Configuration > Name Servers

The Name Servers page allows you to manage machines acting as File System name servers. You may specify either a hostname or an IP addresses, but an IP address is preferable because it avoids problems associated with the lookup system (e.g., DNS or NIS).

Note: On Linux systems the NetworkManager service should be turned off because it can interfere with the StorNext nameserver and Linux network devices.

The hostnames or IP addresses are copied into the StorNext fsnameservers file. This specifies both the machines serving as File System Name Server coordinator(s) and defines the metadata network(s) used to reach them. The File System Name Server coordinator is a critical component of the StorNext File System Services (FSS).

Note: The fsnameservers file must be the same for all StorNext clients.

A principal function of the coordinator is to manage failover voting in a high-availability configuration. Therefore, it is critical to select highly reliable systems as coordinators. Redundancy is provided by listing the IP addresses of multiple machines in the fsnameservers file, one entry per line. The first IP address listed defines the path to the primary coordinator. A redundant path to this coordinator may then be specified. Any subsequent IP addresses listed serve as paths to backup coordinators. To create redundancy, Quantum recommends that you select two machines to act as coordinators. Typically, the selected systems are also configured for FSM services (), but this is not a requirement.

If the fsnameservers file does not exist, is empty or contains the localhost IP address (127.0.0.1), the file system operates as a local file system requiring both a client and a server. The file system will not communicate with any other StorNext File System product on the network, thus eliminating sharing the FSS over the SAN.

The addresses in the fsnameservers file define the metadata networks and therefore the addresses used to access file system services. When an sends a heartbeat to a nameserver, the nameserver records the source IP address from the UDP packet and uses that as the address to advertise for FSMs local to that.

If a nameserver receives multiple heartbeats on redundant metadata network interfaces, there will be a different source address for the same FSM and host. The name server will select only one of the metadata network addresses to use as the address of the FSM advertised to all hosts in the cluster. Thus all metadata traffic will use only one of the redundant metadata networks.

If the network being advertised for file system services fails, a backup network will be selected for FSM services. Clients will not necessarily reconnect using the new address. If a client maintains TCP connectivity using the old address, no reconnect will be necessary. If the client needs to connect or re-connect, it will use the currently advertised IP address of the file system services.