5.7. Creating Arbitrated Replicated Volumes An arbitrated replicated volume contains two full copies of the files in the volume. Arbitrated volumes have an extra arbiter brick for every two data bricks in the volume. Arbiter bricks do not store file data; they only store file names, structure, and metadata. Arbiter bricks use client quorum to compare metadata on the arbiter with the metadata of the other nodes to ensure consistency in the volume and prevent split-brain conditions. Advantages of arbitrated replicated volumes Better consistency When an arbiter is configured, arbitration logic uses client-side quorum in auto mode to prevent file operations that would lead to split-brain conditions. Less disk space required Because an arbiter brick only stores file names and metadata, an arbiter brick can be much smaller than the other bricks in the volume. Fewer nodes required The node that contains the arbiter brick of one volume can be configured with the data brick of another volume. This "chaining" configuration allows you to use fewer nodes to fulfill your overall storage requirements. Easy migration from deprecated two-way replicated volumes Red Hat Gluster Storage can convert a two-way replicated volume without arbiter bricks into an arbitrated replicated volume. See Section 5.7.5, "Converting to an arbitrated volume" for details. Limitations of arbitrated replicated volumes Arbitrated replicated volumes provide better data consistency than a two-way replicated volume that does not have arbiter bricks. However, because arbitrated replicated volumes store only metadata, they provide the same level of availability as a two-way replicated volume that does not have arbiter bricks. To achieve high-availability, you need to use a three-way replicated volume instead of an arbitrated replicated volume. Tiering is not compatible with arbitrated replicated volumes. Arbitrated volumes can only be configured in sets of three bricks at a time. Red Hat Gluster Storage can convert an existing two-way replicated volume without arbiter bricks into an arbitrated replicated volume by adding an arbiter brick to that volume. See Section 5.7.5, "Converting to an arbitrated volume" for details. 5.7.1. Arbitrated volume requirements This section outlines the requirements of a supported arbitrated volume deployment. 5.7.1.1. System requirements for nodes hosting arbiter bricks The minimum system requirements for a node that contains an arbiter brick differ depending on the configuration choices made by the administrator. See Section 5.7.4, "Creating multiple arbitrated replicated volumes across fewer total nodes" for details about the differences between the dedicated arbiter and chained arbiter configurations. Table 5.1. Requirements for arbitrated configurations on physical machines Configuration type Min CPU Min RAM NIC Arbiter Brick Size Max Latency Dedicated arbiter 64-bit quad-core processor with 2 sockets 8 GB [a] Match to other nodes in the storage pool 1 TB to 4 TB [b] 5 ms [c] Chained arbiter Match to other nodes in the storage pool 1 TB to 4 TB [d] 5 ms [e] [a] More RAM may be necessary depending on the combined capacity of the number of arbiter bricks on the node. [b] Arbiter and data bricks can be configured on the same device provided that the data and arbiter bricks belong to different replica sets. See Section 5.7.1.2, "Arbiter capacity requirements" for further details on sizing arbiter volumes. [c] This is the maximum round trip latency requirement between all nodes irrespective of Aribiter node. See KCS#413623 to know how to determine latency between nodes. [d] Multiple bricks can be created on a single RAIDed physical device. Please refer the following product documentation: Section 19.2, "Brick Configuration" [e] This is the maximum round trip latency requirement between all nodes irrespective of Aribiter node. See KCS#413623 to know how to determine latency between nodes. The requirements for arbitrated configurations on virtual machines are: minimum 4 vCPUs minimum 16 GB RAM 1 TB to 4 TB of virtual disk space maximum 5 ms latency 5.7.1.2. Arbiter capacity requirements Because an arbiter brick only stores file names and metadata, an arbiter brick can be much smaller than the other bricks in the volume or replica set. The required size for an arbiter brick depends on the number of files being stored on the volume. The recommended minimum arbiter brick size can be calculated with the following formula: For example, if you have two 1 TB data bricks, and the average size of the files is 2 GB, then the recommended minimum size for your arbiter brick 2 MB, as shown in the following example: If sharding is enabled, and your shard-block-size is smaller than the average file size in KB, then you need to use the following formula instead, because each shard also has a metadata file: Alternatively, if you know how many files you will store in a volume, the recommended minimum arbiter brick size is the maximum number of files multiplied by 4 KB. For example, if you expect to have 200,000 files on your volume, your arbiter brick should be at least 800,000 KB, or 0.8 GB, in size. Red Hat also recommends overprovisioning where possible so that there is no short-term need to increase the size of the arbiter brick. Also, refer to Brick Configuration for more information on usage of maxpct. 5.7.2. Arbitration logic In an arbitrated volume, whether a file operation is permitted depends on the current state of the bricks in the volume. The following table describes arbitration behavior in all possible volume states. Table 5.2. Allowed operations for current volume state Volume state Arbitration behavior All bricks available All file operations permitted. Arbiter and 1 data brick available If the arbiter does not agree with the available data node, write operations fail with ENOTCONN (since the brick that is correct is not available). Other file operations are permitted. If the arbiter's metadata agrees with the available data node, all file operations are permitted. Arbiter down, data bricks available All file operations are permitted. The arbiter's records are healed when it becomes available. Only one brick available All file operations fail with ENOTCONN. 5.7.3. Creating an arbitrated replicated volume The command for creating an arbitrated replicated volume has the following syntax: This creates a volume with one arbiter for every three replicate bricks. The arbiter is the last brick in every set of three bricks. Note The syntax of this command is misleading. There are a total of 3 bricks in this set. This command creates a volume with two bricks that replicate all data and one arbiter brick that replicates only metadata. In the following example, the bricks on server3 and server6 are the arbiter bricks. Note that because multiple sets of three bricks are provided, this creates a distributed replicated volume with arbiter bricks. 5.7.4. Creating multiple arbitrated replicated volumes across fewer total nodes If you are configuring more than one arbitrated-replicated volume, or a single volume with multiple replica sets, you can use fewer nodes in total by using either of the following techniques: Chain multiple arbitrated replicated volumes together, by placing the arbiter brick for one volume on the same node as a data brick for another volume. Chaining is useful for write-heavy workloads when file size is closer to metadata file size (that is, from 32-128 KiB). This avoids all metadata I/O going through a single disk. In arbitrated distributed-replicated volumes, you can also place an arbiter brick on the same node as another replica sub-volume's data brick, since these do not share the same data. Place the arbiter bricks from multiple volumes on a single dedicated node. A dedicated arbiter node is suited to write-heavy workloads with larger files, and read-heavy workloads. Example 5.6. Example of a dedicated configuration The following commands create two arbitrated replicated volumes, firstvol and secondvol. Server3 contains the arbiter bricks of both volumes. Two gluster volumes configured across five servers to create two three-way arbitrated replicated volumes, with the arbiter bricks on a dedicated arbiter node. Example 5.7. Example of a chained configuration The following command configures an arbitrated replicated volume with six sub-volumes chained across six servers in a 6 x (2 + 1) configuration. Six replicated gluster sub-volumes chained across six servers to create a 6 * (2 + 1) arbitrated distributed-replicated configuration. 5.7.5. Converting to an arbitrated volume You can convert a replicated volume into an arbitrated volume by adding new arbiter bricks for each replicated sub-volume, or replacing replica bricks with arbiter bricks. Procedure 5.1. Converting a replica 2 volume to an arbitrated volume Warning Do not perform this process if geo-replication is configured. There is a race condition tracked by Bug 1683893 that means data can be lost when converting a volume if geo-replication is enabled. Verify that healing is not in progress Wait until pending heal entries is 0 before proceeding. Disable and stop self-healing Run the following commands to disable data, metadata, and entry self-heal, and the self-heal daemon. Add arbiter bricks to the volume Convert the volume by adding an arbiter brick for each replicated sub-volume. For example, if you have an existing two-way replicated volume called testvol, and a new brick for the arbiter to use, you can add a brick as an arbiter with the following command: If you have an existing two-way distributed-replicated volume, you need a new brick for each sub-volume in order to convert it to an arbitrated distributed-replicated volume, for example: Wait for client volfiles to update This takes about 5 minutes. Verify that bricks added successfully Re-enable self-healing Run the following commands to re-enable self-healing on the servers. Verify all entries are healed Wait until pending heal entries is 0 to ensure that all heals completed successfully. Procedure 5.2. Converting a replica 3 volume to an arbitrated volume Warning Do not perform this process if geo-replication is configured. There is a race condition tracked by Bug 1683893 that means data can be lost when converting a volume if geo-replication is enabled. Verify that healing is not in progress Wait until pending heal entries is 0 before proceeding. Reduce the replica count of the volume to 2 Remove one brick from every sub-volume in the volume so that the replica count is reduced to 2. For example, in a replica 3 volume that distributes data across 2 sub-volumes, run the following command: Note In a distributed replicated volume, data is distributed across sub-volumes, and replicated across bricks in a sub-volume. This means that to reduce the replica count of a volume, you need to remove a brick from every sub-volume. Bricks are grouped by sub-volume in the gluster volume info output. If the replica count is 3, the first 3 bricks form the first sub-volume, the 3 bricks form the second sub-volume, and so on. In this volume, data is distributed across two sub-volumes, which each consist of three bricks. The first sub-volume consists of bricks 1, 2, and 3. The second sub-volume consists of bricks 4, 5, and 6. Removing any one brick from each subvolume using the following command reduces the replica count to 2 as required. Disable and stop self-healing Run the following commands to disable data, metadata, and entry self-heal, and the self-heal daemon. Add arbiter bricks to the volume Convert the volume by adding an arbiter brick for each replicated sub-volume. For example, if you have an existing replicated volume: If you have an existing distributed-replicated volume: Wait for client volfiles to update This takes about 5 minutes. Verify that this is complete by running the following command on each client. The number of times connected=1 appears in the output is the number of bricks connected to the client. Verify that bricks added successfully Re-enable self-healing Run the following commands to re-enable self-healing on the servers. Verify all entries are healed Wait until pending heal entries is 0 to ensure that all heals completed successfully. 5.7.6. Converting an arbitrated volume to a three-way replicated volume You can convert an arbitrated volume into a three-way replicated volume or a three-way distributed replicated volume by replacing the arbiter bricks with full bricks for each replicated sub-volume. Warning Do not perform this process if geo-replication is configured. There is a race condition tracked by Bug 1683893 that means data can be lost when converting a volume if geo-replication is enabled. Procedure 5.3. Converting an arbitrated volume to a replica 3 volume Verify that healing is not in progress Wait until pending heal entries is 0 before proceeding. Remove arbiter bricks from the volume Check which bricks are listed as (arbiter) , and then remove those bricks from the volume. Disable and stop self-healing Run the following commands to disable data, metadata, and entry self-heal, and the self-heal daemon. Add full bricks to the volume Convert the volume by adding a brick for each replicated sub-volume. For example, if you have an existing arbitrated replicated volume: If you have an existing arbitrated distributed-replicated volume: Wait for client volfiles to update This takes about 5 minutes. Verify that bricks added successfully Re-enable self-healing Run the following commands to re-enable self-healing on the servers. Verify all entries are healed Wait until pending heal entries is 0 to ensure that all heals completed successfully. 5.7.7. Tuning recommendations for arbitrated volumes Red Hat recommends the following when arbitrated volumes are in use: For dedicated arbiter nodes, use JBOD for arbiter bricks, and RAID6 for data bricks. For chained arbiter volumes, use the same RAID6 drive for both data and arbiter bricks. See Chapter 19, Tuning for Performance for more information on enhancing performance that is not specific to the use of arbiter volumes.

Commands:
minimum arbiter brick size = 4 KB * ( size in KB of largest data brick in volume or replica set / average file size in KB)
minimum arbiter brick size = 4 KB * ( 1 TB / 2 GB ) = 4 KB * ( 1000000000 KB / 2000000 KB ) = 4 KB * 500 KB = 2000 KB = 2 MB
minimum arbiter brick size = 4 KB * ( size in KB of largest data brick in volume or replica set / shard block size in KB )
gluster volume create VOLNAME replica 3 arbiter 1 HOST1 : DATA_BRICK1 HOST2 : DATA_BRICK2 HOST3 : ARBITER_BRICK3
gluster volume create testvol replica 3 arbiter 1 server1:/bricks/brick server2:/bricks/brick server3:/bricks/arbiter_brick server4:/bricks/brick server5:/bricks/brick server6:/bricks/arbiter_brick
gluster volume info testvol Volume Name: testvol Type: Distributed-Replicate Volume ID: ed9fa4d5-37f1-49bb-83c3-925e90fab1bc Status: Created Snapshot Count: 0 Number of Bricks: 2 x (2 + 1) = 6 Transport-type: tcp Bricks: Brick1: server1:/bricks/brick Brick2: server2:/bricks/brick Brick3: server3:/bricks/arbiter_brick (arbiter) Brick1: server4:/bricks/brick Brick2: server5:/bricks/brick Brick3: server6:/bricks/arbiter_brick (arbiter) Options Reconfigured: cluster.granular-entry-heal: on transport.address-family: inet performance.readdir-ahead: on nfs.disable: on
gluster volume create firstvol replica 3 arbiter 1 server1:/bricks/brick server2:/bricks/brick server3:/bricks/arbiter_brick gluster volume create secondvol replica 3 arbiter 1 server4:/bricks/data_brick server5:/bricks/brick server3:/bricks/brick
gluster volume create arbrepvol replica 3 arbiter 1 server1:/bricks/brick1 server2:/bricks/brick1 server3:/bricks/arbiter_brick1 server2:/bricks/brick2 server3:/bricks/brick2 server4:/bricks/arbiter_brick2 server3:/bricks/brick3 server4:/bricks/brick3 server5:/bricks/arbiter_brick3 server4:/bricks/brick4 server5:/bricks/brick4 server6:/bricks/arbiter_brick4 server5:/bricks/brick5 server6:/bricks/brick5 server1:/bricks/arbiter_brick5 server6:/bricks/brick6 server1:/bricks/brick6 server2:/bricks/arbiter_brick6
gluster volume heal VOLNAME info
gluster volume set VOLNAME cluster.data-self-heal off gluster volume set VOLNAME cluster.metadata-self-heal off gluster volume set VOLNAME cluster.entry-self-heal off gluster volume set VOLNAME self-heal-daemon off
gluster volume add-brick VOLNAME replica 3 arbiter 1 HOST : arbiter-brick-path
gluster volume add-brick testvol replica 3 arbiter 1 server:/bricks/arbiter_brick
gluster volume add-brick testvol replica 3 arbiter 1 server1:/bricks/arbiter_brick1 server2:/bricks/arbiter_brick2
gluster volume info VOLNAME gluster volume status VOLNAME
gluster volume set VOLNAME cluster.data-self-heal on gluster volume set VOLNAME cluster.metadata-self-heal on gluster volume set VOLNAME cluster.entry-self-heal on gluster volume set VOLNAME self-heal-daemon on
gluster volume heal VOLNAME info
gluster volume heal VOLNAME info
gluster volume remove-brick VOLNAME replica 2 HOST : subvol1-brick-path HOST : subvol2-brick-path force
gluster volume info VOLNAME [...] Number of Bricks: 2 x 3 = 6 Transport-type: tcp Bricks: Brick1: node1:/test1/brick Brick2: node2:/test2/brick Brick3: node3:/test3/brick Brick4: node1:/test4/brick Brick5: node2:/test5/brick Brick6: node3:/test6/brick [...]
gluster volume remove-brick VOLNAME replica 2 HOST : subvol1-brick-path HOST : subvol2-brick-path force
gluster volume set VOLNAME cluster.data-self-heal off gluster volume set VOLNAME cluster.metadata-self-heal off gluster volume set VOLNAME cluster.entry-self-heal off gluster volume set VOLNAME self-heal-daemon off
gluster volume add-brick VOLNAME replica 3 arbiter 1 HOST : arbiter-brick-path
gluster volume add-brick testvol replica 3 arbiter 1 server:/bricks/brick
gluster volume add-brick testvol replica 3 arbiter 1 server1:/bricks/arbiter_brick1 server2:/bricks/arbiter_brick2
grep -ir connected mount-path /.meta/graphs/active/ volname -client-*/private
gluster volume info VOLNAME gluster volume status VOLNAME
gluster volume set VOLNAME cluster.data-self-heal on gluster volume set VOLNAME cluster.metadata-self-heal on gluster volume set VOLNAME cluster.entry-self-heal on gluster volume set VOLNAME self-heal-daemon on
gluster volume heal VOLNAME info
gluster volume heal VOLNAME info
gluster volume info VOLNAME
gluster volume remove-brick VOLNAME replica 2 HOST : arbiter-brick-path force
gluster volume set VOLNAME cluster.data-self-heal off gluster volume set VOLNAME cluster.metadata-self-heal off gluster volume set VOLNAME cluster.entry-self-heal off gluster volume set VOLNAME self-heal-daemon off
gluster volume add-brick VOLNAME replica 3 HOST : brick-path
gluster volume add-brick testvol replica 3 server:/bricks/brick
gluster volume add-brick testvol replica 3 server1:/bricks/brick1 server2:/bricks/brick2
gluster volume info VOLNAME gluster volume status VOLNAME
gluster volume set VOLNAME cluster.data-self-heal on gluster volume set VOLNAME cluster.metadata-self-heal on gluster volume set VOLNAME cluster.entry-self-heal on gluster volume set VOLNAME self-heal-daemon on
gluster volume heal VOLNAME info