37.1 Initial Setup

Configure the computer hardware, network hardware, storage hardware, operating systems, user accounts, and other basic system resources per the documented requirements for Sentinel and local customer requirements. Test the systems to ensure proper function and stability.

Use the following checklist to guide you through initial setup and configuration.

 

Checklist Items

The CPU, RAM, and disk space characteristics for each cluster node must meet the system requirements defined in Section 5.0, Meeting System Requirements based on the expected event rate.

The disk space and I/O characteristics for the storage nodes must meet the system requirements defined in Section 5.0, Meeting System Requirements based on the expected event rate and data retention policies for primary and secondary storage.

If you want to configure the operating system firewalls to restrict access to Sentinel and the cluster, refer to Section 8.0, Ports Used for details of which ports must be available depending on your local configuration and the sources that will be sending event data.

Ensure that all cluster nodes are time-synchronized. You can use NTP or a similar technology for this purpose.

  • The cluster requires reliable host name resolution. Enter all internal cluster host names into the /etc/hosts file to ensure cluster continuity in case of DNS failure.

  • Ensure that you do not assign a host name to a loopback IP address.

  • When configuring host name and domain name while installing the operating system, deselect Assign Hostname to Loopback IP.

You can use the following configuration:

  • (Conditional) For traditional HA installations:

    • Two cluster node VMs running SLES 11 SP4 or SLES 12 SP1 or later.

    • (Conditional) You can install X Windows if you require GUI configuration. Set the boot scripts to start without X (runlevel 3), so you can start them only when needed.

  • (Conditional) For HA appliance installations: Two HA ISO appliance based cluster node virtual machines. For information about installing the HA ISO appliance, see Installing Sentinel.

  • The nodes will have one NIC for external access and one for iSCSI communications.

  • Configure the external NICs with IP addresses that allow for remote access through SSH or similar. For this example, we will use 172.16.0.1 (node01) and 172.16.0.2 (node02).

  • Each node should have sufficient disk for the operating system, Sentinel binaries and configuration data, cluster software, temp space, and so forth. See the SLES and SLES HAE system requirements, and Sentinel application requirements.

  • One virtual machine running SLES 11 SP4 or SLES 12 SP1 or later that is configured with iSCSI Targets for shared storage

    • (Conditional) You can install X Windows if you require GUI configuration. Set the boot scripts to start without X (runlevel 3), so you can start them only when needed.

    • The system will have two NICs: one for external access and one for iSCSI communications.

    • Configure the external NIC with an IP address that allows for remote access using SSH or similar. For example, 172.16.0.3 (storage03).

    • The system should have sufficient space for the operating system, temp space, a large volume for shared storage to hold Sentinel data, and a small amount of space for an SBD partition. See the SLES system requirements, and Sentinel event data storage requirements.

NOTE:In a production cluster, you can use internal, non-routable IP addresses on separate NICs (possibly a couple, for redundancy) for internal cluster communications.