Architectural Overview

The Scyld ClusterWare system uses a "disk-less administration" model for compute nodes. This means that the compute nodes boot and operate without the need for mounting any file system, either on a local disk or a network file system. By using this approach, the cluster system does not depend on the storage details or potential misconfiguration of the compute nodes, instead putting all configuration information and initialization control on the master.

This does not mean that the cluster cannot or does not use local disk storage or network file systems. Instead it allows the storage to be tailored to the needs of the application rather than the underlying cluster system.

The first operational issue after installing a cluster is initializing and using compute node storage. While the concept and process is similar to configuring the master machine, the "disk-less administration" model makes it much easier to change the storage layout on the compute nodes.