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Backbone Fabric Controller 3.5 New Features

This is to provide a preview of new capabilities with BFC 3.5

1. Bare Metal Install (BMI)
2. Network Diagnostics During Discovery
3. Grid Node Selection
4. SAN Support
5. VLAN Enhancements
6. BFC API
7. Additional Features

1. Bare Metal Install (BMI)

BMI Allows the BFC to be installed on a server that does not have an existing OS

• Installation using:
  • DVDs
  • USB Stick
  • USB Hard Disk (GA)
  • BXE boot of installation ISO
• Installer installs CentOS 5.5 and BFC 3.5
  • Two ISOs for the installation (two DVDs)
  • CentOS/GPL packages
  • BFC
  • BFC installed and running at completion
• Bare Metal ISO Tool
  • Provides for the creation of a single USB stick or ISO (for pxe installation)

2. Network Diagnostics During Discovery

Many issues with grid installation can be averted by verifying network capabilities of servers during discovery

• Discovery code now does the following checks:
  • NICs,VLANs connectivity to the BFC via external/backbone network
  • More than 2 NICs available but not all of them have been plugged in (in case of high-availability networks)
  • STP on the backbone network
  • NICs do not meet the required throughput of more than 100 mbps
• Servers are quarantined if they violate any of the above checks
• Additional inventory gathered
  • Interface, interface speed, switch, switch type, switch protocol, STP port

3. Grid Node Selection

The BFC now allows servers to be selected for the grid based on tags and/or properties of the servers

BFC 3.0 - 3.1 selected servers for the user.BFC 3.5 allows the user to specify which servers should be selected for the grid, based on:

• "Tags" that are assigned to individual servers
  • Tags are user defined strings (e.g. "Jon Red's servers")
  • Can be applied to multiple servers at a time
  • Servers can have multiple tags
• "Smart Tags" use inventoried properties of servers
  • CPU cores
  • CPU speed
  • Memory
  • Total disk capacity
• "Smart Tags" define a query which matches servers
  • Example: "Gold Servers" = servers with >= 4 cpu cores and >= 8 gb ram
  • As a smart tag is created, matching servers are updated in real time
  • Smart tags allow for more robust replacement of servers
• Grid can specify smart tag(s) and tags in combination to get desired servers
  • As tags are applied matching servers are updated in real time
  • Separate SLA and tag values can be specified for Xen and VMware
  • Users can update tags post grid creation, and any new servers allocated to the grid will have to match the updated tags (existing servers are not kicked out)
• Grids now have minimum hardware requirements for Xen and VMware
  • Enforced during grid create and adding servers even if no tags/smart tags are specified
  • Servers in existing pre-3.5 grids are not affected

4. SAN Support

The BFC now allows a grid to be configured to use NFS-mounted storage

• Users can specify external storage on a per-grid basis
  • For 3.5, NFS-mounted storage only
  • Storage must be on the backbone network
  • User can test connectivity to storage (but test does not have to pass)
  • Storage location is not changeable post grid creation
  • BFC prevents external storage setup on pre-3.5 grids
• Users can also specify a default storage location
  • Configured in Administration > General
  • Becomes the default for all grids
  • Multiple grids can use the same location (grid data stored in different directories)

5. VLAN Enhancements (GA)

The BFC now allows application IPs to be specified on a per-VLAN basis

• VLANs are set up in the network configuration area of the BFC
  • Same IP ranges can be configured across multiple VLANs
  • VLANs can be "tagged"

VLAN IDs are managed to prevent conflicts

• Grids can then select Application IP ranges from the configured VLANs
  • The BFC ensures that VLAN ranges are not used by more than one grid
  • A grid does not have to use VLANs

6. BFC API

Users can now script grid creation and update operations

• All Grid list, create, update, delete operations supported
• List versions and hotfixes
• Secure, RESTful interface using JSON
• Clients can be written in Python, Java, shell, etc.
• Simplified/reduced parameter grid create
• Grid operations such as starting, stopping, and applying hot fixes

7. Additional Features

Other new features available in 3.5

• Imaging timeouts shortened where possible
  • More feedback to user regarding deployment steps
• Ability to force a server to be manually powered
  • Frequently servers have power controllers whose IPMI implementations are unreliable
  • Forcing a server to be manually powered reduces errors/noise that the admin has to investigate