Linux Enterprise Cluster

The Linux Enterprise Cluster explains how to take a number of inexpensive computers with limited resources, place them on a normal computer network, and install free software so that the computers act together like one powerful server. This makes it possible to build a very inexpensive and reliable business system for a small business or a large corporation. The book includes information on how to build a high-availability server pair using the Heartbeat package, how to use the Linux Virtual Server load balancing software, how to configure a reliable printing system in a Linux cluster environment, and how to build a job scheduling system in Linux with no single point of failure.

The book also includes information on high availability techniques that can be used with or without a cluster, making it helpful for System Administrators even if they are not building a cluster. Anyone interested in deploying Linux in an environment where low cost computer reliability is important will find this book useful.

The CD-ROM includes all of the software needed to build a Linux Enterprise Cluster, including the Linux kernel, rsync, the SystemImager package, the Heartbeat package, the Linux Virtual Server package, the Mon monitoring package, and the Ganglia package. All figures in the book are also included on the CD-ROM.

Table of Contents

PART I: Cluster Resources
Chapter 1: Starting Services
Chapter 2: Handling Packets
Chapter 3: Compiling the Kernel

PART II: High Availability
Chapter 4: Synchronizing Servers with rysnc and SSH
Chapter 5: Cloning Systems with SystemImager
Chapter 6: Heartbeat Introduction and Theory
Chapter 7: A Sample Heartbeat Configuration
Chapter 8: Heartbeat Resources and Maintenance
Chapter 9: Stonith and ipfail

PART III: Cluster Theory and Practice
Chapter 10: How to Build a Linux Enterprise Cluster
Chapter 11: The Linux Virtual Server: Introduction and Theory
Chapter 12: The LVS-NAT Cluster
Chapter 13: The LVS-DR Cluster
Chapter 14: The Load Balancer
Chapter 15: The High-Availability Cluster
Chapter 16: The Network File System

PART IV: Maintenance and Monitoring
Chapter 17: The Simple Network Management Protocol and Mon
Chapter 18: Ganglia
Chapter 19: Case Studies in Cluster Administration
Chapter 20: The Linux Cluster Environment

A: Downloading Software from the Internet (from a Text Terminal)
B: Troubleshooting with the tcpdump Utility
C: Adding Network Interface Cards to Your System
D: Strategies for Dependency Failures
E: Other Potential Cluster Filesystems and Lock Arbitration Methods
F: LVS Clusters and the Apache Configuration File