StarWind VSAN Free: L2 Cache and Node-Majority with PS

Software-based VM-centric and flash-friendly VM storage + free version

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alexfersh
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 6:20 pm

Sun Jan 06, 2019 6:43 pm

Hello dear StarWind Team!

A lot of thanks for your wonderful product - StarWind VSAN!
I've been using it for Hyper-Converged POC in 2-node and 3-node design, and strongly consider buying the commercial version in the nearest future to use in the production environment.

Could you please clarify the following aspects:

1. In the latest StarWind VSAN builds - 8.0.12585 and 8.0.12658 - is it possible to configure L2 write-through cache with PowerShell scripts (VSAN Free license), and if it is, then how?
I've tried to do this according to the "Adding, Changing and removing L2 cache" guidance, but with no success. L1 RAM cache can be configured and works without issues though.

2. Is it possible and how to configure SW VSAN cluster in Node-Majority mode with a Witness node with PowerShell (VSAN Free license, builds 8.0.12585 and 8.0.12658)?

Looking forward for your kind reply.
Thank you very much in advance.

Best regards,
Alex Fershtein
Boris (staff)
Staff
Posts: 805
Joined: Fri Jul 28, 2017 8:18 am

Tue Jan 08, 2019 3:12 pm

alexfersh,

When speaking about L2 cache, do you mean the normal L2 cache or Log Write-structured Cache? (LWC) that was introduced in those builds? Ordinary L2 cache functionality is added as instructed in https://knowledgebase.starwindsoftware. ... dance/661/ If LWC was meant, then the answer is "It's not yet possible with PowerShell, but will be added in future releases".
alexfersh
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 6:20 pm

Tue Jan 08, 2019 3:56 pm

Hello Boris,

Thank you for the answer.

In fact, I mean a regular L2 cache on SSD.
I've strictly followed recommendations as per the guidance you've mentioned, but haven't succeeded.
Anyway, this is a method of adding L2 cache with editing header files manually, not via Powershell.
Is there any possibility to accomplish the same then creating HA image device(s) with Powershell?

And what about creating VSAN HA devices with Node-Majority failover strategy and Witness node via Powershell?

A lot of thanks in advance.

Kind regards,
Alex Fershtein
Boris (staff)
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Posts: 805
Joined: Fri Jul 28, 2017 8:18 am

Tue Jan 08, 2019 3:57 pm

As for your second question, Node Majority is not available for configuration with PowerShell yet.
Boris (staff)
Staff
Posts: 805
Joined: Fri Jul 28, 2017 8:18 am

Tue Jan 08, 2019 4:52 pm

You can configure L1 cache when creating HA devices via PowerShell, but not L2 cache.
I would just advise you to go through the guide once again and make sure you do everything as described. Also, make sure that IDs of the disks do not get duplicates. Each ID should be unique (L1 / L2 / actual data .img file).
umate
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2019 8:52 pm

Tue Feb 12, 2019 8:58 pm

Hello Boris,

are there any plans for adding node majority to PS anytime soon? Heartbeat failover doesn't fail over automatically in my test when the SYNC network goes down first and the heartbeat network second.

Greetings,

Mate
Boris (staff) wrote:As for your second question, Node Majority is not available for configuration with PowerShell yet.
Oleg(staff)
Staff
Posts: 568
Joined: Fri Nov 24, 2017 7:52 am

Thu Feb 14, 2019 10:25 am

Unfortunately, this option is under development.
gklpnd
Posts: 14
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2020 2:38 pm

Fri Jun 05, 2020 7:42 pm

Have you any updates about node-majority strategy via ps?
yaroslav (staff)
Staff
Posts: 2277
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2019 11:11 am

Fri Jun 05, 2020 8:48 pm

No updates yet :(
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anton (staff)
Site Admin
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Location: British Virgin Islands
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Tue Jun 09, 2020 2:04 pm

Please PM me your P.O. details and I might be able to escalate it. We're currently working on SMB3/NFSv3/v4 share as a witness, so we might consider covering this functionality alltogether.
gklpnd wrote:Have you any updates about node-majority strategy via ps?
Regards,
Anton Kolomyeytsev

Chief Technology Officer & Chief Architect, StarWind Software

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CedricT
Posts: 36
Joined: Mon Apr 15, 2019 1:14 pm

Tue Jun 30, 2020 10:48 am

Hi,

Is there any update about this? I would really try this possibility.
yaroslav (staff)
Staff
Posts: 2277
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2019 11:11 am

Tue Jun 30, 2020 11:00 am

Hi there,

Unfortunately, no updates yet.
CedricT
Posts: 36
Joined: Mon Apr 15, 2019 1:14 pm

Tue Jun 30, 2020 11:05 am

Too bad :-(

I think i found a tway to declare the failover mode :
$failover=0 => Heartbeat
$failover=1 => Node-Majority

The only piece missing is how to declare the witness now. May be as a $third.node without syncInterface but only hbinterface?

Thanks
yaroslav (staff)
Staff
Posts: 2277
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2019 11:11 am

Tue Jun 30, 2020 11:43 am

Hi,

Got an update from our R&D team. The script will be introduced in the next build. I do not have an ETA, but I believe it should be in the next month or so.
I believe that we have faster workaround for you. Open the case with StarWind Support here https://www.starwindsoftware.com/support-form so that we will provide a fix for you!
CedricT
Posts: 36
Joined: Mon Apr 15, 2019 1:14 pm

Tue Jun 30, 2020 11:54 am

What a great announcement!

If they need someone to try , i'll be happy to help. 8)
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