Chapter 2. Support requirements

Review this section to ensure that your planned deployment meets the requirements for support by Red Hat.

2.1. Operating system

Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure for Virtualization (RHHI for Virtualization) uses Red Hat Virtualization Host 4.3 as a base for all other configuration. Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts are not supported.

The following table shows the the supported versions of each product to use for a supported RHHI for Virtualization deployment.

Table 2.1. Version compatibility

RHHI versionRHGS versionRHV version

1.0

3.2

4.1.0 to 4.1.7

1.1

3.3.1

4.1.8 to 4.2.0

1.5

3.4 Batch 1 Update

4.2.7

1.5.1

3.4 Batch 2 Update

4.2.8

1.6

3.4 Batch 4 Update

4.3 to current

See Requirements in the Red Hat Virtualization Planning and Prerequisites Guide for details on requirements of Red Hat Virtualization.

2.2. Physical machines

Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure for Virtualization (RHHI for Virtualization) requires at least 3 physical machines. Scaling to 6, 9, or 12 physical machines is also supported; see Scaling for more detailed requirements.

Each physical machine must have the following capabilities:

  • at least 2 NICs (Network Interface Controllers) per physical machine, for separation of data and management traffic (see Section 2.5, “Networking” for details)
  • for small deployments:

    • at least 12 cores
    • at least 64GB RAM
    • at most 48TB storage
  • for medium deployments:

    • at least 12 cores
    • at least 128GB RAM
    • at most 64TB storage
  • for large deployments:

    • at least 16 cores
    • at least 256GB RAM
    • at most 80TB storage

2.3. Virtual machines

The number of virtual machines that you are able to run on your hyperconverged deployment depends greatly on what those virtual machines do, and what load they are under. Test your workload’s CPU, memory, and throughput requirements and provision your hyperconverged environment accordingly.

See Virtualization limits for Red Hat Virtualization for information about maximum numbers of virtual machines and virtual CPUs, and use the RHHI for Virtualization Sizing Tool for assistance planning your deployment.

2.4. Hosted Engine virtual machine

The Hosted Engine virtual machine requires at least the following:

  • 1 dual core CPU (1 quad core or multiple dual core CPUs recommended)
  • 4GB RAM that is not shared with other processes (16GB recommended)
  • 25GB of local, writable disk space (50GB recommended)
  • 1 NIC with at least 1Gbps bandwidth

For more information, see Requirements in the Red Hat Virtualization 4.3 Planning and Prerequisites Guide.

2.5. Networking

Fully-qualified domain names that are forward and reverse resolvable by DNS are required for all hyperconverged hosts and for the Hosted Engine virtual machine that provides Red Hat Virtualization Manager.

IPv6 is supported as a Technology Preview in IPv6-only environments (including DNS and gateway addresses). Environments with both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are not supported.

Important

Technology Preview features are provided with a limited support scope, as detailed on the Customer Portal: Technology Preview Features Support Scope.

Client storage traffic and management traffic in the cluster must use separate networks: a front-end management network and a back-end storage network.

Each node requires two Ethernet ports, one for each network. This ensures optimal performance. For high availability, place each network on a separate network switch. For improved fault tolerance, provide a separate power supply for each switch.

Front-end management network
  • Used by Red Hat Virtualization and virtual machines.
  • Requires at least one 1Gbps Ethernet connection.
  • IP addresses assigned to this network must be on the same subnet as each other, and on a different subnet to the back-end storage network.
  • IP addresses on this network can be selected by the administrator.
Back-end storage network
  • Used by storage and migration traffic between hyperconverged nodes.
  • Requires at least one 10Gbps Ethernet connection.
  • Requires maximum latency of 5 milliseconds between peers.

Network fencing devices that use Intelligent Platform Management Interfaces (IPMI) require a separate network.

If you want to use DHCP network configuration for the Hosted Engine virtual machine, then you must have a DHCP server configured prior to configuring Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure for Virtualization.

If you want to configure disaster recovery by using geo-replication to store copies of data:

  • Configure a reliable time source.
  • Do not use IPv6 addresses.

    Warning

    Bug 1688239 currently prevents IPv6 based geo-replication from working correctly. Do not use IPv6 addresses if you require disaster recovery functionality using geo-replication.

Before you begin the deployment process, determine the following details:

  • IP address for a gateway to the hyperconverged host. This address must respond to ping requests.
  • IP address of the front-end management network.
  • Fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) for the Hosted Engine virtual machine.
  • MAC address that resolves to the static FQDN and IP address of the Hosted Engine.

2.6. Storage

A hyperconverged host stores configuration, logs and kernel dumps, and uses its storage as swap space. This section lists the minimum directory sizes for hyperconverged hosts. Red Hat recommends using the default allocations, which use more storage space than these minimums.

  • / (root) - 6GB
  • /home - 1GB
  • /tmp - 1GB
  • /boot - 1GB
  • /var - 15GB
  • /var/crash - 10GB
  • /var/log - 8GB

    Important

    Red Hat recommends increasing the size of /var/log to at least 15GB to provide sufficient space for the additional logging requirements of Red Hat Gluster Storage.

    Follow the instructions in Growing a logical volume using the Web Console to increase the size of this partition after installing the operating system.

  • /var/log/audit - 2GB
  • swap - 1GB (see Recommended swap size for details)
  • Anaconda reserves 20% of the thin pool size within the volume group for future metadata expansion. This is to prevent an out-of-the-box configuration from running out of space under normal usage conditions. Overprovisioning of thin pools during installation is also not supported.
  • Minimum Total - 55GB

2.6.1. Disks

Red Hat recommends Solid State Disks (SSDs) for best performance. If you use Hard Drive Disks (HDDs), you should also configure a smaller, faster SSD as an LVM cache volume.

4K native devices are not supported with Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure for Virtualization, as Red Hat Virtualization requires 512 byte emulation (512e) support.

2.6.2. RAID

RAID5 and RAID6 configurations are supported. However, RAID configuration limits depend on the technology in use.

  • SAS/SATA 7k disks are supported with RAID6 (at most 10+2)
  • SAS 10k and 15k disks are supported with the following:

    • RAID5 (at most 7+1)
    • RAID6 (at most 10+2)

RAID cards must use flash backed write cache.

Red Hat further recommends providing at least one hot spare drive local to each server.

2.6.3. JBOD

As of Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure for Virtualization 1.6, JBOD configurations are fully supported and no longer require architecture review.

2.6.4. Logical volumes

The logical volumes that comprise the engine gluster volume must be thick provisioned. This protects the Hosted Engine from out of space conditions, disruptive volume configuration changes, I/O overhead, and migration activity.

The logical volumes that comprise the vmstore and optional data gluster volumes must be thin provisioned. This allows greater flexibility in underlying volume configuration. If your thin provisioned volumes are on Hard Drive Disks (HDDs), configure a smaller, faster Solid State Disk (SSD) as an lvmcache for improved performance.

2.6.5. Red Hat Gluster Storage volumes

Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure for Virtualization is expected to have 3–4 Red Hat Gluster Storage volumes.

  • 1 engine volume for the Hosted Engine
  • 1 vmstore volume for virtual machine operating system disk images
  • 1 optional data volume for other virtual machine disk images
  • 1 shared_storage volume for geo-replication metadata

Separate vmstore and data volumes are recommended to minimize backup storage requirements. Storing virtual machine data separate from operating system images means that only the data volume needs to be backed up when storage space is at a premium, since operating system images on the vmstore volume can be more easily rebuilt.

A Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure for Virtualization deployment can contain at most 1 geo-replicated volume.

2.6.6. Volume types

Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure for Virtualization (RHHI for Virtualization) supports only the following volume types at deployment time:

  • Replicated volumes (3 copies of the same data on 3 bricks, across 3 nodes).

    These volumes can be expanded into distributed-replicated volumes after deployment.

  • Arbitrated replicated volumes (2 full copies of the same data on 2 bricks and 1 arbiter brick that contains metadata, across three nodes).

    These volumes can be expanded into arbitrated distributed-replicated volumes after deployment.

  • Distributed volumes (1 copy of the data, no replication to other bricks).

Note that arbiter bricks store only file names, structure, and metadata. This means that a three-way arbitrated replicated volume requires about 75% of the storage space that a three-way replicated volume would require to achieve the same level of consistency. However, because the arbiter brick stores only metadata, a three-way arbitrated replicated volume only provides the availability of a two-way replicated volume.

For more information on laying out arbitrated replicated volumes, see Creating multiple arbitrated replicated volumes across fewer total nodes in the Red Hat Gluster Storage Administration Guide.

2.7. Virtual Data Optimizer (VDO)

A Virtual Data Optimizer (VDO) layer is supported as of Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure for Virtualization 1.6.

VDO support is limited to new deployments only; do not attempt to add a VDO layer to an existing deployment.

2.8. Scaling

Initial deployments of Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure for Virtualization are either 1 node or 3 nodes.

1 node deployments cannot be scaled.

3 node deployments can be scaled to 6, 9, or 12 nodes using one of the following methods:

  1. Add new hyperconverged nodes to the cluster, in sets of three, up to the maximum of 12 hyperconverged nodes.
  2. Create new Gluster volumes using new disks on new or existing nodes.
  3. Expand existing Gluster volumes to span 6, 9, or 12 nodes using new disks on new or existing nodes.

You cannot create a volume that spans more than 3 nodes at creation time; you must create a 3-node volume first and then expand it across more nodes as necessary.

2.9. Existing Red Hat Gluster Storage configurations

Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure for Virtualization is supported only when deployed as specified in this document. Existing Red Hat Gluster Storage configurations cannot be used in a hyperconverged configuration. If you want to use an existing Red Hat Gluster Storage configuration, refer to the traditional configuration documented in Configuring Red Hat Virtualization with Red Hat Gluster Storage.

2.10. Disaster recovery

Red Hat strongly recommends configuring a disaster recovery solution. For details on configuring geo-replication as a disaster recovery solution, see Maintaining Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure for Virtualization: https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_hyperconverged_infrastructure_for_virtualization/1.6/html/maintaining_red_hat_hyperconverged_infrastructure_for_virtualization/config-backup-recovery.

Warning

Bug 1688239 currently prevents IPv6 based geo-replication from working correctly. Do not use IPv6 addresses if you require disaster recovery functionality using geo-replication.

2.10.1. Prerequisites for geo-replication

Be aware of the following requirements and limitations when configuring geo-replication:

One geo-replicated volume only
Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure for Virtualization (RHHI for Virtualization) supports only one geo-replicated volume. Red Hat recommends backing up the volume that stores the data of your virtual machines, as this is usually contains the most valuable data.
Two different managers required
The source and destination volumes for geo-replication must be managed by different instances of Red Hat Virtualization Manager.

2.10.2. Prerequisites for failover and failback configuration

Versions must match between environments
Ensure that the primary and secondary environments have the same version of Red Hat Virtualization Manager, with identical data center compatibility versions, cluster compatibility versions, and PostgreSQL versions.
No virtual machine disks in the hosted engine storage domain
The storage domain used by the hosted engine virtual machine is not failed over, so any virtual machine disks in this storage domain will be lost.
Execute Ansible playbooks manually from a separate master node
Generate and execute Ansible playbooks manually from a separate machine that acts as an Ansible master node.

2.11. Additional requirements for single node deployments

Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure for Virtualization is supported for deployment on a single node provided that all Support Requirements are met, with the following additions and exceptions.

A single node deployment requires a physical machine with:

  • 1 Network Interface Controller
  • at least 12 cores
  • at least 64GB RAM
  • at most 48TB storage

Single node deployments cannot be scaled, and are not highly available.

2.12. Install host physical machines

Your physical machines need an operating system and access to the appropriate software repositories in order to be used as hyperconverged hosts.

  1. Install Red Hat Virtualization Host on each physical machine.
  2. Enable the Red Hat Virtualization Host software repository on each physical machine.

2.12.1. Installing Red Hat Virtualization Host

Red Hat Virtualization Host is a minimal operating system designed for setting up a physical machine that acts as a hypervisor in Red Hat Virtualization, or a hyperconverged host in Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure.

Prerequisites

  • Ensure that your physical machine meets the requirements outlined in Physical machines.

Procedure

  1. Download the Red Hat Virtualization Host ISO image from the Customer Portal:

    1. Log in to the Customer Portal at https://access.redhat.com.
    2. Click Downloads in the menu bar.
    3. Click Red Hat Virtualization. Scroll up and click Download Latest to access the product download page.
    4. Go to Hypervisor Image for RHV 4.3 and and click Download Now.
    5. Create a bootable media device. See Making Media in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide for more information.
  2. Start the machine on which you are installing Red Hat Virtualization Host, and boot from the prepared installation media.
  3. From the boot menu, select Install RHVH 4.3 and press Enter.

    Note

    You can also press the Tab key to edit the kernel parameters. Kernel parameters must be separated by a space, and you can boot the system using the specified kernel parameters by pressing the Enter key. Press the Esc key to clear any changes to the kernel parameters and return to the boot menu.

  4. Select a language, and click Continue.
  5. Select a time zone from the Date & Time screen and click Done.

    Important

    Red Hat recommends using Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on all hosts. This helps ensure that data collection and connectivity are not impacted by variation in local time, such as during daylight savings time.

  6. Select a keyboard layout from the Keyboard screen and click Done.
  7. Specify the installation location from the Installation Destination screen.

    Important
    • Red Hat strongly recommends using the Automatically configure partitioning option.
    • All disks are selected by default, so deselect disks that you do not want to use as installation locations.
    • At-rest encryption is not supported. Do not enable encryption.
    • Red Hat recommends increasing the size of /var/log to at least 15GB to provide sufficient space for the additional logging requirements of Red Hat Gluster Storage.

      Follow the instructions in Growing a logical volume using the Web Console to increase the size of this partition after installing the operating system.

    Click Done.

  8. Select the Ethernet network from the Network & Host Name screen.

    1. Click Configure…​ → General and select the Automatically connect to this network when it is available check box.
  9. Optionally configure Language Support, Security Policy, and Kdump. See Installing Using Anaconda in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Installation Guide for more information on each of the sections in the Installation Summary screen.
  10. Click Begin Installation.
  11. Set a root password and, optionally, create an additional user while Red Hat Virtualization Host installs.

    Warning

    Red Hat strongly recommends not creating untrusted users on Red Hat Virtualization Host, as this can lead to exploitation of local security vulnerabilities.

  12. Click Reboot to complete the installation.

    Note

    When Red Hat Virtualization Host restarts, nodectl check performs a health check on the host and displays the result when you log in on the command line. The message node status: OK or node status: DEGRADED indicates the health status. Run nodectl check to get more information. The service is enabled by default.

2.12.2. Enabling software repositories

  1. Log in to the Web Console.

    Use the management FQDN and port 9090, for example, https://server1.example.com:9090/.

  2. Navigate to Subscriptions, click Register System, and enter your Customer Portal user name and password.

    The Red Hat Virtualization Host subscription is automatically attached to the system.

  3. Click Terminal.
  4. Enable the Red Hat Virtualization Host 7 repository to allow later updates to the Red Hat Virtualization Host:

    # subscription-manager repos --enable=rhel-7-server-rhvh-4-rpms