Hardware Discovery & Define Node

In order to manage machines using xCAT, the machines need to be defined as xCAT node objects in the database. The xCAT Objects documentation describes the process for manually creating node objects one by one using the xCAT mkdef command. This is valid when managing a small sizes cluster but can be error prone and cumbersome when managing large sized clusters.

xCAT provides several automatic hardware discovery methods to assist with hardware discovery by helping to simplify the process of detecting service processors (SP) and collecting various server information. The following are methods that xCAT supports:

Following are the brief characteristics and adaptability of each method, you can select a proper one according to your cluster size and other consideration.

  • Manually Define Nodes

    Manually collect information for target servers and manually define them to xCAT Node Object through mkdef command.

    This method is recommended for small cluster which has less than 10 nodes.

    • pros

      No specific configuration and procedure required and very easy to use.

    • cons

      It will take additional time to configure the SP (Management Modules like: BMC, FSP) and collect the server information like MTMS (Machine Type and Machine Serial) and Host MAC address for OS deployment …

      This method is inefficient and error-prone for a large number of servers.

  • MTMS-based Discovery

    Step1: Automatically search all the servers and collect server MTMS information.

    Step2: Define the searched server to a Node Object automatically. In this case, the node name will be generated based on the MTMS string. The admin can rename the Node Object to a reasonable name like r1u1 (It means the physical location is in Rack1 and Unit1).

    Step3: Power on the nodes, xCAT discovery engine will update additional information like the MAC for deployment for the nodes.

    This method is recommended for the medium scale of cluster which has less than 100 nodes.

    • pros

      With limited effort to get the automatic discovery benefit.

    • cons

      Compared to Switch-based Discovery, the admin needs to be involved to rename the automatically discovered node to a reasonable name (optional). It’s hard to rename the node to a location-based name for a large number of server.

  • Switch-based Discovery

    Step1: Pre-define the Node Object for all the nodes in the cluster. The Pre-defined node must have the attributes switch and switchport defined to specify which Switch and Port this server connected to. xCAT will use this Switch and Port information to map a discovered node to certain Pre-defined node.

    Step2: Power on the nodes, xCAT discovery engine will discover node attributes and update them to certain Pre-defined node.

    • pros

      The whole discovery process is totally automatic.

      Since the node is physically identified by the Switch and Port that the server connected, if a node fail and replaced with a new one, xCAT will automatically discover the new one and assign it to the original node name since the Switch and Port does not change.

    • cons

      You need to plan the cluster with planned Switch and Port mapping for each server and switch. All the Switches need be configured with snmpv3 accessible for xCAT management node.

  • Sequential-based Discovery

    Step1: Pre-define the Node Object for all the nodes in the cluster.

    Step2: Manually power on the node one by one. The booted node will be discovered, each new discovered node will be assigned to one of the Pre-defined node in Sequential.

    • pros

      No special configuration required like Switch-based Discovery. No manual rename node step required like MTMS-based Discovery.

    • cons

      You have to strictly boot on the node in order if you want the node has the expected name. Generally you have to waiting for the discovery process finished before power on the next one.