HP XC System Software Installation Guide Version 3.1

Table 3-1 Information Required by the cluster_prep Command
Description and User ActionItem
During the system discovery process, each node is automatically assigned an internal
name. This name is based on a prefix defined by you. All node names consist of the prefix
and a number based on the node's topographical location in the system. The default node
prefix is the letter n. You have the option to change this default, perhaps to differentiate
the nodes from another system or to customize node names according to your corporate
policies.
The node prefix can contain up to six alphanumeric characters (the letters a through z, A
through Z, and the numbers 0 through 9). Do not use a hyphen (-) or a period (.) in the
node name prefix. The last character in the prefix must be alphabetic. By default, nh is
assigned as the head node alias, regardless of the node prefix.
Node Numbering All nodes connected directly to the root switches are named with the
user-defined node prefix and are numbered in descending order from the highest numbered
node. All other nodes connected to branch switches are named with the node prefix and
are numbered in ascending order, starting at 1 on the first port of the first branch switch.
Important Note About HP Server Blades and Enclosures:
Node numbering differs if the hardware configuration contains HP server blades and
enclosures.
For more information, see the HP XC Systems With HP Server Blades and Enclosures HowTo,
which is available at the following Web site:
http://www.docs.hp.com/en/highperfcomp.html
Node name prefix
Enter the maximum number of nodes you expect to have in the system, taking future
expansion into consideration.
For flexibility, consider entering the maximum number of nodes allowed by the
interconnect. For instance, the interconnect might allow a maximum of 128 nodes, but the
system contains only 64 nodes. In this case, enter the number 128 when prompted.
If the hardware configuration consists of HP server blades, you are not prompted to supply
the maximum number of nodes in the system.
Maximum number of nodes in
the system
Define and set a password to protect the configuration and management database. Make
this password different from the root password.
You are prompted for this password any time you log into the configuration and
management database.
See “Password Guidelines” (page 117) if you need recommendations on choosing strong
passwords.
Database administrator's
password
You are prompted to configure an external Ethernet device on the head node. Doing so
connects the node directly to the public network. The most likely Ethernet device to use
as the external network connection is presented to you by default. You can use this value
or provide a different value.
If you need more information to verify that you are selecting the correct Ethernet device
on the head node, open a new terminal window and use the ethtool
ethernet-device-name command to provide more information about the Ethernet
devices on the node.
External Ethernet connection on
the head node
Provide the IP address for the head node's Ethernet connection to the external network.
This is the address assigned by your site's network administrator. The IP address must be
in your site's Domain Name Service (DNS) configuration.
Enter the address in dotted decimal format n.n.n.n, where n is the decimal value in the
range 0 to 255 and is the decimal value of an 8-bit segment of the address.
IP address for the external
network connection
Provide the network mask (netmask) for the external network on the head node.
The network mask is used for each of the addresses in the address range and is specified
in dotted-decimal format (for example, 255.255.252.0).
Network mask
3.2 Task 1: Prepare for the System Configuration 45