Hi Jon
I'm thinking about implementing gluster as a possible way of home
directory server redundancy(using the afr translator), but I have a few
questions that I can't seem to find the answer to:
-Does installing gluster require a total format of the "bricks" or data
volumes involved? Can I just install it over the current system and
keep data intact? From what I read it just works over the current
filesystem (ext3, xfs, etc)?
No. A gluster "brick" is simply a directory that is exported as a
filesystem (very similar to NFS). The underlying filesystem can be
whatever you want (as long as its readable from the kernel).
-We currently have a single node w/fibre channel raid (partitioned into
7 luns for different user groups) for our home directories. All
exported using NFS. We are getting in a new server and raid unit,
which will become the primary server once it is setup. Can I setup the
new server and raid as a single gluster node, get the data copied over
(via rsync or something similar), move clients over to the new machine,
then resetup the old server/raid combo and add it into the gluster
system? Or is there a better way to do this?
Sounds like a perfectly fine way to do it.
-Concerning NFS and tied into the above question: we use it for it's
compatibility with Mac, Linux and Solaris workstations and has worked
fairly well. We'd like to stick with it. Would that require running a
fuse/gluster client on one of the above nodes and re-exporting it as
NFS? That is the way I seem to understand from my searches on the
mailing lists. Or can you directly export a gluster brick via nfs?
And if running the fuse/gluster client on one of the server nodes w/
exported NFS is necessary, is this a safe way to do things?
There were problems a while ago about exporting glusterfs volumes as NFS
exports, but I believe these problems have now been sorted out (if you
use the gluster patched fuse client). I am unable to tell you if Mac and
Solaris works with glusterfs exports, but all I can sugest there is to
download the source and give it a crack :) Or someone else might be able
to jump in with a better answer.
Good luck :)
Matt.
