22/05/2015

1.3.TheClusteredLogicalVolumeManager(CLVM)

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1.3.The Clustered Logical Volume Manager (CLVM)

The Clustered Logical Volume Manager (CLVM) is a set of clustering extensions to LVM. These extensions allow a
cluster of computers to manage shared storage (for example, on a SAN) using LVM.
Whether you should use CLVM depends on your system requirements:
If only one node of your system requires access to the storage you are configuring as logical volumes, then you can
use LVM without the CLVM extensions and the logical volumes created with that node are all local to the node.
If you are using a clustered system for failover where only a single node that accesses the storage is active at any
one time, you should use High Availability Logical Volume Management agents (HALVM). For information on HA
LVM, see ConfiguringandManagingaRedHatCluster.
If more than one node of your cluster will require access to your storage which is then shared among the active
nodes, then you must use CLVM. CLVM allows a user to configure logical volumes on shared storage by locking
access to physical storage while a logical volume is being configured, and uses clustered locking services to
manage the shared storage.
In order to use CLVM, the Red Hat Cluster Suite software, including the clmvd daemon, must be running. The clmvd
daemon is the key clustering extension to LVM. The clvmd daemon runs in each cluster computer and distributes LVM
metadata updates in a cluster, presenting each cluster computer with the same view of the logical volumes. For
information on installing and administering Red Hat Cluster Suite, see ConfiguringandManagingaRedHat
Cluster.
To ensure that clmvd is started at boot time, you can execute a chkconfig...on command on the clvmd service,
as follows:
#chkconfigclvmdon
If the clvmd daemon has not been started, you can execute a service...start command on the clvmd service, as
follows:
#serviceclvmdstart
Creating LVM logical volumes in a cluster environment is identical to creating LVM logical volumes on a single node.
There is no difference in the LVM commands themselves, or in the LVM graphical user interface, as described in
Chapter4, LVM Administration with CLI Commands and Chapter7, LVM Administration with the LVM GUI. In order to
enable the LVM volumes you are creating in a cluster, the cluster infrastructure must be running and the cluster
must be quorate.
By default, logical volumes created with CLVM on shared storage are visible to all computers that have access to the
shared storage. It is possible, however, to create logical volumes when the storage devices are visible to only one
node in the cluster. It is also possible to change the status of a logical volume from a local volume to a clustered
volume. For information, see Section4.3.2, Creating Volume Groups in a Cluster and Section4.3.7, Changing the
Parameters of a Volume Group.
Figure1.2, CLVM Overview shows a CLVM overview in a Red Hat cluster.
CLVM Overview
Figure1.2.CLVM Overview

Note
http://linux.web.cern.ch/linux/scientific5/docs/rhel/Cluster_Logical_Volume_Manager/LVM_Cluster_Overview.html

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1.3.TheClusteredLogicalVolumeManager(CLVM)

Shared storage for use in Red Hat Cluster Suite requires that you be running the cluster logical volume
manager daemon (clvmd) or the High Availability Logical Volume Management agents (HALVM). If you
are not able to use either the clvmd daemon or HALVM for operational reasons or because you do not
have the correct entitlements, you must not use singleinstance LVM on the shared disk as this may
result in data corruption. If you have any concerns please contact your Red Hat service representative.

Note
CLVM requires changes to the lvm.conf file for clusterwide locking. Information on configuring the
lvm.conf file to support clustered locking is provided within the lvm.conf file itself. For information
about the lvm.conf file, see AppendixB, The LVM Configuration Files.

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