Requirements for using clusters and IPspaces

IPspace naming requirement

The names of IPspaces to which the partner interfaces are assigned must be the same on both filers.

For example, in a cluster pair of Filer A and Filer B, if IPspaceA is created on Filer A, an IPspaceA must also exist on Filer B.

IPspace assignment requirement

The partner interfaces on both partners must be assigned to the same-name IPspaces on their respective filers.

For example, in a cluster pair of Filer A and Filer B, interface e4 of Filer B is the takeover interface of interface e0 of Filer A, and vice versa. If interface e0 belongs to IPspaceA on Filer A, interface e4 must belong to IPspaceA on Filer B.

Specifying partners in an asymmetric cluster setup

In an asymmetric cluster setup, vfiler-IPspace configuration on one cluster partner is different from the other; for example, one of the partners might not have any (or the same number of) vfilers configured in a specific IPspace, while the other partner does.

A "standby" cluster configuration is an example of an asymmetric cluster setup in which one of the hosts is connected to minimal storage of its own. This host takes over its partner's storage and vfilers if the partner fails. In such a configuration, you might not have any or enough storage on this host to configure the same number of vfilers as the primary host. To specify the partner interface when setting up such a cluster configuration, you can use the interface name of the partner instead of the IP address.

For example, two filers, Filer1 and Filer2, are configured as shown in the following table.

Filer	vfiler (associated IP address)	IPspace	Interface name
Filer1	vfiler0 (1.1.1.1)	default	e0
	vfiler1 (2.1.1.1)	ips1	e1
	vfiler2 (3.1.1.1)	ips2	e2
Filer2	vfiler0 (1.1.1.2)	default	e0
			e4a
			e4b

To specify partner interfaces on Filer1, complete the following step.

Step	Action
1	Create a host-partner relationship in the following way: ifconfig e0 1.1.1.1 netmask 255.255.255.0 partner e0 ifconfig e1 2.1.1.1 netmask 255.255.255.0 partner e4a ifconfig e2 3.1.1.1 netmask 255.255.255.0 partner e4b

To specify partner interfaces on Filer2, complete the following steps.

Step	Action
1	Create two IPspaces: ips1 and ips2.
2	Assign interface e4a to ips1 and interface e4b to ips2.
3	Create a host-partner relationship on Filer2 in the following way: ifconfig e0 1.1.1.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 partner e0 ifconfig e4a partner e1 ifconfig e4b partner e2

Step

Action

Create two IPspaces: ips1 and ips2.

Assign interface e4a to ips1 and interface e4b to ips2.

Create a host-partner relationship on Filer2 in the following way:

ifconfig e0 1.1.1.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 partner e0

ifconfig e4a partner e1

ifconfig e4b partner e2