Expand specific resources of a container

Guidelines for expansion processes that only involve the addition of a specific resource.

Expanding resources within a container involves dynamically adjusting the allocation of CPU, memory, storage, and other system resources to meet applications' changing demands. By effectively managing these resources, organizations can optimize performance, enhance scalability, and ensure the smooth operation of their containerized applications.

Expansion guidelines

The following commands are available to expand the containers' resources:

• weka cluster container: Run actions on a remote container (or containers for specific sub-commands).

• weka local resources: Run actions locally.

Adhere to the following guidelines when expanding specific resources:

• Specify the container: Run the relevant weka cluster container command with the specific container-id you want to expand. Once you run the command, the container is staged to update in the cluster.

• View existing resources: To view the non-applied configuration, run the weka cluster container resources <container-id>command.

• Apply changes on a specific container: To apply changes on a specific container in the cluster, run the weka cluster container apply <container-id> command. It is possible to accumulate several changes on a container and apply only once on completion.

• Apply changes on a local server: To apply changes in the local container, run the weka local resources apply command.

• The apply command saves the last configuration: Once the apply command is complete, the last local configuration of the container that successfully joined the cluster is saved. If a failure occurs with the new configuration, the container automatically remains with the existing stable configuration. Run the weka cluster container resources <container-id> --stable command to view the existing configuration.

• Expansion on active or deactivated containers: You can dynamically expand some of the resources on active containers and others only after deactivating the container. For example, you can add CPU cores only on a deactivated container.

weka cluster container command description

Command: weka cluster container <sub-command> <container-id> [options]

Some sub-commands accept <container-ids>. See details in the following table.

Subcommands

Sub-command	Description	Comment
info-hw	Show hardware information about the containers.
failure-domain	Set the failure domain on the container.	Can only be done on a deactivated container.
dedicate	Set the containers as dedicated to the WEKA cluster.
bandwidth	Limit the bandwidth of the containers.
cores	Change the number of cores in the containers.	Can only be done on a deactivated container.
memory	Set the RAM size dedicated to the container.
auto-remove-timeout	Set the time to wait before removing the containers if it disconnects from the cluster. The minimum value is 60. Use 0 to disable automatic removal.	This subcommand only applies to clients.
management-ips	Set the management IPs of the container. To achieve high availability, set two IPs.
resources	Get the resources of the containers.
restore	Restore staged resources of the containers or all containers to their stable state.	Specify the list of containers with a space delimiter.
apply	Apply changes to the resources on the containers.	Specify the list of containers with a space delimiter.
activate	Activate the containers.	Specify the list of containers with a space delimiter.
deactivate	Deactivate the containers.	Specify the list of containers with a space delimiter.
clear-failure	Clear the last failure fields of the containers.	Specify the list of containers with a space delimiter.
add	Add a container to the cluster.
remove	Remove a container from the cluster.
net	List the WEKA-dedicated networking devices in the containers.	Specify the list of containers with a space delimiter.

Options

Option	Description
-b	Only return backend containers.
-c	Only return client containers.
-l	Only return containers that are part of the cluster leadership.
-L	Only return the cluster leader.

Expansion procedures on a remote container

Modify the memory

Run the following command lines on the active container:

weka cluster container memory <container-id> <capacity-memory>
weka cluster container apply <container-id>

Example

To change the memory of container-id 0 to 1.5 GiB, run the following commands:

weka cluster container memory 0 1.5GiB
weka cluster container apply 0

After reducing the memory allocation for a container, follow these steps to release hugepages on each container:

1. Stop the container locally. Run weka local stop

2. Release hugepages. Run weka local run release_hugepages

3. Restart the container locally. Run weka local start

Modify the network configuration

Run the following command lines on the active container:

weka cluster container net add <container-id> <device>
weka cluster container apply <container-id>

Example

To add another network device to container-id 0, run the following commands:

weka cluster container net add 0 eth2
weka cluster container apply 0

Modify the container IP addresses

Run the following command lines on the active container:

weka cluster container management-ips <container-id> <management-ips>
weka cluster container apply <container-id>

Example

To change the management IPs on container-id 0, run the following commands:

weka cluster container management-ips 0 192.168.1.10 192.168.1.20
weka cluster container apply 0

The number of management IP addresses determines whether the container uses high-availability (HA) networking, causing each IO process to use both containers' NICs.

A container with two IP addresses uses HA networking. A container with only one IP does not use HA networking.

If the cluster uses InfiniBand and Ethernet network technologies, you can define up to four IP addresses.

Add CPU cores to a container

You can add dedicated CPU cores to a container locally and on a deactivated container. The added cores must be dedicated to a specific process type: compute, drives, or frontend.

For clarity, the following procedure exemplifies expansion on the container running the compute processes.

Procedure

1. Deactivate the container. Run the following command: weka cluster container deactivate <container-ids>

2. Run the following command line to set the number of dedicate cores to the compute container: weka cluster container cores <container-id> <number of total cores> --compute-dedicated-cores <number of total cores> --no-frontends

3. Apply the changes. Run the following command: weka cluster container apply <containr-id>

4. Check the number of cores dedicated to the compute processes. Run the following command: weka cluster container <container-ids>

Example

The following example sets 10 cores to the compute0 container. The container id is 1. It is important to add --no-frontends to allocate the cores dedicated to the compute processes.

weka cluster container deactivate 1
weka cluster container cores 1 10 --compute-dedicated-cores 10 --no-frontends
weka cluster container apply 1
weka cluster container 1
//response
ROLES       NODE ID  CORE ID
MANAGEMENT  0        <auto>
COMPUTE     1        <auto>
COMPUTE     2        <auto>
COMPUTE     3        <auto>
COMPUTE     4        <auto>
COMPUTE     5        <auto>
COMPUTE     6        <auto>
COMPUTE     7        <auto>
COMPUTE     8        <auto>
COMPUTE     9        <auto>
COMPUTE     10       <auto>

1. Activate the container. Run the following command: weka cluster container activate <container-ids>

Expand SSDs only

You can add new SSD drives to a container. However, adding SSD drives may alter the ratio between SSDs and drive cores, potentially impacting performance. For optimal system efficiency, take note of this adjustment when considering expansion.

Procedure

1. Ensure the cluster has a drive core to allocate for the new SSD. If a drive core is required, deactivate the container and then add the drive core to the container. See Add CPU cores to a container.

2. Identify the relevant container ID to which you want to add the SSD drive. Run the command: weka cluster container

3. Scan for new drives. Run the command: weka cluster drive scan

4. To add the SSDs, run the following command: weka cluster drive add <container-id> <device-paths> Where: container-id is the Identifier of the drive container to add the local SSD drives. device-paths is a list of block devices that identify local SSDs. It must be a valid Unix network device name. Format: Space-separated strings. Example: /dev/nvme0n1 /dev/nvme1n1

weka local resources command description

You can also modify the resources on a local container by connecting to it and running the weka local resources command equivalent to its weka cluster remote counterpart command.

These local commands have the same semantics as their remote counterpart. You do not specify the container-id as the first parameter. All actions are done on the local container.

Command: weka local resources

Subcommands

Sub-command	Description	Comment
import	Import resources from a file.
export	Export stable resources to a file.
restore	Restore resources from stable resources.
apply	Apply changes to the resources locally.
cores	Change the number of cores in the container.	Can only be done on a deactivated container.
base-port	Change the port-range used by the container. Weka containers require 100 ports to operate.
memory	Set the RAM size dedicated to the container.
dedicate	Set the container as dedicated to the WEKA cluster.
bandwidth	Limit the bandwidth of the container.
management-ips	Set the container's management IPs. To achieve high-availability, set two IPs.
join-ips	Set the IPs and ports of all containers in the cluster. This enables the container to join the cluster using these IPs.
failure-domain	Set the container failure-domain.	Can only be done on a deactivated container.
net	List the WEKA-dedicated networking devices in a container.

Options

Option	Description	Comment
--stable	List the resources from the last successful container boot.
-C	The container name.

Example: Set dedicated cores for the compute processes locally

The following example sets 10 cores to the compute0 container. The container id is 1. It is important to add --no-frontends to allocate the cores dedicated to the compute processes.

weka cluster container deactivate 1

//Connect to the relevant server to run the following commands locally.

weka local resources cores 10 --compute-dedicated-cores 10 -C compute0 --no-frontends
weka local resources -C compute0

//response
ROLES       NODE ID  CORE ID
MANAGEMENT  0        <auto>
COMPUTE     1        <auto>
COMPUTE     2        <auto>
COMPUTE     3        <auto>
COMPUTE     4        <auto>
COMPUTE     5        <auto>
COMPUTE     6        <auto>
COMPUTE     7        <auto>
COMPUTE     8        <auto>
COMPUTE     9        <auto>
COMPUTE     10       <auto>

Graceful container management: ensuring safe actions

When running the commands weka local stop, weka local restart, and weka local resources apply, it is crucial to perform these actions safely to minimize the risk of unexpected issues or disruptions. To achieve this, use the --graceful option. This practice is particularly important during cluster maintenance.

By using the --graceful option with these commands, the system prioritizes safety before executing any action.

The --graceful option applies exclusively to cluster containers and not to protocol containers.

How --graceful works:

1. Action initiation: Sends a request to the container specifying the desired action (STOP, RESTART, or APPLY_RESOURCES).

2. Safety check: Evaluates feasibility based on current state and safety constraints (for example, sufficient resources post-action).

3. Draining and execution: If safe, the container transitions to the DRAINING state to complete ongoing operations. Once DRAINED, the action is executed.

Example: prioritizing stability

If stopping a container would violate minimum failure domain requirements, --graceful prevents the stop to maintain system health.

Example: prioritizing stability

CONTAINER ID  HOSTNAME  CONTAINER  IPS             STATUS          REQUESTED ACTION  REQUESTED ACTION FAILURE
0             Host-0    drives0    10.108.206.201  UP              STOP              Upon completion of this operation, there are 4 reliable containers available for cluster leadership, while the requirement is for 5.                 
6             Host-0    compute0   10.108.206.201  DRAINED (DOWN)  STOP                                 
12            Host-0    frontend0  10.108.206.201  DRAINING        RESTART