[Linux-cluster] GFS + CORAID Performance Problem

[Tom Mornini]

On Dec 12, 2006, at 8:15 AM, Bowie Bailey wrote:

> Jayson Vantuyl wrote:
>>
>> I don't know what Coraid recommends, but I usually recommend not
>> plugging devices directly into the ports.  I vastly prefer having a
>> good gigabit switch there instead.  Here at Engine Yard, we actually
>> have two switches that provide redundancy across either port.  The
>> current AoE driver is good enough to use both networks to spread the
>> load if you have two independent network paths, so you also get
>> better performance.  We actually have separate cards in each of our
>> servers to prevent failure of an individual network card from being
>> an issue (and AoE should handle this well as long as the driver
>> doesn't crash in this state).
>
> You can do this with the Coraid devices now?  The last time I  
> checked they
> couldn't handle having two paths.  Right now, I've got the two  
> network ports
> connected to separate Gigabit switches.  Half of the nodes use one  
> switch
> and the other half use the other.  If I could have all of the nodes  
> use both
> switches, that would increase throughput as well as redundancy.

Yes, both the new drivers and new firmware support multi-pathing now.

I believe Coraid considers it experimental. We've had no issues with
it in several months of use though.

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