NFS appliance¶
[Update: March 20, 2019]
This page explains NFS Appliance provided by SAKURA Cloud.
1. Overview¶
NFS Appliance is a file server appliance of the NFS (Network File System) set inside the local network under the switch of SAKURA Cloud. NFS Appliance is offered as an appli-ance with hardware and software already installed. Therefore, it is possible to immediately use an NFS server with a large-capacity disk space without the bothersome procedures of installing OS or specifying settings by the customer.
Specifications¶
| Compatible protocol | NFSv3, NFSv4 |
|---|---|
| Provided plan (*) | Standard plan: 100GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB, 12TB SSD plan: 100GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB |
| Estimated data transfer bandwidth | Standard plan: About 40MB/s SSD plan: About 100MB/s *Both plans are provided with best effort delivery. |
| Estimated IOPS | Standard plan: Read 200 (approx.)/Write 200 (approx.) SSD plan: Read 5,000 (approx.)/Write 800 (approx.) *Both plans are provided with best effort. |
| Connecting to a global IP address environment | Impossible |
| User authentication mechanism | None |
| SNMP monitoring | Possible from within a connected local network *For details, please refer to “5. Monitoring using SNMP. |
| Random owner setting for file | Possible |
| Data backup | The clone function enables replication at any time. |
| Behavior at the time of fault | If a fault occurs, the system will automatically restart with an automatic recovery pro-gram. For details, please refer to How is operation performed when a fault occurs at the host server?. Estimated recovery time: approximately 10 to 15 min (until the completion of the starting of the appliance.) |
Attention
*The given disk capacity of each plan is a rough estimate with actual NFS storage space in correlation with the indicated capacity of each plan.
Fees¶
| Plan | Monthly fees (tax included) | Daily rates (tax included) | Hourly rates (tax included) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard plan | 100GB | JPY 5,400 | JPY 270 | JPY 12 |
| 500GB | JPY 15,120 | JPY 756 | JPY 75 | |
| 1TB | JPY 27,000 | JPY 1,350 | JPY 135 | |
| 2TB | JPY 37,800 | JPY 1,890 | JPY 189 | |
| 4TB | JPY 48,600 | JPY 2,430 | JPY 243 | |
| 8TB | JPY 91,800 | JPY 4,590 | JPY 459 | |
| 12TB | JPY 135,000 | JPY 6,750 | JPY 675 | |
| SSD plan | 100GB | JPY 7,020 | JPY 351 | JPY 34 |
| 500GB | JPY 23,220 | JPY 1,161 | JPY 115 | |
| 1TB | JPY 37,800 | JPY 1,890 | JPY 189 | |
| 2TB | JPY 70,200 | JPY 3,510 | JPY 351 | |
| 4TB | JPY 135,000 | JPY 6,750 | JPY 675 | |
2. Configuration example¶
The following configurations are possible by taking advantage of the NFS server’s large capacity that can be accessed by multiple clients.
Use as a web server content storage in a local network¶
This configuration is used for shared content storage in an environment where loads are distributed among multiple web servers with Load balancer, such as the HTTP downloading site.
Temporary file storage from another member ID service combined with a local router.¶
This configuration is used for temporary storage when files are exchanged with another organization with a different member ID, such as a subsidiary, by using the Local router service. This allows L3 connection between the cloud account you are using and the services of another account or member ID.
3. Usage procedures¶
Creation of an NFS appliance¶
Attention
An NFS appliance is solely connected to a switch. Develop a local network and prepare a switch before using an NFS appliance.
Select your target zone from the upper left zone selection menu, and select NFS in the Appliance category from the menu on the left. A list of created NFS appliances will be dis-played on the right-hand screen. Here, you can manage and/or suspend activities such as activity monitoring.
To create a new NFS appliance, click Add on the upper right.
On the New Creation screen, enter setting information, such as the NFS appliance’s network information.
| Connected switch (*) | Select a switch to connect with the NFS appliance. |
|---|---|
| Appliance to be cloned | From the menu, indicate if you want to create identical disk content as a pre-existing NFS appliance. |
| Plan (*) | Selece either the standard plan using HDD or the high-performance SSD plan. |
| Size (*) | Select the appliance disk size. |
| IPv4 address (*) | Enter the IPv4 address to be assigned to the NFS appliance network interface. *Cannot be changed after creation. *Not compatible with IPv6. |
| Netmask (*) | Select the netmask of the set IPv4 address. |
| Gateway | Enter the IP address of the default gateway of the NFS appliance network interface. |
| Name/explanation/tag/icon | Easy-to understand names, explanations, tags, and icons can be specified when conduct-ing management through the control panel. |
* represents a required item.
When creation is complete, the NFS appliance will be added to the NFS Appliance List. Double-click your target NFS appliance to display information and view the activity graph.
NFS mounting at the client side¶
Using CentOS as an example, this section explains how to mount an NFS appliance with NFSv4.
Note
If used with NFSv3, it may be necessary to install rpcbind and set portmap for the client side.
Installation of required packages¶
In the default installation state, required NFS client packages, including the standard archive provided by SAKURA Cloud, are not installed. First install the nfs-utils package re-quired to function as a NFS client.
# yum install nfs-utils
Mount¶
NFS mounting will be conducted for a specified mount point via the Mount command.
Hint
The NFS appliance mount point is /export.
Example: Where the NFS appliance IP address is 192.168.0.1 and is mounted on the /mnt directory
# mount 192.168.0.1:/export /mnt
Use either DF or Mount command to view the mount.
# df
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/vda2 16481140 1487792 14154516 10% /
tmpfs 510104 0 510104 0% /dev/shm
192.168.0.1:/export 103080320 61056 97776384 1% /mnt
# mount
/dev/vda2 on / type ext4 (rw)
proc on /proc type proc (rw)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,gid=5,mode=620)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw)
none on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw)
192.168.0.1:/export on /mnt type nfs (rw,vers=4,addr=192.168.0.1,clientaddr=192.168.0.2)
It will be added to the /etc/fstab file so that NFS mounting will occur automatically after restarting.
192.168.0.1:/export /mnt nfs rw 0 0
4. Clone¶
Through the cloning function, it is possible to copy an NFS appliance in the disk’s state at the time of cloning. This is useful if you want to use multiple NFS appliances with the same stored data, or if you want to back up before making significant changes.
Creation method.¶
Note
When creating a new appliance, you can create a clone by selecting a pre-existing NFS appliance from the Appliance to be Cloned selection menu.
From the NFS Appliance List screen, double-click theappliance to be cloned to display the Details screen.
Click Clone on the upper right.
An input screen similar to the NFS Appliance New Creation screen will be displayed. After confirming that the “Clone source appliance” selection pop-up menu is the specified NFS appliance, enter the required information and click Create on the bottom right.
*Select a plan with an equal or greater disk capacity than the appliance to be cloned.
Confirm that the cloned NFS appliance is displayed on the NFS appliance screen. A cloned NFS appliance can be handled as an ordinary NFS appliance, for example, by editing and deleting information.
*Depending on the plan, it may take 5 to 60 minutes to mount and become functional.
5. Monitoring using SNMP¶
NFS Appliance provides an SNMP agent function. Conditions within the appliance can be monitored by using SNMP connection to the assigned IP address.
Attention
The SNMP community name is fixed as "sacloudnfs" and cannot be changed. Furthermore, there is no connection restriction from IP address, etc. (Access is possible from all zones of the private network to which the NFS appliance is connected).
| By type | OID | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Disk related | .1.3.6.1.4.1.2021.9 | Information related to the disk provided as the NFS zone can be aquired. |
| Network interface | .1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.0.2 0xff:a0 | Information on network interface |
| Network interface (64Bit) | .1.3.6.1.2.1.31.1.1.1.0.2 0xff:d0 | Information on network interface (64Bit) |