Sounds like what you want is something along the lines of Lustre or even GPFS from IBM. Those systems allow aggregate use of nodes as storage bricks. RHCS could be used on top of such a system as well as in conjunction with. Lustre for instance allows a node to be designated as a failover for another node, but as far as I know requires some other method to ensure the storage device is taken over by the failover node. It all depends on what you are trying to accomplish. If you are trying to save money, move ahead carefully. I'm not sure if the storage bricks are meant to be used for general purpose computing etc once they are configured to provide storage. Also, due to the current lack of "raid" personalities in things like Lustre, you will want some nice hardware, which by the time you get done paying for you might as well have paid for a small SAN. For raw thoughput though, it's hard to beat Luster or GPFS. Corey Kovacs Senior Systems Engineer Technology Management Associates 703.279.6168 (B) 855-6168 (R) -----Original Message----- From: linux-cluster-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:linux-cluster-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Robert Peterson Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2007 10:12 AM To: linux clustering Subject: Re: storage clustering without SAN Shailesh wrote: > Hi Everyone, > I am looking for a storage solution where there is NO > common storage area like a SAN. But just a bunch of PC clustered > togther with their internal disk space used collectively as a storage area. > > Can you suggest me any information that talks about such an > architecture ? > > Can I use the redhat clustering suite with these bunch of PC connected > on a ethernet network ? > > Do I have to use GFS , if RHCS is employed ? > > I'll appreciate your answer to the above. > > Thanks & Regards > Shailesh P S Hi Shailesh, If your storage is not shared, what exactly do you mean by "used collectively"? You can use the cluster suite to cluster a bunch of PCs together so they cooperate, provide High Availability services (through rgmanager) and so forth, regardless of whether you use GFS. If your storage isn't shared between the systems, you don't need GFS. Regards, Bob Peterson Red Hat Cluster Suite -- Linux-cluster mailing list Linux-cluster@xxxxxxxxxx https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/linux-cluster -- Linux-cluster mailing list Linux-cluster@xxxxxxxxxx https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/linux-cluster
