[Linux-cluster] Does samba work with cluster suite?

[Christopher R. Hertel]

Brad,

There are some gotcha's running Samba on top of a cluster, but most of those
have been addressed.  Here's what you need to know:

- Samba has to translate a lot of metadata between Posix and Windows
  semantics.  We're talking about everything from file names to locking
  and sharing modes.  Samba keeps the translated metadata in databases
  that are shared by all Samba processes on a single machine.  Until
  recently, those databases were not sharable across a cluster (locking
  issues) so running Samba on multiple cluster nodes was risky.

- If the load is light, and the chance of collision small, you can run
  Samba that way.  People have done it, and still do it, even in
  production environments.

- Recently, some of the Samba Team folk (Tridge, Ronnie, I think Volker
  did some work as well) created a clustered database (CTDB) that does
  work in a clustered environment.  The *right* way to run Samba on top
  of GFS is with CTDB.

CTDB is still fairly new, but I believe it is being tested on GFS.  Others
on this list probably know more...

Chris -)-----

Brad Filipek wrote:
> I am suprised to find little documentation on setting up a samba share
> on my RHEL cluster. I have two RHEL5 boxes running cluster suite. I want
> to share out a few directories via samba to the Windows workstations on
> my network. However, in the Cluster Configuration screen, it only shows
> "Name" and "Workgroup" in the Samba Service conifg screen. How do I
> setup my samba shares properly to work with cluster suite?
>  
> Thanks,
> Brad Filipek
> 
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-- 
"Implementing CIFS - the Common Internet FileSystem" ISBN: 013047116X
Samba Team -- http://www.samba.org/     -)-----   Christopher R. Hertel
jCIFS Team -- http://jcifs.samba.org/   -)-----   ubiqx development, uninq.
ubiqx Team -- http://www.ubiqx.org/     -)-----   crh at ubiqx.mn.org
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