Cluster Resource Services Characteristics

A set of APIs is provided to enable a developer to produce cluster management facilities and to integrate the facilities with other system management capabilities. The APIs provide access to the i5/OS^(R) Cluster Resource Services functions and are described in the sections that follow the introduction.

CL commands for clustering are available in the operating system, should you like to experiment with clustering before using the Cluster APIs.

The Cluster Resource Services components are:

1. Cluster Control (CCTL)

   CCTL provides configuration, activation, and management functions for the cluster and nodes in the cluster through a set of APIs. These APIs are described in Cluster Control APIs.

2. Cluster Resource Group Manager (CRGM)

   CRGM provides object management functions for the cluster resource group (*CRG) object through a set of APIs. These APIs are described in Cluster Resource Group APIs.

3. Cluster Resource Group Exit Program

   This user provided program is specified on the definition of a cluster resource group. The program is responsible for handling all of the action codes that are passed to it by the Cluster Resource Group Manager. The action codes are described in the APIs that result in a call to the exit program. More detail about exit programs can be found in Cluster Resource Group Exit Program.

4. Clustered Hash Table

   The clustered hash table server enables sharing and replicating non-persistent data between cluster nodes using the Clustered Hash Table APIs. These APIs are described in Clustered Hash Table APIs.

5. Cluster Administrative Domain

   The cluster administrative domain will allow a consistent operational environment across the cluster or a subset of the cluster through the use of commands and Integrated Operating Environments APIs. These APIs are described in Integrated Operating Environments APIs.

Nodes in a cluster can have different releases of the operating system installed on them. The function from a newer version of the operating system cannot always be used on nodes that have an older version of the operating system. A cluster version manages this. More information can be found in Cluster Version.