W E K A
4.0
4.0
  • WEKA v4.0 documentation
  • WEKA System Overview
    • About the WEKA system
    • SSD capacity management
    • Filesystems, object stores, and filesystem groups
    • Weka networking
    • Data lifecycle management
    • Weka client and mount modes
    • Weka containers architecture overview
    • Glossary
  • Getting Started with Weka
    • Quick installation guide
    • Manage the system using the Weka CLI
    • Manage the system using the Weka GUI
    • Run first IOs with WekaFS
    • Getting started with Weka REST API
  • Planning & Installation
    • Prerequisites for installation
    • Weka installation on bare metal
      • Planning a Weka System Installation
      • Prepare the system for Weka installation
        • SR-IOV enablement
      • Obtain the Weka software installation package
      • Weka cluster installation
      • WEKA legacy system installation process
      • Add clients
    • Weka installation on AWS
      • Self-service portal
      • CloudFormation template generator
      • Deployment types
      • AWS outposts deployment
      • Supported EC2 instance types
      • Add clients
      • Auto scaling group
      • Troubleshooting
  • Performance
    • Weka performance tests
      • Test environment details
  • WekaFS Filesystems & Object Stores
    • Manage object stores
      • Manage object stores using the GUI
      • Manage object stores using the CLI
    • Manage filesystem groups
      • Manage filesystem groups using the GUI
      • Manage filesystem groups using the CLI
    • Manage filesystems
      • Manage filesystems using the GUI
      • Manage filesystems using the CLI
    • Attach or detach object store buckets
      • Attach or detach object store bucket using the GUI
      • Attach or detach object store buckets using the CLI
    • Advanced data lifecycle management
      • Advanced time-based policies for data storage location
      • Data management in tiered filesystems
      • Transition between tiered and SSD-only filesystems
      • Manual fetch and release of data
    • Mount filesystems
    • Snapshots
      • Manage snapshots using the GUI
      • Manage snapshots using the CLI
    • Snap-To-Object
      • Manage Snap-To-Object using the GUI
      • Manage Snap-To-Object using the CLI
    • Quota management
  • Additional Protocols
    • NFS
      • Manage NFS networking using the GUI
      • Manage NFS networking using the CLI
    • SMB
      • Manage SMB using the GUI
      • Manage SMB using the CLI
    • S3
      • S3 cluster management
        • Manage the S3 service using the GUI
        • Manage the S3 service using the CLI
      • S3 buckets management
        • Manage S3 buckets using the GUI
        • Manage S3 buckets using the CLI
      • S3 users and authentication
        • Manage S3 users and authentication using the CLI
        • Manage S3 service accounts using the CLI
      • S3 rules information lifecycle management (ILM)
        • Manage S3 rules using the CLI
      • Audit S3 APIs
        • Configure audit webhook using the GUI
        • Configure audit webhook using the CLI
        • Example: How to use Splunk to audit S3
      • S3 supported APIs and limitations
      • S3 examples using boto3
  • Operation Guide
    • Alerts
      • Manage alerts using the GUI
      • Manage alerts using the CLI
      • List of alerts and corrective actions
    • Events
      • Manage events using the GUI
      • Manage events using the CLI
      • List of events
    • Statistics
      • Manage statistics using the GUI
      • Manage statistics using the CLI
      • List of statistics
    • System congestion
    • Security management
      • Obtain authentication tokens
      • KMS management
        • Manage KMS using the GUI
        • Manage KMS using the CLI
      • TLS certificate management
        • Manage the TLS certificate using the GUI
        • Manage the TLS certificate using the CLI
      • CA certificate management
        • Manage the CA certificate using the GUI
        • Manage the CA certificate using the CLI
      • Account lockout threshold policy management
        • Manage the account lockout threshold policy using GUI
        • Manage the account lockout threshold policy using CLI
      • Manage the login banner
        • Manage the login banner using the GUI
        • Manage the login banner using the CLI
    • User management
      • Manage users using the GUI
      • Manage users using the CLI
    • Organizations management
      • Manage organizations using the GUI
      • Manage organizations using the CLI
      • Mount authentication for organization filesystems
    • Expand and shrink cluster resources
      • Expand and shrink overview
      • Workflow: Add a backend host
      • Expansion of specific resources
      • Shrink a Cluster
    • Background tasks
    • Upgrade Weka versions
  • Billing & Licensing
    • License overview
    • Classic license
    • Pay-As-You-Go license
  • Support
    • Prerequisites and compatibility
    • Get support for your Weka system
    • Diagnostics management
      • Traces management
        • Manage traces using the GUI
        • Manage traces using the CLI
      • Protocols debug level management
        • Manage protocols debug level using the GUI
        • Manage protocols debug level using the CLI
      • Collect and upload diagnostics data
    • Weka Home - The Weka support cloud
      • Local Weka Home overview
      • Local Weka Home deployment
      • Set the Local Weka Home to send alerts or events
      • Download the Usage Report or Analytics
  • Appendix
    • Weka CSI Plugin
    • Set up the Weka-mon external monitoring
    • Set up the SnapTool external snapshots manager
  • REST API Reference Guide
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  1. WEKA System Overview

Weka containers architecture overview

PreviousWeka client and mount modesNextGlossary

Last updated 1 year ago

The servers in a Weka system are members of a cluster. A server includes containers running software instances called processes that communicate with each other to provide storage services in the cluster.

Processes are dedicated to managing different functions as follows:

  • Drive processes for SSD drives and IO to drives. Each drive process requires a dedicated core.

  • Compute processes for filesystems, cluster-level functions, and IO from clients. Each compute process requires a dedicated core.

  • Frontend processes for POSIX client access and sending IO to the compute and drive processes. Each frontend process requires a dedicated core.

  • A management process for managing the overall cluster. The management process does not require a dedicated core.

In the Weka cluster, each server includes multiple containers in which each container runs processes of a specific type: drive, compute, or frontend. This deployment is known as multi-container backend architecture (MCB).

With MCB, a server can have multiple containers per process type. The containers are not limited to running the same software version and enable non-disruptive upgrades. The server can use the maximum available cores, allowing flexibility in the hardware cores' usage.

The benefits of using the MCB architecture include:

  • Support non-disruptive upgrades:

    • Each container can have a different version and be installed separately from the other containers.

    • You can roll back each upgraded container separately.

    • Can access the network control plane seamlessly during the upgrade.

  • Effective use of the hardware:

    • The number of cores that can be used in the server is no longer limited to 19. A server can include more than one container, each for a dedicated process type with up to 19 processes.

  • Less disruptive maintenance:

    • Ability to stop the compute and frontend processes while running the drive processes.

Note: The legacy architecture, where each server in the cluster includes a single container with all the processes running on it, is deprecated. Contact the Customer Success Team to convert from the legacy architecture to MCB.

Note: Multi-container backend architecture is not supported yet on AWS using the CloudFormation, as well as in a system with Intel E810 NIC.

Related topics

Quick installation guide

Weka cluster installation

Multi-container backend architecture (MCB)