[Gluster-users] WG: CentOs 5.5 Glusterfs 3.1.0 Samba 3.5 MSOffice Files

Mon Feb 7 16:32:10 UTC 2011

Hello.

I hope the Gluster developers feel free to correct me in this but ... a lot of people seem to misunderstand the purpose of the Gluster File system:

- It is NOT a general purpose file system.
- It is not really a replacement for NFS - rather, it enables NFS access (as a client) to allow use of Glusterfs by servers that can't (or don't want to) install the native GlusterFS client.
- It is not designed for use with files under 1MB in size. That is not to say it won't work, after a fashion - but it calls to mind the saying ... "When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail!". Use the right tool for the right task.

GlusterFS IS optimized for large files being (mostly) read by many clients for the purposes of analysis, simulation, or (in the case of large image files) display and / or rendering.
- It supports parallel access to duplicate copies of files
- It supports high availability if mirroring is configured, allowing single nodes to fail or be replaced / serviced /upgraded without bringing down the file system - though at the expense of reduced I/O due to that node no longer handling file requests.
- It can scale to very high levels of I/O with higher numbers of storage nodes / pools since each new storage node increases the bandwidth available to access files stored in a given pool.
- It distributes files semi / sort of evenly across multiple nodes to decrease the possibility of hot spots in file access.

Given the above attributes, there are some things that it is not going to do as well as alternate solutions:
- Home directory replacement - small files constantly accessed by a single user
- Software build storage - hundreds / thousands of small files being read and written simultaneously
- Samba server backend storage - see the two points above.

Samba has its own clustering software that is specifically designed to complement and enhance Samba - CTDB http://ctdb.samba.org/
It does rely on an underlying cluster file system itself - but that file system should support small files and many clients simultaneously accessing said files. NFS will work better than GlusterFS at this task - and there are others.

I'll give the standard disclaimer, here.

I don't believe myself to be a GlusterFS expert - I've only been working with it for one year so far, and believe me, that is not enough time, in my opinion, to make me one.

I have implemented a 6 node storage pool serving hundreds of clients. Originally this was implemented in version 3.0.4 - I've migrated this to 3.1.1 smoothly (though with a LOT of work up front), and all that remains is to integrate the legacy 3.0.4 servers in to the new configuration.

This is just my opinion, and an earnest attempt to clarify at least my view of this amazing and useful tool. Other opinions and views are heartily welcomed.

Thanks,

James Burnash, Unix Engineering

-----Original Message-----
From: gluster-users-bounces at gluster.org [mailto:gluster-users-bounces at gluster.org] On Behalf Of Daniel Müller
Sent: Monday, February 07, 2011 10:48 AM
To: 'Luis Cerezo'
Cc: gluster-users at gluster.org
Subject: Re: [Gluster-users] WG: CentOs 5.5 Glusterfs 3.1.0 Samba 3.5 MSOffice Files

I did both settings. And it did not help.
Do you have a working Gluster with samba and office files?

Here are my samba-settings:
[test]
        path=/mnt/glusterfs/windows/test
        readonly=no
        profile acls = YES
        oplocks=NO
        level2 oplocks=NO
        #oplocks auf dem share fuer folgende file-types ausschalten
        veto oplock files =
/*.mdb/*.MDB/*.dbf/*.DBF/*.doc/*.docx/*.xls/*.xlsx/*.tmp/*.TMP/?~$*/~$*/*.ex
e/*.com
        write list="Domain Users" "Domain Admins"
        create mask = 2770
        force create mode=2770

EDV Daniel Müller

Leitung EDV
Tropenklinik Paul-Lechler-Krankenhaus
Paul-Lechler-Str. 24
72076 Tübingen 
Tel.: 07071/206-463, Fax: 07071/206-499
eMail: mueller at tropenklinik.de
Internet: www.tropenklinik.de 

Von: Luis Cerezo [mailto:lec at luiscerezo.org] 
Gesendet: Montag, 7. Februar 2011 15:21
An: mueller at tropenklinik.de
Cc: gluster-users at gluster.org
Betreff: Re: [Gluster-users] WG: CentOs 5.5 Glusterfs 3.1.0 Samba 3.5
MSOffice Files

I don't think this is a gluster issue. 

This could be an XP issue,  http://support.microsoft.com/?id=812937

or a samba issue. 
Try setting this on the share in question

        oplocks = No
        level2 oplocks = No

I hope this helps..

On Feb 7, 2011, at 2:11 AM, Daniel Müller wrote:

Dear all,

no solutions!? So MSOffice Files cannot be worked on a gluster-share?!
Word 2007 docs can be created written one time to it. When opened again they
are read only (Another user....). No change possible.
Excell files the same.
When I do the same actions on a non glusterfs-vol everything is as it
should!!!
If I can get a hint to work around this I have to abandon glusterd.

Daniel

-----------------------------------------------
EDV Daniel Müller

Leitung EDV
Tropenklinik Paul-Lechler-Krankenhaus
Paul-Lechler-Str. 24
72076 Tübingen

Tel.: 07071/206-463, Fax: 07071/206-499
eMail: mueller at tropenklinik.de
Internet: www.tropenklinik.de
-----------------------------------------------

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Daniel Müller [mailto:mueller at tropenklinik.de] 
Gesendet: Donnerstag, 3. Februar 2011 13:25
An: 'gluster-users at gluster.org'
Betreff: CentOs 5.5 Glusterfs 3.1.0 Samba 3.5 MSOffice Files

Dear all,

I succeded in setting up a two node gluster-share (Replication) for samba.

"[root at ctdb1 test]# gluster peer status
Number of Peers: 1

Hostname: 192.168.132.57
Uuid: 87159003-b9ec-4eba-9761-74178d406609
State: Peer in Cluster (Connected)"

"[root at ctdb1 test]# gluster volume info

Volume Name: samba-vol
Type: Replicate
Status: Started
Number of Bricks: 2
Transport-type: tcp
Bricks:
Brick1: 192.168.132.56:/glusterfs/export
Brick2: 192.168.132.57:/glusterfs/export
Options Reconfigured:
network.ping-timeout: 5"

Everything is working fine but writing MSOffice word and excel-files to the
gluster-vol.
Every word-doc is read only after creating, the same with excel files!!??

Beside the gluster-vol I tested another samba share without glusterfs and
there it is working
as it should.

So how can I get it work on my gluster-vol?????

-----------------------------------------------
EDV Daniel Müller

Leitung EDV
Tropenklinik Paul-Lechler-Krankenhaus
Paul-Lechler-Str. 24
72076 Tübingen

Tel.: 07071/206-463, Fax: 07071/206-499
eMail: mueller at tropenklinik.de
Internet: www.tropenklinik.de
-----------------------------------------------

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Luis E. Cerezo

http://www.luiscerezo.org
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