Clusters
A cluster is a group of clients that share the same encryption rules. This section describes the prerequisites needed to protect clusters of CTE UserSpace clients. Also, the section describes how to create a cluster and link clients to it.
Prerequisites
Coordinate with the client administrator to ensure the following:
The shared mounted location to protect exists on all clients.
Refer to "File Systems" in the CTE UserSpace Release Notes for the list of file systems for which CTE UserSpace supports the active-active or active-passive cluster configuration on cluster nodes running supported platforms.
Make sure that the following cluster packages are installed on all RHEL 6 and RHEL 7 nodes that will from the cluster:
Package RHEL 6 RHEL 7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux High Availability (for RHEL X Server) rhel-ha-for-rhel-6- server-rpms rhel-ha-for-rhel-7-server-rpms Red Hat Enterprise Linux Resilient Storage (for RHEL X Server) rhel-rs-for-rhel-6- server-rpms rhel-rs-for-rhel-7-server-rpms
Refer to RHEL HA Installation for details.
Creating a Cluster
When creating a cluster, specify the name for the cluster and the encryptor client for the Linux cluster (for a cluster of clients running Linux).
The following table lists the parameters that are required when creating or managing a cluster on the CipherTrust Manager:
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | Friendly name for the cluster. The cluster will be identified by this name on the CipherTrust Manager. This field is mandatory. |
| Cluster OS Type | Operating system running on all clients that will from the cluster. Specify Linux for CTE UserSpace. The default operating system is Windows. |
| Encryptor Client | Name of the client that will perform encryption of data shared among clients in the cluster. If an encryptor client is not specified, data on the clients in the cluster cannot be encrypted. However, you can modify the cluster to specify the encryptor client later. This document, may at times, abbreviate "encryptor client" to encryptor. |
CTE UserSpace provides options to view existing clusters, view and modify their details, and delete them when they are no longer required.
Linking a Client with a Cluster
After a cluster is created, clients can be added to it to complete the cluster. This is called cluster-client association. Each client in the cluster must be registered with the CipherTrust Manager.
In a cluster, encryption rules are deployed on paths shared among all clients in the cluster. The encryptor client specified during the creation of a cluster is automatically linked to the cluster.
CTE UserSpace provides options to view the list of clients linked with a cluster.
