multiple machines mounting same filesystem on vmware

CyberNerd · 26-10-2009, 02:28 PM

I'm building a new webserver (RHEL5.4 on ESXi)
the /var/www partition is going to be a separate partition on an FC SAN.

in the future I would like a separate smb fileserver to also be able to read/write to the same filesystem at the same time as the webserver

I know that I can do this with GFS, but I don't have very much experience of it so I am wondering if I can create a vmware filesystem and have another vmware server mount the same filesystem. Does vmware manage multiple read/writes at the lower level or does the native (RHEL) fs need to deal with that.

please forgive me if this doesn't make sense.

Ric_ · 26-10-2009, 03:26 PM

You can't do that... you will get data corruption.

What you need to do is export an NFS or SMB share from your webserver and write to that instead.

CyberNerd · 26-10-2009, 03:33 PM

Thanks. That was (sort of) the answer I was looking for.

I'll setup a GFS2 partition and do it that way. I know that redhat can use clustered filesystems, just wasn't sure about vmware.

The ultimate goal is to somehow merge the shared staff area (mapped drive) into the moodle file repository - when v2 arrives. somehow.

Ric_ · 26-10-2009, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberNerd

The ultimate goal is to somehow merge the shared staff area (mapped drive) into the moodle file repository - when v2 arrives. somehow.

A simple, but effective, way of managing all that rubbish I suppose.

apaton · 27-10-2009, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberNerd

I'll setup a GFS2 partition and do it that way. I know that redhat can use clustered filesystems, just wasn't sure about vmware..

I'm with Ric_ that I would use NFS.
GFS2 seems over kill, but must admit I've never used GFS.

Just read, redhat.com | Red Hat GFS vs. NFS: Improving performance and scalability which says good things about GFS. I know NFS, it is so simple to setup and will work.

.

Is GFS simple to set up and manage?

Andy

CyberNerd · 27-10-2009, 06:33 PM

I was reading up on GFS this morning, GFS itself looks simple enough - just partition the filesystem as an LVM volume and then mkfs.gfs2. same as any other filesystem (although quotas are a bit different). However, it looks to me that to get the full functionality and do what I want, I would need to setup a cluster and use RH Advanced server (more money) or revert to centos.
As this is a distant project, I'll hedge my bets and setup a GFS partition - then I can either export it as an NFS or do the cluster thing at a later date.

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26-10-2009, 02:28 PM	#1
CyberNerd Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 4,258 Thanks: 119 Thanked 314 Times in 251 Posts Rep Power: 78	multiple machines mounting same filesystem on vmware I'm building a new webserver (RHEL5.4 on ESXi) the /var/www partition is going to be a separate partition on an FC SAN. in the future I would like a separate smb fileserver to also be able to read/write to the same filesystem at the same time as the webserver I know that I can do this with GFS, but I don't have very much experience of it so I am wondering if I can create a vmware filesystem and have another vmware server mount the same filesystem. Does vmware manage multiple read/writes at the lower level or does the native (RHEL) fs need to deal with that. please forgive me if this doesn't make sense.

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multiple machines mounting same filesystem on vmware

26-10-2009, 03:26 PM	#2
Ric_ Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Lancashire Posts: 7,027 Thanks: 74 Thanked 481 Times in 368 Posts Rep Power: 109	You can't do that... you will get data corruption. What you need to do is export an NFS or SMB share from your webserver and write to that instead.

26-10-2009, 03:33 PM	#3
CyberNerd Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 4,258 Thanks: 119 Thanked 314 Times in 251 Posts Rep Power: 78	Thanks. That was (sort of) the answer I was looking for. I'll setup a GFS2 partition and do it that way. I know that redhat can use clustered filesystems, just wasn't sure about vmware. The ultimate goal is to somehow merge the shared staff area (mapped drive) into the moodle file repository - when v2 arrives. somehow.

27-10-2009, 06:33 PM	#6
CyberNerd Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 4,258 Thanks: 119 Thanked 314 Times in 251 Posts Rep Power: 78	I was reading up on GFS this morning, GFS itself looks simple enough - just partition the filesystem as an LVM volume and then mkfs.gfs2. same as any other filesystem (although quotas are a bit different). However, it looks to me that to get the full functionality and do what I want, I would need to setup a cluster and use RH Advanced server (more money) or revert to centos. As this is a distant project, I'll hedge my bets and setup a GFS partition - then I can either export it as an NFS or do the cluster thing at a later date.

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multiple machines mounting same filesystem on vmware