Q: Does the backup server only back up to itself, or can backups be sent to a NAS or remote server?
A: The backup host must have SERVERware installed.
Q: Is hardware RAID and a working cache battery required?
A: Hardware RAID is not required. If a RAID controller is used, a battery and write cache are mandatory. Hardware RAID without battery backup and write cache is not supported. Fake RAID (software RAID from the motherboard BIOS) is not supported and must be disabled. SERVERware uses hardware RAID controllers with OpenZFS.
Q: Can the OS drives be on hardware RAID?
A: The OS filesystem uses ZFS, so hardware RAID is not recommended.
Q: Is 64 GB of RAM enough for the OS, and how much RAM does the OS use?
A: It depends on the average RAM per VPS. For example, if each VPS uses 2 GB, 64 GB of RAM supports around 32 VPS. More VPS requires more RAM.
Q: What is the upgrade path to Cluster Edition?
A: Upgrading from Standalone to Cluster/Mirror is not possible. Upgrading from Mirror to Cluster is possible but requires a new license and hardware upgrade. Contact your Account Manager for details.
Q: What is offloaded to the Processing Host in a cluster?
A: The Processing Host handles computation. VPSs use its CPU and RAM.
Q: Are two 10Gb ports enough for cluster upgrades?
A: Refer to the wiki section Deployment Requirements for detailed specifications.
Q: Is a 10Gb switch needed between Storage and Processing Hosts?**
A: It depends on the number of hosts and network load. Higher network bandwidth improves performance.
Q: How many VPSs can a mirror setup handle before upgrading to a cluster?
A: There is no strict limit. For more scalability, Cluster Edition adds fault tolerance and allows adding more Processing Hosts.
Q: Are all VPSs stored on the Storage Host and run on a Processing Host?
A: Yes, VPS data is stored on the Storage Host and mounted on Processing Hosts for execution. CPU and RAM of the Storage Host also matter for managing large datasets.
Q: Should the Storage Host have a RAID1 for the OS and RAID0 for other disks?
A: Ideally, Storage Host disks should not use RAID. If RAID is needed, use RAID0 or JBOD. ZFS handles redundancy.
Q: Should the Processing Host have a RAID1 for the OS?
A: Two disks without RAID or RAID0 are recommended. ZFS ensures redundancy.
Q: What is the minimal setup?
A: The minimal setup requires one Storage Host and one Backup Host (Standalone SERVERware).
Q: What happens if the RAN link on the primary Storage Host goes down?
A: VPSs continue to run without interruption. An alarm is triggered if enabled. Failover is not initiated.
Q: What happens if the LAN link on the primary Storage Host goes down?
A: VPSs become inaccessible. An alarm is triggered if enabled. The GUI is also unavailable until manual failover.
Q: What happens if the SAN link on the primary Storage Host goes down?
A: VPSs lose access to storage, and an alarm is triggered if enabled. The GUI remains accessible, but Processing Hosts lose storage connection until manual failover.
Q: What happens if both LAN and RAN links on the primary Storage Host go down?
A: VPSs become inaccessible, and the GUI is unavailable. An alarm is triggered if enabled. This may cause a split-brain scenario, requiring both Storage Hosts to be rebooted after the link is restored.