Overview

Federated architecture best fits customers that execute high load (thousands of transactions per second) in their gateways, where the vast majority of the transactions is executed on-premise.

The cell environment implements the federated architecture by distributing DPOD's Store and DPOD's processing (using DPOD's agents) across different federated servers.

The cell environment has two main components:

• Cell Manager - a DPOD server (virtual or physical) that manages all Federated Cell Members (FCMs) as well as providing central DPOD services such as Web Console, reports, alerts, etc.
• Federated Cell Member (FCM) - a DPOD server (usually physical with local high speed storage) that includes Store data nodes and agents (Syslog and WS-M) for collecting, parsing and storing data. There could be one or more federated cell members per cell.

The following diagram describes the Cell Environment:

The following procedure describes the process of establishing a DPOD cell environment.

Prerequisites

1. DPOD cell manager and federated cell members must be with the same version (minimum version is v1.0.8.5).
2. DPOD cell manager can be installed in both Appliance Mode or Non-Appliance Mode with Medium Load architecture type, as detailed in the Hardware and Software Requirements. The manager server can be both virtual or physical.
3. Physical DPOD federated cell member (FCM) must be installed in Non-appliance Mode with High_20dv architecture type, as detailed in the Hardware and Software Requirements.
4. Virtual DPOD federated cell member (FCM) must be installed in Non-appliance Mode with Medium architecture type or higher, as detailed in the Hardware and Software Requirements and in Virtual Cell Environment Installation.
5. All DPOD federated cell member (FCM) must have the exactly the same resources such as CPUs, RAM, disk type and storage capacity.
6. Each cell component (manager / FCM) should have two network interfaces:
   
   1. External interface - for DPOD users to access the Web Console (on the cell manager) and for communication between DPOD and Monitored Gateways (on both the cell manager and the members).
   2. Internal interface - for internal DPOD components inter-communication (should be a 10Gb Ethernet interface).
7. Network ports should be opened in the network firewall as detailed below:

Cell Manager Installation

Prerequisites

• Install the following software package (RPM) on the cell manager: bc

Installation

Install DPOD as described in one of the following installation procedures:

• For Appliance Mode: Appliance Installation
  • In this mode, the user is prompted to choose the data disk type (SSD / non SSD). Choose the cell members disk type (should be SSD) instead of the cell manager disk type.
• For Non-appliance Mode: Non-Appliance Installation

  • As described in the prerequisites section, the cell manager should have two network interfaces.
    In this mode, the user is prompted to choose the IP address for the Web Console. Choose the IP address of the external network interface. 

After DPOD installation is complete, the user should execute the following operating system performance optimization script:

/app/scripts/tune-os-parameters.sh

Federated Cell Member Installation

The following section describes the installation process of a single Federated Cell Member (FCM). User should repeat the procedure for every FCM installation.

Prerequisites

• DPOD federated cell member (FCM) should be installed in Non-appliance Mode with High_20dv architecture type, as detailed in the Hardware and Software Requirements.
• Install the following software package (RPM): bc
• The following software packages (RPMs) are recommended for system maintenance and troubleshooting, but are not required: telnet client, net-tools, iftop, tcpdump, pciutils, nvme-cli
  

Installation

DPOD Installation

• Install DPOD in Non-Appliance Mode: Installation Procedure
• The four-letter Installation Environment Name should be identical to the one that was chosen for the Cell Manager.

• After DPOD installation is complete, the user should execute the following operating system performance optimization script:

/app/scripts/tune-os-parameters.sh

Preparing Cell Member for Federation

Preparing Mount Points

The cell member is usually a "bare metal" server with NVMe disks for maximizing server throughput.

Each of the Store's logical node (service) will be bound to a specific physical processor, disks and memory using NUMA (Non-Uniform Memory Access) technology.

The default cell member configuration assumes 6 NVMe disks which will serve 3 Store logical nodes (2 disks per node).

The following OS mount points should be configured by the user before federating the DPOD cell member to the cell environment.

Empty cells in the following table should be completed by the user, based on their specific hardware:

How to Identify Disk OS Path and Disk Serial

1. To identify which of the server's NVMe disk bays is bound to which of the CPUs, use the hardware manufacture documentation.
   Also, write down the disk's serial number by visually observing the disk.
   
   

2. In order to identify the disk OS path (e.g.: /dev/nvme01n),  disk serial and disk NUMA node use the following command :
   
   

   1. Identify all NVMe Disks installed on the server

      lspci -nn | grep NVM expected output : 5d:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller [0108]: Intel Corporation Express Flash NVMe P4500 [8086:0a54] 5e:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller [0108]: Intel Corporation Express Flash NVMe P4500 [8086:0a54] ad:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller [0108]: Intel Corporation Express Flash NVMe P4500 [8086:0a54] ae:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller [0108]: Intel Corporation Express Flash NVMe P4500 [8086:0a54] c5:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller [0108]: Intel Corporation Express Flash NVMe P4500 [8086:0a54] c6:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller [0108]: Intel Corporation Express Flash NVMe P4500 [8086:0a54]

      
      

   2. Locate disk's NUMA node
      Use the disk PCI slot  listed in previous command  to identify the NUMA node (the first disk PCI slot is :  5d:00.0 )

      lspci -s 5d:00.0 -v expected output : 5d:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller: Intel Corporation Express Flash NVMe P4500 (prog-if 02 [NVM Express]) Subsystem: Lenovo Device 4712 Physical Slot: 70 Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 93, NUMA node 1 Memory at e1310000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K] Expansion ROM at e1300000 [disabled] [size=64K] Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3 Capabilities: [50] MSI-X: Enable+ Count=129 Masked- Capabilities: [60] Express Endpoint, MSI 00 Capabilities: [a0] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+ Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting Capabilities: [150] Virtual Channel Capabilities: [180] Power Budgeting <?> Capabilities: [190] Alternative Routing-ID Interpretation (ARI) Capabilities: [270] Device Serial Number 55-cd-2e-41-4f-89-0f-43 Capabilities: [2a0] #19 Capabilities: [2d0] Latency Tolerance Reporting Capabilities: [310] L1 PM Substates Kernel driver in use: nvme Kernel modules: nvme

      From the command output (line number 8) we can identify the NUMA node ( Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 93, NUMA node 1 )
      
      

   3. Identify NVMe Disks path
      Use the disk PCI slot  listed in previous command  to identify the disk's block device path

      ls -la /sys/dev/block |grep 5d:00.0 expected output : lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 0 Nov 5 08:06 259:4 -> ../../devices/pci0000:58/0000:58:00.0/0000:59:00.0/0000:5a:02.0/0000:5d:00.0/nvme/nvme0/nvme0n1

      
      Use the last part of the device path (nvme0n1) as input for the following command :

      nvme -list |grep nvme0n1 expected output : /dev/nvme0n1 PHLE822101AN3P2EGN SSDPE2KE032T7L 1 3.20 TB / 3.20 TB 512 B + 0 B QDV1LV45

      
      The disk's path is  /dev/nvme0n1

1. Use the disk bay number and the disk serial number (visually identified) and correlate them with the output of the disk tool to identify the disk OS path.

Example for Mount Points and Disk Configurations

Example for LVM Configuration

pvcreate -ff /dev/nvme0n1
vgcreate vg_data2 /dev/nvme0n1
lvcreate -l 100%FREE -n lv_data vg_data2
mkfs.xfs -f /dev/vg_data2/lv_data

pvcreate -ff /dev/nvme1n1
vgcreate vg_data22 /dev/nvme1n1
lvcreate -l 100%FREE -n lv_data vg_data22
mkfs.xfs /dev/vg_data22/lv_data

/etc/fstab file:

/dev/vg_data2/lv_data    /data2                   xfs     defaults        0 0
/dev/vg_data22/lv_data   /data22                   xfs     defaults        0 0
/dev/vg_data3/lv_data    /data3                   xfs     defaults        0 0
/dev/vg_data33/lv_data   /data33                   xfs     defaults        0 0
/dev/vg_data4/lv_data    /data4                   xfs     defaults        0 0
/dev/vg_data44/lv_data   /data44                   xfs     defaults        0 0

Create directories for the new data mount points

mkdir -p /data2 /data22 /data3 /data33 /data4 /data44 

Example for the Final Configuration for 3 Store's nodes

# lsblk

NAME                MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
nvme0n1             259:0    0   2.9T  0 disk
└─vg_data2-lv_data  253:6    0   2.9T  0 lvm  /data2
nvme1n1             259:5    0   2.9T  0 disk
└─vg_data22-lv_data 253:3    0   2.9T  0 lvm  /data22
nvme2n1             259:1    0   2.9T  0 disk
└─vg_data3-lv_data  253:2    0   2.9T  0 lvm  /data3
nvme3n1             259:2    0   2.9T  0 disk
└─vg_data33-lv_data 253:5    0   2.9T  0 lvm  /data33
nvme4n1             259:4    0   2.9T  0 disk
└─vg_data44-lv_data 253:7    0   2.9T  0 lvm  /data44
nvme5n1             259:3    0   2.9T  0 disk
└─vg_data4-lv_data  253:8    0   2.9T  0 lvm  /data4

Install NUMA Software

yum install numactl

Preparing Local OS Based Firewall

Most Linux-based OS uses a local firewall service (e.g.: iptables / firewalld).

Since the OS of the Non-Appliance Mode DPOD installation is provided by the user, it is under the user's responsibility to allow needed connectivity to and from the server.

User should make sure needed connectivity detailed in Network Ports Table is allowed on the OS local firewall service.

Cell Member Federation

In order to federate and configure the cell member, run the following script in the cell manager once per cell member.

For instance, to federate two cell members, the script should be run twice (in the cell manager) - first time with the IP address of the first cell member, and second time with the IP address of the second cell member.

Important: The script should be executed using the OS root user.

/app/scripts/configure_cell_manager.sh -a <internal IP address of the cell member> -g <external IP address of the cell member>
For example: /app/scripts/configure_cell_manager.sh -a 172.18.100.34 -g 172.17.100.33

Example for a Successful Execution

 /app/scripts/configure_cell_manager.sh -a 172.18.100.36 -g 172.17.100.35

2018-10-22_16-13-16 INFO Cell Configuration
2018-10-22_16-13-16 INFO ===============================
2018-10-22_16-13-18 INFO 
2018-10-22_16-13-18 INFO Log file is : /installs/logs/cell_manager_configuration-2018-10-22_16-13-16.log
2018-10-22_16-13-18 INFO 
2018-10-22_16-13-18 INFO Adding new cell member with the following configuration :
2018-10-22_16-13-18 INFO Cell member internal address 172.18.100.36
2018-10-22_16-13-18 INFO Cell member external address 172.17.100.35
2018-10-22_16-13-18 INFO Syslog agents using TCP ports starting with 60000
2018-10-22_16-13-18 INFO Wsm agents using TCP ports starting with 60020 
2018-10-22_16-13-18 INFO 
2018-10-22_16-13-18 INFO During the configuration process the system will be shut down, which means that new data will not be collected and the Web Console will be unavailable for users.
2018-10-22_16-13-18 INFO Please make sure the required network connectivity (e.g. firewall rules) is available between all cell components (manager and members) according to the documentation.
2018-10-22_16-13-18 INFO 
2018-10-22_16-13-20 INFO Please choose the IP address for the cell manager server internal address followed by [ENTER]:
2018-10-22_16-13-20 INFO 1.) 172.18.100.32
2018-10-22_16-13-20 INFO 2.) 172.17.100.31
1
2018-10-22_16-14-30 INFO Stopping application ...
2018-10-22_16-15-16 INFO Application stopped successfully. 
root@172.18.100.36's password: 
2018-10-22_16-21-41 INFO Cell member configuration ended successfully.
2018-10-22_16-21-45 INFO Stopping application ...
2018-10-22_16-22-31 INFO Application stopped successfully. 
2018-10-22_16-22-31 INFO Starting application ...

Note that the script writes two log file, one in the cell manager and one in the cell member. The log file names are mentioned in the script's output.

Example for a Failed Execution

 /app/scripts/configure_cell_manager.sh -a 172.18.100.36 -g 172.17.100.35

2018-10-22_16-05-03 INFO Cell Configuration
2018-10-22_16-05-03 INFO ===============================
2018-10-22_16-05-05 INFO 
2018-10-22_16-05-05 INFO Log file is : /installs/logs/cell_manager_configuration-2018-10-22_16-05-03.log
2018-10-22_16-05-05 INFO 
2018-10-22_16-05-05 INFO Adding new cell member with the following configuration :
2018-10-22_16-05-05 INFO Cell member internal address 172.18.100.36
2018-10-22_16-05-05 INFO Cell member external address 172.17.100.35
2018-10-22_16-05-05 INFO Syslog agents using TCP ports starting with 60000
2018-10-22_16-05-05 INFO Wsm agents using TCP ports starting with 60020 
2018-10-22_16-05-05 INFO 
2018-10-22_16-05-05 INFO During the configuration process the system will be shut down, which means that new data will not be collected and the Web Console will be unavailable for users.
2018-10-22_16-05-05 INFO Please make sure the required network connectivity (e.g. firewall rules) is available between all cell components (manager and members) according to the documentation.
2018-10-22_16-05-05 INFO 
2018-10-22_16-05-06 INFO Please choose the IP address for the cell manager server internal address followed by [ENTER]:
2018-10-22_16-05-06 INFO 1.) 172.18.100.32
2018-10-22_16-05-06 INFO 2.) 172.17.100.31
1
2018-10-22_16-05-09 INFO Stopping application ...
2018-10-22_16-05-58 INFO Application stopped successfully. 
root@172.18.100.36's password: 
2018-10-22_16-06-46 ERROR Starting rollback
2018-10-22_16-06-49 WARN Issues found that may need attention !!
2018-10-22_16-06-49 INFO Stopping application ...
2018-10-22_16-07-36 INFO Application stopped successfully. 
2018-10-22_16-07-36 INFO Starting application ...

In case of a failure, the script will try to rollback the configuration changes it made, so the problem can be fixed before rerunning it again.

Cell Member Federation Post Steps

NUMA configuration

DPOD cell member is using NUMA (Non-Uniform Memory Access) technology. The default cell member configuration binds DPOD's agent to CPU 0 and the Store's nodes to CPU 1.
If the server has 4 CPUs, the user should edit the service files of nodes 2 and 3 and change the bind CPU to 2 and 3 respectively.

Identifying NUMA Configuration

To identify the amount of CPUs installed on the server, use the NUMA utility:

numactl -s

Example output for 4 CPU server :

policy: default
preferred node: current
physcpubind: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 
cpubind: 0 1 2 3
nodebind: 0 1 2 3
membind: 0 1 2 3

Alter Store's Node 2 and 3 (OPTIONAL - only if the server has 4 CPUs)

The services files are located on the directory /etc/init.d/ with the name MonTier-es-raw-trans-Node-2 and MonTier-es-raw-trans-Node-3.

For node MonTier-es-raw-trans-Node-2
OLD VALUE : numa="/usr/bin/numactl --membind=1 --cpunodebind=1"
NEW VALUE : numa="/usr/bin/numactl --membind=2 --cpunodebind=2"

For node MonTier-es-raw-trans-Node-3
OLD VALUE : numa="/usr/bin/numactl --membind=1 --cpunodebind=1"
NEW VALUE : numa="/usr/bin/numactl --membind=3 --cpunodebind=3"

Cell Member Federation Verification

After a successful execution, you will be able to see the new federated cell member in the Manage → System → Nodes page.
For example, after federating cell member the page should look as follows:

Also, the new agents will be shown in the agents list in the Manage → Internal Health → Agents page.
For example, if the cell manager has two agents and there is a federated cell member with additional four agents, the page will show six agents:

Configure the Monitored Device to the Federated Cell Member Agents

It is possible to configure entire monitored device or just a specific domain to the federated cell member's agents.

To configure monitored device / specific domain please follow instructions on Adding Monitored Devices.