A cluster consists of a number of hosts or nodes that share a set of disks. The following are the main benefits of cluster configurations:
The cluster functionality of Veritas Volume Manager (CVM) allows up to 32 nodes in a cluster to simultaneously access and manage a set of disks under VxVM control (VM disks). The same logical view of disk configuration and any changes to this is available on all the nodes. When the cluster functionality is enabled, all the nodes in the cluster can share VxVM objects such as shared disk groups. Private disk groups are supported in the same way as in a non-clustered environment. This chapter discusses the cluster functionality that is provided with VxVM.
Products such as Veritas Storage Foundation Cluster File System (SFCFS), and Veritas Cluster Server (VCS) are separately licensed, and are not included with Veritas Volume Manager. See the documentation provided with those products for more information about them.
The Dynamic Multipathing (DMP) feature of VxVM can be used in a clustered environment.
Campus cluster configurations (also known as stretch cluster or remote mirror configurations) can also be configured and administered.