All your configuration, monitoring, and service tasks are performed at the cluster level. Therefore, after configuring your cluster, you can take advantage of the virtualization and the advanced features of the SAN Volume Controller.
A cluster can consist of between two and eight SAN Volume Controller nodes.
All configuration settings are replicated across all nodes in the cluster. Because configuration is performed at the cluster level, management IP addresses are assigned to the cluster instead of to each node. The cluster is configured using the SAN Volume Controller Console, the command-line interface (CLI) or an application developed to access the SAN Volume Controller CIMOM. Each interface accesses the cluster remotely through the Ethernet cluster-management address.
Each node has two Ethernet ports that can be used for management. Ethernet port 1 must be configured and connected on the configuration node. Ethernet port 1 must be connected on all cluster nodes. The use of Ethernet port 2 is optional. At any point in time, only one node in the cluster can operate as the focal point for configuration and monitoring requests. This node is called the configuration node. It is the only node that activates the cluster IP addresses. You can use one or more of these addresses to access the cluster through the SAN Volume Controller graphical user interface or the command-line interface (CLI).
Each SAN Volume Controller cluster can have one to four management IP addresses. You can assign up to two IPv4 addresses and up to two IPv6 addresses. When a node has been assigned to a cluster, you can display the cluster IP addresses on the front panel by selecting Cluster from the menu.