Red Hat Cluster Suite: Configuring and Managing a Cluster
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# Introduction

The Red Hat Cluster Suite is a collection of technologies working together to provide data integrity and the ability to maintain application availability in the event of a failure. Administrators can deploy enterprise cluster solutions using a combination of hardware redundancy along with the failover and load-balancing technologies in Red Hat Cluster Suite.

Red Hat Cluster Manager is a high-availability cluster solution specifically suited for database applications, network file servers, and World Wide Web (Web) servers with dynamic content. A Red Hat Cluster Manager system features data integrity and application availability using redundant hardware, shared disk storage, power management, robust cluster communication, and robust application failover mechanisms.

Administrators can also deploy highly available applications services using Piranha, a load-balancing and advanced routing cluster solution based on Linux Virtual Server (LVS) technology. Using Piranha, administrators can build highly available e-commerce sites that feature complete data integrity and service availability, in addition to load balancing capabilities. Refer to Part II Configuring a Linux Virtual Server Cluster for more information.

This guide assumes that the user has an advanced working knowledge of Red Hat Enterprise Linux and understands the concepts of server computing. For more information about using Red Hat Enterprise Linux, refer to the following resources:

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide for information regarding installation.

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Introduction to System Administration for introductory information for new Red Hat Enterprise Linux system administrators.

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux System Administration Guide for more detailed information about configuring Red Hat Enterprise Linux to suit your particular needs as a user.

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Reference Guide provides detailed information suited for more experienced users to reference when needed, as opposed to step-by-step instructions.

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Security Guide details the planning and the tools involved in creating a secured computing environment for the data center, workplace, and home.

HTML, PDF, and RPM versions of the manuals are available on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Documentation CD and online at:

    http://www.redhat.com/docs/

# 1. How To Use This Manual

This manual contains information about setting up a Red Hat Cluster Manager system. These tasks are described in the following chapters:

- Chapter 2 Hardware Installation and Operating System Configuration

- Chapter 3 Installing and Configuring Red Hat Cluster Suite Software

Part II Configuring a Linux Virtual Server Cluster describes how to achieve load balancing in an Red Hat Enterprise Linux cluster by using the Linux Virtual Server.

Appendix A Supplementary Hardware Information contains detailed configuration information on specific hardware devices and shared storage configurations.

Appendix B Selectively Installing Red Hat Cluster Suite Packages contains information about custom installation of Red Hat Cluster Suite and Red Hat GFS RPMs.

Appendix C `Multipath-usage.txt` File for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Update 3 contains information from the `Multipath-usage.txt` file. The file provides guidelines for using `dm-multipath` with Red Hat Cluster Suite for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Update 3.

This guide assumes you have a thorough understanding of Red Hat Enterprise Linux system administration concepts and tasks. For detailed information on Red Hat Enterprise Linux system administration, refer to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux System Administration Guide. For reference information on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, refer to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Reference Guide.

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