The sds-drbd module: configuration examples

Once the sds-drbd module is enabled in the Deckhouse configuration, your cluster will be automatically configured to use the LINSTOR backend. All that remains is to create the storage pools and StorageClass according to the instructions below.

Configuring the LINSTOR backend

In Deckhouse, the sds-drbd-controller handles the configuration of LINSTOR storage. For this, DRBDStoragePool and DRBDStorageClass custom resources are created. The LVM Volume Group and LVM Thin pool configured on the cluster nodes are required to create a Storage Pool. The sds-node-configurator module handles the configuration of LVM.

Caution! The user may not configure the LINSTOR backend directly.

Setting up LVM

Configuration examples can be found in the sds-node-configurator module documentation. The configuration will result in LVMVolumeGroup resources to be created in the cluster (the latter are required for further configuration).

Using DRBDStoragePool resources

Creating a DRBDStoragePool resource

• To create a Storage Pool on specific nodes in LINSTOR, the user has to create a DRBDStoragePool resource and fill in the spec field, specifying the pool type as well as the LVMVolumeGroup resources used.

• An example of a resource for classic LVM volumes (Thick):

apiVersion: storage.deckhouse.io/v1alpha1
kind: DRBDStoragePool
metadata:
  name: data
spec:
  type: LVM
  lvmvolumegroups:
    - name: lvg-1
    - name: lvg-2

• An example of a resource for classic Thin LVM volumes:

apiVersion: storage.deckhouse.io/v1alpha1
kind: DRBDStoragePool
metadata:
  name: thin-data
spec:
  type: LVMThin
  lvmvolumegroups:
    - name: lvg-3
      thinpoolname: thin-pool
    - name: lvg-4
      thinpoolname: thin-pool

Caution! All LVMVolumeGroup resources in the spec of the DRBDStoragePool resource must reside on different nodes. (You may not refer to multiple LVMVolumeGroup resources located on the same node).

The sds-drbd-controller will then process the DRBDStoragePool resource defined by the user and create the corresponding Storage Pool in the Linstor backend.

The name of the Storage Pool being created will match the name of the created DRBDStoragePool resource.

The Storage Pool will be created on the nodes defined in the LVMVolumeGroup resources.

Information about the controller’s progress and results is available in the status field of the created DRBDStoragePool resource.

Before working with LINSTOR, the controller will validate the provided configuration. If an error is detected, it will report the cause of the error.

Invalid Storage Pools will not be created in LINSTOR.

Updating the DRBDStoragePool resource

You can add new LVMVolumeGroups to the spec.lvmVolumeGroups list (effectively adding new nodes to the Storage Pool).

The sds-drbd-controller will then validate the new configuration. If it is valid, the controller will update the Storage Pool in the Linstor backend. The results of this operation will also be reflected in the status field of the DRBDStoragePool resource.

Note that the spec.type field of the DRBDStoragePool resource is immutable.

The controller does not respond to changes made by the user in the status field of the resource.

Deleting the DRBDStoragePool resource

Currently, the sds-drbd-controller does not handle the deletion of DRBDStoragePool resources in any way.

Deleting a resource does not affect the Storage Pool created for it in the Linstor backend. If the user recreates the deleted resource with the same name and configuration, the controller will detect that the corresponding Storage Pools are already created, so no changes will be made. The status.phase field of the created resource will be set to Created.

Using DRBDStorageClass resources

Creating a DRBDStorageClass resource

• To create a StorageClass in Kubernetes, you have to create a DRBDStorageClass resource and fill in the spec field with the required parameters. (Note that you cannot manually create a StorageClass for the drbd.csi.storage.deckhouse.io CSI driver).

• Below is an example of a resource for creating a StorageClass based on local volumes only (i.e., no data can be accessed over the network) and with a high data redundancy in a cluster consisting of three zones:

apiVersion: storage.deckhouse.io/v1alpha1
kind: DRBDStorageClass
metadata:
  name: haclass
spec:
  storagePool: storage-pool-name
  volumeAccess: Local
  reclaimPolicy: Delete
  topology: TransZonal
  zones:
  - zone-a
  - zone-b
  - zone-c

The replication parameter is omitted since it is set to ConsistencyAndAvailability by default, which is consistent with high redundancy requirements.

• Below is an example of a resource for creating a StorageClass with allowed access to data over the network and no redundancy in a cluster where there are no zones (e.g., it is a good fit for testing environments):

apiVersion: storage.deckhouse.io/v1alpha1
kind: DRBDStorageClass
metadata:
  name: testclass
spec:
  replication: None
  storagePool: storage-pool-name
  reclaimPolicy: Delete
  topology: Ignored

• More examples with different usage scenarios and layouts can be found here

Before creating the StorageClass, the configuration user provides will be validated. If errors are found, the StorageClass will not be created, and the information about the error will be saved to the status field of the DRBDStorageClass resource.

The sds-drbd-controller will then analyze the user’s DRBDStorageClass resource and create the corresponding Storage Class in Kubernetes.

Please note that all fields of spec section of the DRBDStorageClass resource are immutable except for the spec.isDefault field.

The sds-drbd-controller will automatically keep the status field up to date to reflect the results of the ongoing operations.

Updating the DRBDStorageClass resource

Currently, the sds-drbd-controller only supports changing the isDefault field. It is not possible to change other configuration parameters of the StorageClass created via the DRBDStorageClass resource.

Deleting the DRBDStorageClass resource

You can delete the StorageClass in Kubernetes by removing its DRBDStorageClass resource. The sds-drbd-controller will detect that the resource has been deleted and carry out all necessary operations to properly delete its associated StorageClass.

The sds-drbd-controller will only delete the StorageClass associated with the resource if the status.phase field of the DRBDStorageClass resource is set to Created. Otherwise, the controller will only delete the DRBDStorageClass resource while its associated StorageClass will not be affected.

Additional features for applications

Hosting an application “closer” to the data (data locality)

In a hyperconverged infrastructure, you may want your pods to run on the same nodes as their data volumes, as this will help maximize storage performance.

The module provides a custom scheduler for such tasks. It takes into account where exactly the data is stored and tries to schedule pods first on those nodes where the data is available locally. Any pod that uses sds-drbd volumes will be automatically configured to use this scheduler.

Data locality is determined by the volumeAccess parameter when the DRBDStorageClass resource is being created.