Glossary/Index

adapter

See cluster transport adapter.

administrative console

A workstation that is used to run cluster administrative software.

amnesia

The restart of a cluster restarting after a shutdown with stale cluster configuration data - Cluster Configuration Repository (CCR). For example, on a two-node cluster with only node 1 operational, if a cluster configuration change occurs on node 1, node 2's CCR becomes stale. If the cluster is shut down then restarted on node 2, an amnesia condition would result because of node 2's stale CCR.

application

See data service.

automatic failback

A process of returning a resource group or device group to its primary node after the primary node has failed and later is restarted as a cluster member.

backup group

See Network Adapter Failover group.

cable

See cluster transport cable.

checkpoint

The notification sent by a primary node to a secondary node to keep the software state synchronized between them.

See also primary and secondary.

closing

Sun Cluster Module

cluster

Two or more interconnected nodes or domains sharing a cluster file system and configured together to run failover or scalable resources.

Viewing Cluster Properties

Cluster Configuration Repository (CCR)

A highly available, replicated data store that the Sun Cluster software uses to persistently store cluster configuration information.

cluster file system

A cluster service that provides cluster-wide, highly available access to existing local file systems.

cluster interconnect

The hardware networking infrastructure that includes cables, cluster transport junctions, and cluster transport adapters. The Sun Cluster and data service software use this infrastructure for intra-cluster communication.

See also cluster transport junction.

See also endpoint.

cluster member

An active member of the current cluster incarnation. It can share resources with other cluster members and provide services both to other cluster members and to clients of the cluster.

See also cluster node.

Cluster Membership Monitor (CMM)

The software that maintains a consistent cluster membership roster. All the rest of the clustering software uses this membership information to decide where to locate highly available services and to ensure that non-cluster members cannot corrupt data and transmit corrupt or inconsistent data to clients.

cluster node

A node that is configured to be a cluster member. It might or might not be a current member.

See also cluster member.

Cluster Node Configuration

Cluster Node Status

Viewing Cluster Nodes and Properties

cluster transport adapter

The network adapter that resides on a node and connects the node to the cluster interconnect.

See also cluster interconnect.

cluster transport cable

The network connection that connects to the endpoints. A connection between cluster transport adapters and cluster transport junctions or between two cluster transport adapters.

See also cluster interconnect.

cluster transport junction

A hardware device such as a hub or switch that is used as part of the cluster interconnect.

See also cluster interconnect.

co-location

The property of being on the same node or nearby nodes. This concept is used during cluster configuration to improve performance.

content area

In the Sun Cluster module, the area that contains the tree view and context panel.

See also context panel.

See also tree view.

context panel

In the Sun Cluster module, the area in the right side of the content area. The context panel displays the data of a selected item from the tree view.

data service

An application that has been instrumented to run as a highly available resource under control of the Resource Group Manager (RGM).

default master

The default cluster member on which a failover resource type is brought online.

device group

A user-defined group of device resources, such as disks, that can be mastered from different nodes in a cluster High Availability configuration. This group can include device resources of disks, Solstice DiskSuite disksets, and VERITAS Volume Manager disk groups.

disk device group

See device group.

disk group

See device group.

diskset

See device group.

Distributed Lock Manager (DLM)

The locking software used in a shared disk Oracle Parallel Server (OPS) environment. The DLM enables Oracle processes running on different nodes to synchronize database access. The DLM is designed for high availability; if a process or node crashes, the remaining nodes do not have to be shut down and restarted. A quick reconfiguration of the DLM is performed to recover from such a failure.

endpoint

A physical port on a cluster transport adapter or cluster transport junction.

failback

See automatic failback.

failfast

The orderly shutdown and removal from the cluster of a faulty node before its potentially incorrect operation can prove damaging.

failover

The automatic relocation of a resource group or a device group from a current primary node to a new primary node after a failure has occurred.

failover resource type

A resource type, that has resources that can correctly be mastered by only one node at a time.

See also single instance resource type and scalable resource type.

fault monitor

A fault daemon and the programs that are used to probe various parts of data services and take action.

See also resource monitor.

global device

A device that is accessible from all cluster members, such as disk, CD-ROM, and tape.

global device namespace

A namespace that contains the logical, cluster-wide names for global devices. Local devices in the Solaris environment are defined in the /dev/dsk, /dev/rdsk, and /dev/rmt directories. The global device namespace defines global devices in the /dev/global/dsk, /dev/global/rdsk, and /dev/global/rmt directories.

global interface

A global network interface that physically hosts shared addresses.

See also shared address.

global interface node

A node hosting a global interface.

global resource

Highly available resources provided at the kernel level of the Sun Cluster software; includes disks (HA device groups), the cluster file system, and global networking.

HA data service

See Highly Available data service.

HA-NFS

Highly available NFS (distributed computing file system). HA-NFS provides highly available remote mount service, status monitor service, and network locking service.

heartbeat

A periodic message sent across all available cluster interconnnect transport paths. The lack of a heartbeat after a specified interval and number of retries might trigger an internal failover of transport communication to another path. Failure of all paths to a cluster member results in the Cluster Membership Monitor (CMM) reevaluation the cluster quorum.

interconnect

See cluster interconnect.

instantiate

See resource invocation.

junction

See cluster transport junction.

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local disk

A disk that is physically private to a given cluster node.

logical host

A group of resources that moves as a unit between nodes. The resources include a collection of network host names and their associated IP addresses. Each logical host is mastered by one node at a time.

logical network interface

In the Internet architecture, a host can have one or more IP addresses. Sun Cluster configures additional logical network interfaces to establish a mapping between several logical network interfaces and a single physical network interface; each logical network interface has a single IP address. This mapping enables a single physical network interface to respond to multiple IP addresses. This mapping also enables the IP address to move from one cluster member to the other in the event of a takeover or switchover, without requiring additional hardware interfaces.

master

See primary.

monitoring,

Configuration

Status

multihomed host

A host that is on more than one public network.

multihost disk

A disk that is physically connected to multiple nodes.

NAFO

See Network Adapter Failover (NAFO).

Network Adapter Failover (NAFO)

The software in Sun Cluster that enables multiple network adapters to be configured in a backup group. When the current network adapter fails, PNM software notifies the NAFO software to automatically switch over, or fail over to another adapter in the backup group.

See also Public Network Management (PNM).

Network Adapter Failover group

A set of one or more network adapters on the same node and on the same subnet configured to back up each other in the event of an adapter failure.

See also Network Adapter Failover (NAFO).

navigate,

Sun Cluster module tree view

node

A physical machine that can be part of a Sun cluster. Also referred to as a synonym for "host."

non-cluster mode

The resulting state achieved by booting a cluster member with the -x boot option. In this state the node is longer a cluster member, but is still a cluster node.

See also cluster member and cluster node.

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PNM

See Public Network Management (PNM).

potential master

See potential primary.

potential primary

A cluster member that is able to master a failover resource type if the primary node fails.

See also default master.

primary

A node on which a resource group or device group is currently online. That is, a primary is a node that is currently hosting or implementing the service associated with the resource.

See also secondary and spare.

primary host name

The name of a node on the primary public network. This name is always the node name specified in /etc/nodename.

See also secondary host name.

private host name

The host name alias used to communicate with a node over the cluster interconnect.

private network

The physical network connection between nodes that is used to send and cluster information.

probe timeout

The time, in seconds, after which a running database probe is aborted by the fault monitor, and a time-out condition is set.

public network

The network connecting every node in the cluster. Clients use the public network to access data on the cluster. Sun Cluster supports any number of public networks attached to the cluster nodes.

Viewing Public Network Connections

Public Network Management (PNM)

Software that uses fault monitoring and failover to prevent loss of node availability caused by a single network adapter or cable failure. PNM failover uses sets of network adapters called Network Adapter Failover groups to provide redundant connections between a cluster node and the public network. The fault monitoring and failover capabilities work together to ensure availability of resources.

See also Network Adapter Failover group .

See also Network Adapter Failover (NAFO).

quitting,

Sun Cluster module

quorum device

A disk, shared by two or more nodes, that contributes "votes" used to establish a quorum for the cluster to run. The cluster can operate only when a quorum of votes is available. When a cluster becomes partitioned into separate sets of nodes, the quorum device is used to establish which set of nodes will consitute the new cluster.

resource

An instance of a resource type. Many resources of the same type might coexist, each resource with its own name and set of property values, so that many instances of the underlying application might run on the cluster.

Configuration

Enabling, Disabling, and Deleting Resources

Status

Viewing Resource Configurations

Viewing Resource Properties

resource group

A collection of resources that the RGM manages as a unit. Each resource that the RGM manages must be configured in a resource group. Typically, related and interdependent resources are grouped.

Configuration

Status

Taking Offline, Bringing Online, and Deleting Resource Groups

Viewing Resource Group Status

Viewing Resource Group Configuration

Resource Group Manager (RGM)

A software facility used to make cluster resources highly available and scalable by automatically starting and stopping these resources on selected cluster nodes, according to pre-configured policies, in the event of hardware or software failures or reboots.

resource group state

The state of the resource group on any given node.

resource group type

A kind of resource group configured to behave like a logical host or scalable service.

resource invocation

An instance of a resource type running on a node. An abstract concept representing a resource that was started on the node.

Resource Management API (RMAPI)

The application programming interface within Sun Cluster that makes an application highly available in a cluster environment.

resource monitor

An optional part of a resource type implementation that runs periodic fault probes on resources to determine if they are running correctly and how they are performing.

resource state

The state of a Resource Group Manager's resources on a given node.

resource status

The condition of the resources as reported by the fault monitor.

resource type

The unique name given to a data service, LogicalHostname, or SharedAddress cluster object. Data service resource types can either be failover types or scalable types.

See also data service, failover resource type, and scalable resource type.

resource type property

A key-value pair, stored by the Resource Group Manager (RGM) as part of the resource type, which is used to describe and manage resources of the given type.

Viewing Resource Type Properties

Scalable Coherent Interface (SCI)

Dolphin's implementation of high-speed interconnect hardware used as the cluster interconnect.

scalable resource type

A resource type that runs on multiple nodes (an instance on each node) and uses the cluster interconnect to give the appearance of a single service to remote clients of the service.

scalable service

A data service implemented using a scalable resource type.

See also scalable resource type.

secondary

A node configured to become the primary node in the event that the current primary fails.

See also primary.

secondary host name

The name used to access a node on a secondary public network.

See also primary host name.

service

See scalable service.

shared address

A network address that can be bound by all scalable services running on nodes within the cluster to make them scale on those nodes. A cluster can have multiple shared addresses, and a service can be bound to multiple shared addresses.

single instance resource type

A resource type for which at most one resource can be active across a whole set of potential primaries.

Solstice DiskSuite

A volume manager that is used by Sun Cluster.

See also volume manager.

spare

A cluster member that is configured to become a secondary node when a primary node or a secondary node fails.

See also primary and secondary.

split brain

The result of a cluster breaking into multiple subclusters or multiple subclusters forming without knowledge of one another.

Sun Cluster

The software and hardware that enable several machines to act as read-write data servers while acting as backups for each other.

Sun Cluster Module

The software that provides a single interface to many of Sun Cluster's command-line monitoring features.

switchback

See automatic failback.

switchover

The orderly transfer of a resource group or device group from one owner (node) in a cluster to another owner (or multiple owners, if resource groups are configured for multiple primaries). A switchover is initiated by an administrator by using the scswitch(1M) command.

System Service Processor (SSP)

In Enterprise 10000 configurations, a device, external to the cluster, that is used specifically to communicate with cluster members.

takeover

See failover.

terminal concentrator

In non-Enterprise 10000 configurations, a device external to the cluster that is used specifically to communicate with cluster members.

tree view

In the Sun Cluster module, a view that contains items which represent cluster resources.

Navigating the Tree View

UFS

An abbreviation for the UNIX® file system.

VERITAS Volume Manager

A volume manager used by Sun Cluster.

See also volume manager.

volume manager

A software product that provides data reliability through disk striping, concatenation, mirroring, dynamic growth of metadevices or volumes, and file systems.

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