GSC – Grid Server based on CentOS

Functional overview

GSC is a dedicated grid server application based on CentOS 4.3. It designed to be deployed as a standalone application with no catalog parts.

GSC is a grid server that can scale from a twentieth of a physical server to a full physical server depending on the resouce needs of the end user.

GSC is a basic install of CentOS-4.3. It includes a basic build enviorment with GCC. Any of the other CentOS packages can be installed by the end user, simply by running yum -y install <package> while running as root user.

GSC is provided to allow hosting providers a quick and easy way to offer a dedicated server offering on the AppLogic Grid.

GSC is configured through properties on first boot. It creates the initial user and places the root password in a file. (/home/<user>/su.txt). GSC can be reset to the default properties by deleteing /appliance/passwd.stamp from the appliance and restarting the application.

Boundary

Resources

Resource	Minimum	Maximum	Sandbox
CPU	5%	100%	1%
Memory	128 MB	4 GB	32 MB
Bandwidth	1 Mbps	1 Gbps	1 Mbps
Storage	1 GB	80 GB	1 GB

Terminals

Name	Dir	Protocol	Description
none

The external interface is enabled. It is used for incoming and outgoing traffic. Its network settings are configured through properties.

The default interface is enabled. It is used for maintenance (incoming ssh connections from the controller).

User Volumes

None

Properties

Property name	Type	Description
hostname	String	Defines the hostname to assign to the GSC instance. This property is mandatory.
user	String	Defines the user to be created on provioning of the application. This property is mandatory.
user_pw	String	Defines the password of the user account to be created. This property is mandatory.
root_pw	String	Defines the password of the root account. it will be set on first boot and written to /home/<user>/su.txt This property is mandatory.
primary_ip	IP Address	Defines the primary IP address of the external interface of the appliance. This property is mandatory.
secondary_ip	IP Address	Defines the secondary IP address of the external interface of the appliance.
netmask	IP address	Defines the network mask of the external interface. This property is mandatory.
gateway	IP address	Defines the default IP network gateway (router) for the external interface. This property is mandatory.
dns1	IP address	Defines the primary nameserver. This property is mandatory.
dns2	IP address	Defines the secondary server. This property is mandatory.
dns3	IP address	Defines the third server.

Typical Usage

The folowing shows the typical useage of the GSC appliance

GSC is to be used by hosting providers in order to offer dedicated servers using AppLogic without the need for any other 3rd party software or licenses.

GSC is distirbuted only as an application containing a single instance of the appliance and does not reside in any catalogs.

Notes

Provisioning GSC can be done by running a single command that can be automated from the providers portal.

app provision GSC ExampleClient \
    user=Exampleuser user_pw=abcd1234 root_pw=acbde12345 \
    primary_ip=209.100.100.12 netmask=255.255.255.0 gateway=209.100.100.1 dns1=209.101.1.2 \
    cpu.min=0.50 mem.min=1G GSC.boot.size=10G

Limitations/Requirements

The /appliance directory MUST be left intact. Any changes to any files in this directory can cause the appliance to stop working.

Preventing vmad or vme from the /appliance directory from running on start will cause the appliance to stop working (on next restart).

Kernel updates and replacements should be based on AppLogic-provided kernel sources.

The /root/.ssh/authorized_keys file should not be modified; it will be overwritten by the build system at runtime.

-- JessieSmart - 28 Oct 2006