Cluster Inetconnect Physical Limitations
We are currently planning to move cluster nodes into a new datacenter which is a few kilometers away from the current one. So I was wondering if there are any limitations on the Cluster Interconnects, but i did not find any information.
If i use Ethernet, as long as i have a layer 2 connection and i have enough bandwidth i expect no problems. But could it be a layer 3 only Link? Is round Trip delay an issue? I guess there must be specs somewhere, has anybody an idea where to look for?
Thanks
Fritz
[529 byte] By [
Tom_Tiger] at [2007-11-26 9:52:58]
# 1
Fritz,
This is a tricky area. The current limitation on *supported* cluster configurations are as follows:
1. If the cluster nodes are up to 10Km apart, you can use long wave GBICs to run dedicated gigabit connections. Note - these must be dedicated links and not some rented bandwidth. The GBIC connections are either back-to-back (albeit over a long distance) or via switches with these being the inter-switch connections.
2. You can use Nortel DWDMs and channel all the LAN and SAN connections over this. Then, the maximum supported distance supported is 200Km. Though obviously, this has a performance implication - note: see my Sun Blueprint from April 2006.
The reason for these restrictions is that shared connection with non-deterministic performance or non-resilient configuration could lead to unexpected cluster outages - which would obviously be highly undesireable. However, this restriction may be lifted at a future date.
Tim
