Support of LDoms IO domains

Contents

Index

Summary

Starting with Solaris Cluster 3.2, Solaris Cluster is now supported in Logical Domains (LDoms) I/O domains. I/O domains are domains that include physical devices and are not dependent on other domains (such as a service domain) for their operation.

The following minimum software versions are required:

• LDoms version 1.0.1
• Solaris 10 11/06 with required patches or Solaris 10 8/07 with required patches (see LDoms 1.0.1 Release Notes and Solaris Cluster 3.2 Release Notes)

The following configurations are currently qualified:

• Sun Blade T6320
• Sun SPARC Enterprise T5120 and T5220 servers
• Sun SPARC Enterprise T1000 and T2000 servers

Solaris Cluster licensing remains unchanged: one server license per server is required regardless of the number of I/O domains that are running on the server (currently limited to two I/O domains in the supported servers).

The required Solaris Cluster license is for the physical servers themselves, regardless of any guest domains that might be created on the server. In other words, you buy a Solaris Cluster license as you otherwise would for the servers in question.

More Information

You can create additional guest domains on the systems that are running Solaris Cluster 3.2 software in one or more of the I/O domains on the system. I/O domains that are running Solaris Cluster can be used as service domains for the other guest domains. Running nonclustered applications in such guest domains is allowed. However, Solaris Cluster software itself is not supported inside such guest domains at this time.

You can find an example that shows how to use Solaris Cluster in such a configuration in the blog Announcing Solaris Cluster support in LDoms I/O domains. Here's a diagram of how to set up LDoms:

Questions and Answers

1. How can I have more then one I/O domain on a machine?
   On servers that include more than one PCI bus on the system, you can assign a PCI bus to a domain. This domain would then have access to all the devices on that particular bus. As a result, that domain would be an I/O domain. This domain can also be used as a service domain to provide resources to other guest domains.
   
   Refer to LDoms documentation, especially the add-io subcommand of the ldm(1M) command for details.
2. Can an I/O domain that is running Solaris Cluster be used as a service domain and to export virtual devices to some other guest domains?
   
   Yes. Please note that doing so adds additional load on the service domain that is providing services to those guest domains. As a result, you must take that additional load in sizing the service domain.
3. Can the guest domains use a LDoms vnet device that is serviced by a service domain that is running Solaris Cluster software?
   
   Yes. Please see the answer to the preceding question above.
4. What are the set of highly-available applications which are supported with this announcement?
   This announcement does not limit support of specific applications. All applications which are supported both by LDoms and Solaris Cluster are supported with this announcement.
5. I have two T2000 (Ontario) boxes and have created two I/O domains on each of them. I would like to create a single four node cluster out of these four resulting domains. How would this be licensed?
   
   You would need a Cluster license only for the two physical servers.

Release Notes

The following issues are currently known to affect Solaris Cluster 3.2 software that is running in LDoms I/O domains.

6528556 LDOM shutdown prompt for reboot/ok-prompt/halt, selecting ok will panic when running cluster s/w

Attempts to shutdown a LDoms service domain would yield a reboot/ok-prompt/halt prompt if guest domains are present on the system. If Solaris Cluster is running in such a service domain, selecting ok on this prompt may panic the node. This panic can be avoided by making your selection within 5 seconds. If the panic does happen, allow the panic to complete and the service domain then boots normally. If you want to display an OpenBoot PROM prompt, you need to use the break command from the system controller. Refer to system controller documentation for details.

References

Sun Cluster 3.2 Release Notes

Sun Cluster 3.2 Release Notes Supplement

Beginners Guide to LDoms: Understanding and Deploying Logical Domains for Logical Domains 1.0 Release