GL645 - Enterprise Linux High Availability Clustering

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The GL645 is an in-depth course that focuses on two key areas, Linux high availability (HA) clustering and HA storage administration. Storage is integral to many HA clusters so as to make use of clustered storage technologies to enable active/active configurations.

Over the course of many in-depth lab exercises, each student will assemble a realistic three-node Linux cluster utilizing best practices. Each node has three network interfaces and each student's cluster has its own dedicated cluster VLAN.

The class contains a storage array for shared LUNs among the nodes. This enables students to perform very real world tasks in a real world setting, including multipathing, redundant ring communication, last man standing cluster, and shared storage scenarios. Course topics include: Cluster Architecture & Design, Pacemaker, Corosync, Fencing, Resource Management, Advanced Resource Management, Multipathing, Cluster LVM, Global File System v2.

The unprecedented real-world nature of this class requires a classroom configuration that would be daunting (but not impossible) to put together in a physical or virtual classroom. The Guru Labs online classroom solution, RLabs, instantly and easily deploys a classroom with the exact configuration needed to support this class. Students will be able to focus on the course topics rather than configuration settings outside the scope of the course.

Current Version: E05

Prerequisites:

This course requires an advanced knowledge of Linux system administration. These skills are taught in the GL250 "Enterprise Linux Systems Administration" and GL120 "Linux Fundamentals".

Supported Distributions:
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Recommended Class Length:
4 days
Detailed Course Outline:
  1. Introduction to Clustering and Storage Management
    1. Clustering Introduction
    2. Cluster Building Blocks
    3. Shared Storage
    4. Hardware and Software Requirements
    5. Network Considerations
    6. Split Brain Prevention with Fencing
    7. HA Components
    8. Clustered Resources
    9. Configuration Tools
    10. Red Hat Cluster Stack Roadmap
    11. Running Commands on Multiple Systems
    Lab Tasks
    1. Running Commands on Multiple Hosts
    2. Prepare System for Clustering
    3. Static Network Configuration
  2. Corosync and Quorum Management
    1. Vocabulary
    2. Network Topology
    3. Ethernet Bonding
    4. Communication Methods
    5. IPv6 Considerations
    6. Cluster Node Preparation
    7. Enable and Configure pcsd
    8. PCS PCSD
    9. Cluster Quorum
    10. Advanced Quorum Techniques
    11. Corosync
    12. Corosync - Redundant Ring Protocol (RRP)
    13. Corosync Security
    14. Joining and Leaving the Cluster
    15. Quorum Administration
    16. Upgrading
    Lab Tasks
    1. Install Cluster Components
    2. Setup a Two Node Cluster
    3. Setup a Three Node Cluster with PCS
    4. Totem RRP
    5. PCS GUI
  3. STONITH and Fencing
    1. Fencing Introduction
    2. Node Level Fencing
    3. Node Fencing: External
    4. Node Fencing: Internal
    5. Node Fencing: Pseudo
    6. Resource Level Fencing
    7. Fencing Architecture
    8. STONITH Subsystem
    9. Fencing Agents
    10. Fencing Agents listing
    11. STONITH Resources
    12. Working With stonith_admin
    13. Manual Fencing
    14. Best Practices
    Lab Tasks
    1. Suicide Fencing with Storage Based Death
    2. Fencing with fence_scsi
  4. Pacemaker Cluster Resource Manager
    1. Cluster Architecture Revisited
    2. Pacemaker Architecture
    3. Pacemaker Cluster Information Base (CIB)
    4. Resource Management Overview
    5. Component Relationships
    6. Resource Agents
    7. Types of Resources
    8. Resource Naming Conventions
    9. Resource Specific Parameters/Options
    10. Resource Meta Parameters/Options
    11. Resource Agent Operations
    12. Discover Resource Agents
    13. Available Resource Agents
    14. Resource Spotlight: IPAddr2
    15. Add a Primative Resource
    16. Resource Group Management
    17. Resource Group Example
    18. Resource Actions: Monitoring
    19. Resource Administration
    20. PCS vs. CRM_*
    Lab Tasks
    1. Simple Management with PCS-GUI
    2. Using Resource Groups
  5. Advanced Resource Configuration
    1. Resource Placement Basics
    2. Resource Ordering
    3. Location Constraints
    4. Relocating Resources
    5. Relocation on Failure
    6. Resource Standard: Clones & Multi-State
    7. Resource Operations
    8. Troubleshooting
    9. Cluster Maintenance
    Lab Tasks
    1. Setup a Web Farm
    2. Using Constraints
    3. Cluster Monitoring
  6. Storage Technologies
    1. Remote Storage Overview
    2. Remote Filesystem Protocols
    3. Remote Block Device Protocols
    4. Distributed Lock Manager
    5. dlm_controld & dlm_tool
    6. Block Devices and the Device Mapper
    7. Managing Loopback Devices
    Lab Tasks
    1. Manipulating Block Devices
  7. iSCSI
    1. iSCSI Architecture
    2. iSCSI Target Implementations
    3. iSCSI Target Node Preparation & targetcli
    4. iSCSI Target Administration
    5. iSCSI Target Defining Storage Objects
    6. iSCSI Target LUN Administration
    7. iSCSI Target Network Portal Configuration
    8. iSCSI Target Security
    9. iSCSI Target Examples
    10. Open-iSCSI Initiator Implementation
    11. iSCSI Initiator Discovery
    12. iSCSI Initiator Node Administration
    13. Mounting iSCSI Targets at Boot
    14. iSCSI Multipathing Considerations
    Lab Tasks
    1. iSCSI Initiator Configuration
  8. Kernel Device Management
    1. Managing Linux Device Files
    2. Kernel Hardware Info – /sys/
    3. /sys/ Structure
    4. udev
    5. I/O Elevators
    Lab Tasks
    1. Creating Custom UDEV Rules
  9. Device Mapper and Multipathing
    1. SAN Multipathing
    2. Multipath Configuration
    3. Multipathing Best Practices
    Lab Tasks
    1. Multipath Configuration
  10. Advanced LVM & Cluster LVM
    1. Logical Volume Management
    2. Implementing LVM
    3. Creating Logical Volumes
    4. Activating LVM VGs
    5. Exporting and Importing a VG
    6. Examining LVM Components
    7. Changing LVM Components
    8. Advanced LVM Overview
    9. Advanced LVM: Components & Object Tags
    10. Advanced LVM: Automated Storage Tiering
    11. Advanced LVM: Thin Provisioning
    12. Advanced LVM: Striping & Mirroring
    13. Advanced LVM: RAID Volumes
    14. cLVM
    Lab Tasks
    1. Creating and Managing LVM Volumes
    2. cLVM
  11. Global File System (GFS) 2
    1. GFS2 Overview
    2. GFS2 Capabilities
    3. GFS2 Theory of Operation
    4. GFS2 Configuration Prerequisites
    5. Setting Up Cluster LVM
    6. GFS2 Filesystem Creation & Mounting
    7. GFS2 Filesystem Management
    8. GFS2 Fencing Requirement
    Lab Tasks
    1. GFS2