes(es). Each CBox is populated with four servers that run the vast majority of the logic. These are called CNodes (compute nodes).
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One or more DBox(es). The DBox contains the storage media (SSDs) and two servers called DNodes which provide access to the resident media.
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One or more pairs of data switches. These switches provide inter-connectivity between the CNodes and the DNodes and provide connectivity between the cluster and the client data network. The number of pairs needed depends on the numbers of Dboxes and CNodes.
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Optionally, a management switch is also used to provide management access on an isolated network.
The CBox and DBox are matched to provide ideal performance for most workloads when deployed in a one to one ratio, although since they are separate modules, they can also be combined in a different proportion.
The hardware components vary in vendor and configuration. These are some of the types offered:
Switches may be Ethernet or Infiniband switches. Two Ethernet models are commonly used and provided by VAST Data:
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The Mellanox MSN2100-CB2F 16-port Ethernet data switch. Provides 16 x 100GbE QSFP28 ports.
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The Mellanox MSN2700-CS2F 32-port Ethernet data switch. Provides 32 x 100GbE QSFP28 ports.
Infiniband switches are customer-provided.
The DBox comes with the following variants of vendor and NIC configuration:
The CBox comes in the following variants of vendor and NIC configuration:
There are three networks that transport different types of traffic throughout every VAST Cluster:
This network is dedicated to the Vast Management System (VMS). IPMI interfaces can reside on this network as well. Due to security preferences, you may choose for IPMI to be isolated on the internal network instead.
IP details for the management network are supplied during Easy Install to enable management access to the cluster.
The management network configuration comprises:
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IP |
Easy Install Fields |
|---|---|
|
Default gateway |
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Subnet Mask |
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A management IP for each CNode and DNode. |
CNode Management External IP Pool, DNode Management External IP Pool |
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A management IP for each switch. |
Switches External IPs |
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A single virtual IP for the VAST Management System (VMS) |
Management VIP |
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A single virtual IP per switch pair. Relevant if some of the switch ports are assigned as interswitch ports. |
Switch VIP |
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Optional: An IP for each IPMI on each CNode and DNode. This is only if IPMI is to reside on the management network. If IPMI will reside on the internal network, this setting should not be used. |
CNodes IPMI pool, DNodes IPMI Pool |
This network carries internal system traffic between the DNodes and CNodes. Optionally, IPMI can reside on the internal network instead of on the management network.
The internal network uses default IPs and therefore does not necessarily require planning and configuration. There are parameters you can customize if needed, during installation:
|
Easy Install Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Data VLAN |
The Data VLAN isolates the internal network from the data network. If you anticipate IP address collisions with the default subnet, such as in an IB configuration, you can set a custom subnet. , The default data VLAN is 69. |
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Management inner VIP |
A virtual IP on the internal network used for mounting the VMS database. By default, the management inner VIP is 172.16.4.254. |
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Subnet |
By default, the internal network uses the 176.16 subnet. IPs are generated on the nodes as subnet.[1,2,3].x, where x is an index per node. If you set, for example, 10.200 as the subnet, the following internal IPs are generated for internal traffic on each CNode and DNode: 10.200.1.x, 10.200.2.x, and 10.200.3.x. |
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B2B IPMI and B2B template |
If using the B2B networking configuration that isolates the IPMI network from the management network, you need to enable B2B IPMI and configure a B2B template, which is a subnet used to generate the IPs configured on the IPMI interfaces on the CNodes and DNodes. |
This network carries data traffic between the CNodes and the client data network that is external to the cluster.
The client data network IPs are configured after installation. Plan IPs as follows:
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For fewer than four CBoxes: plan for four IPs per CNode. For four or more CBoxes: plan for four IPs per CNode minus four IPs, since one CNode is dedicated to VMS with no data traffic.
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The IPs must be on a separate subnet than the management network's subnet.
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The IPs need to be routable to the client data network.
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The IPs are configured as Virtual IP (VIP) pools. You can have multiple VIP pools, each of which can be restricted to specified CNodes in which case it must contain at least CNodes. Each VIP pool supports one contiguous range of IPs. Load balancing across CNodes is essentially per VIP pool so it is usually best to plan for a contiguous range of IPs.
For information about how to configure the client data network to enable data client access, see Configuring Network Access.
Note
In the site survey, the space provided for planning the data network IPs is called IP Addresses for Data Network.
When you configure VIP pools, there is an option to tag the VIP pools with VLANs. If you choose to use VLAN tagging, the VLANs must be activated on the switch ports that are used to link to the client network. These ports are assigned as external ports and the VLAN tagging can be done during installation.
There are several variations in the way networking infrastructure is designed in a given deployment:
The cabling scheme is planned per installation with varying port assignments for different connections depending on the networking specifications and the scale of the cluster.
The port assignments are identical on each switch in each switch pair.
There are two common switch topologies especially when using the VAST-provided Ethernet switches:
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Single switch pair. Here, there is only one pair of switches. On both switches the port assignment layout is identical. Both switches connect to the client data network. Ports are assigned as:
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CNode ports, which connect to the CNodes.
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DNode ports, which connect to the DNodes.
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External ports used for uplinking to the client network.
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Interconnect ports connect the two switches in the pair to each other. This is used to configure an MLAG interface between the two switches.
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Spine-Leaf. Each switch pair is assigned the role of either spine or leaf. Spine switch pairs are usually used for uplinks to the client network, while leaf switch pairs typically have no external connections and have connections to the CNodes and DNodes. Ports are typically assigned as follows:
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On leaf pairs:
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On spine pairs
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Each CNode and DNode has an IPMI interface, on which an IP address is configured. These IPs can either reside on the management network or they can be isolated from the management network. The two options are implemented as follows:
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IPMI Configuration |
Description |
Network parameters to set in Easy Install |
|---|---|---|
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Standard |
The IPMI interfaces reside on the management network. |
Provide a pool of IP addresses on the management network for the IPMIs. Configure them in Easy Install as the CNode IPMI Pool and the DNodes IPMI Pool. |
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B2B |
The IPMI interfaces are isolated from the management network, residing on the internal network. |
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