Adding new simplivity cluster in a vCenter that owns already an existing simplivity cluster

[J-Philippe]

Hello,

Having a vCenter with an existing cluster of 2 SVT nodes in country "A" make what Simplivity call a federation.
Adding a new cluster of 2 SVT nodes in this vcenter for country "B" : Does it mean that I'm joigning an existing federation ? For me it sound no because both cluster have nothing to do toghether (different country, network...). But when reading the hpe admin guide :

"An HPE SimpliVity federation is a virtual container that represents a group of networked HPE OmniStack hosts. A
federation enables you to manage your hyperconverged infrastructure deployed in multiple sites as a single entity."

"It is possible for clusters in a federation to use different versions of the HPE OmniStack software. For example,
if you have three clusters in a federation, Cluster 1 could use the most recent version of the software, while
Clusters 2 and 3 use older versions."

So my question is when I will deploy new nodes I will target the vcenter and should I create a new federation or join an existing one ?
Thank You for your help.

Best Regards,
Jean-Philippe

[Rajini_Saini]

Hi J-Philippe,

Thank you for choosing HPE.

May I know what is the clusterA OVC version, depending on the current version, we can suggest if you can deploy another cluster with the latest versions or another version.
Also if you have 2 Vcenters in Linked mode and one Vcenter already has ClusterA and now you are planning to deploy ClusterB in another vCenter which is part of the Linked mode, then while deploying the clusterB you have to select join an existing federation and enter OVCs management IP from clusterA. This way the clusterB will join the federation with clusterA.

If you are planning to have 2 different federations, then you need not have the vCenters in linked mode and directly deploy selection the option create a new federation.

Thank you.

regards,
Rajini Saini

[J-Philippe]

Hi Rajini,

I was thinking that we can have several federation managed by the same vCenter, it should not be a problem, correct ?

I'm not using vCenter Linked mode. Just have one cluster in 3.7.9 with the corresponding plugin installed on the vCenter and I plan to add a new cluster in 4.0.1  with is own arbiter (I know consideration about plugin version and the different versions of simplivity...).

First thing is to be sure that I can have several federation inside one vCenter => Seems to be ok regarding your answer.

Second thing is what would you advise regarding the 3.7.9 plugin version that will not match the new cluster if I don't upgrade it or if I upgrade it in 4.0.1 it will not match the existing cluster. What is the best if I can't upgrade the 3.7.9 cluster for the moment ? Align plugin version on the new cluster or do nothing.

Thanks for your help.

Jean-Philippe

[db13]

@J-Philippe, the typical configuration that you are referring to would use the existing vCenter by simply adding a cluster for country B. This would give you to option to use the nodes in each country/cluster for remote backups and disaster recovery. If the countries are to be completely isolated, then it would make since to spin up a new vCenter (not in linked mode) and deploy as a new federation.

[J-Philippe]

Having a doubt about federation. Can a vCenter have multiple federation ?  

I mean that a cluster of 2 nodes make a federation.

I want to add 2 other node in another cluster with different network (Cluster A and B will never have to communicate each other).  Does it create a new federation ?

Or 1 vCenter = 1 federation = "n" clusters of "n" nodes

So when I'm going to launch the Deploy Manager for my 2 new nodes 4.0.1 u1 what will happen, do I will must ugrade the 3.7.9 existing cluster to allow me to deploy the 4.0.1 U1 new nodes ?

From the admin guide :

"Deployment of new clusters in a federation with different software versions
To deploy a new cluster, one of the existing clusters must use the same version of the HPE OmniStack software
that you want to deploy. You might need to upgrade and commit one cluster to use the new version before you
deploy the cluster. For example, if you have two clusters that use HPE OmniStack 3.7.10 and you want to deploy
a new cluster that uses 4.0.1, upgrade and commit one existing cluster to 4.0.1 first. Then deploy the new cluster.
Deployment fails if at least one cluster is not using a version of the HPE OmniStack software that matches the
one you deploy in the new cluster.
The minimum version of software that supports this type of deployment is HPE OmniStack 3.7.10."

Regards,

Jean-Philippe

[J-Philippe]

I've found my answer :

https://community.hpe.com/t5/HPE-SimpliVity/One-vCenter-multiple-Federations/m-p/7098324#M1692

1 vCenter manage 1 federation.

So no other choices to deploy a new vCenter if I'm correct.

[Rajini_Saini · Accepted solution]

Hi J-Phillipe,

yes, 1 vCenter manages 1 federation.

You cannot have two different federations on a single vCenter.

regards,
Rajini Saini