IBM Spectrum Scale Client configurations
The IBM® Pattern for IBM Spectrum Scale provides integrated management capabilities so you can deploy a number of different file server configurations.
You can use the IBM Spectrum Scale Client Policy to attach to the IBM Spectrum Scale shared file system when your client instance is a virtual application pattern, or when you want to perform the IBM Spectrum Scale Client installation before any of the middleware scripts are run.
Use script packages when your IBM Spectrum Scale Client instance is a classic virtual system instance, or when you want to perform the IBM Spectrum Scale Client installation after the instance deployment.
Pattern developers using IBM Spectrum Scale need to specify basic file system information. During pattern deployment, the IBM Spectrum Scale Client script packages or the IBM Spectrum Scale Client Policy uses this information to configure the IBM Spectrum Scale Client instance to access the file system on a deployed IBM Spectrum Scale Server instance.
IBM Spectrum Scale Client deployments
- The IBM shared service for IBM Spectrum Scale simplifies the
deployment of IBM Spectrum Scale Clients by providing
information about the available IBM Spectrum Scale Server
that these clients can use. IBM Spectrum Scale Clients do
not need to know the IP or communication key to reach its IBM Spectrum Scale Server because this information is provided
by the shared service instance.
The system administrator must deploy instances of this shared service in the same environment where future IBM Spectrum Scale Client deployments are expected. The shared service does not need to reside on the same cloud group, or even the same Cloud Pak System Software on IBM Cloud Pak System, with the IBM Spectrum Scale Server.
The IBM shared service for IBM Spectrum Scale also controls which IBM Spectrum Scale Clients can have access to a particular IBM Spectrum Scale Server deployment. IBM Spectrum Scale Clients can access only the IBM Spectrum Scale Servers made available through the shared service.
Note:- The IBM Spectrum Scale Clients can provide the IBM Spectrum Scale Server information at deployment time, thus eliminating the requirement to deploy the IBM Spectrum Scale shared service. For more information, see the Related links.
- You can deploy a IBM Spectrum Scale Client without deploying the IBM Spectrum Scale shared service. For more information, see the Related links.
- IBM Spectrum Scale Clients can also be configured to point to an external IBM Spectrum Scale Server that is deployed outside of Cloud Pak System. At deployment time, the IBM Spectrum Scale Client provides the IP address for the main external IBM Spectrum Scale Server, and runs a set of script packages to set up communication with the external IBM Spectrum Scale Server.
- The IBM Spectrum Scale Client Policy supports
application components in both virtual system patterns and virtual application patterns. When added
to a pattern component, at deployment time the IBM Spectrum Scale product is
installed on the virtual machine, the configuration is retrieved from the shared service or the
policy attributes, and the client is connected to shared file systems that are hosted by the
deployed IBM Spectrum Scale Server pattern.
The IBM Spectrum Scale Client Policy also incorporates management operations available through the Instance Console in Cloud Pak System. Administrators can mount multiple file systems after deployment, check the file system health, and reconnect to the same or a different IBM Spectrum Scale Server. Reconnecting is needed when a failover occurs and the IBM Spectrum Scale Mirror or IBM Spectrum Scale Passive configuration takes over as the IBM Spectrum Scale Primary configuration. The client can also use the Connect to Server operation to attach to a different server's shared file system.
Note: If the client is using the IBM shared service for IBM Spectrum Scale to connect to the IBM Spectrum Scale Server, the client must perform the reconnect operation (by using the Connect to Server operation) any time that the IBM shared service for IBM Spectrum Scale is redeployed and points to a new IBM Spectrum Scale Server instance. In the case of a failover, the IBM Spectrum Scale Clients must wait for the shared service to redeploy with new information, then try to reconnect to the new configuration. - IBM Spectrum Scale Client script packages provide an alternative method of connecting IBM Spectrum Scale Clients to IBM Spectrum Scale Servers, other than using the IBM Spectrum Scale Client Policy. This option is available for use with virtual system patterns and classic virtual system patterns, and gives you more control over when the IBM Spectrum Scale Client code is run as part of your deployment. For more information about these script packages, see the Related links.