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Prerequisites and compatibility

This page describes the prerequisites and compatibility for the installation of the WEKA system.
  • The versions specified in the prerequisites and compatibility page apply to the latest minor version of the WEKA system. See the relevant release notes in get.weka.io for more details.
  • In certain instances, WEKA collaborates with Strategic Server Partners to conduct platform qualifications alongside complementary components. Contact your designated WEKA representative with any inquiries.

CPU

  • 2013 Intel® Core™ processor family (formerly Haswell) and later (dual-socket)
  • AMD EPYC™ processor families 2nd (Rome), 3rd (Milan-X), and 4th (Genoa) Generations (Backends: single-socket; Clients: single-socket and dual-socket)
Intel processor families SandyBridge (2011) and IvyBridge (2012) have been deprecated, and support for these processors will be discontinued in version 4.3.
Ensure the BIOS settings meet the following requirements:
  • AES must be enabled.
  • Secure Boot must be disabled.

Memory

  • Sufficient memory to support the WEKA system needs as described in memory requirements.
  • More memory support for the OS kernel or any other application.

Operating system

Backends
Clients
Kernel
Configuration
  • RHEL:
    • 9.2, 9.1, 9.0
    • 8.8, 8.7, 8.6, 8.5, 8.4, 8.3, 8.2, 8.1, 8.0
    • 7.9, 7.8, 7.7, 7.6, 7.5, 7.4, 7.3, 7.2
  • Rocky Linux:
    • 9.2, 9.1, 9.0
    • 8.8, 8.7, 8.6
  • CentOS:
    • 8.5, 8.4, 8.3, 8.2, 8.1, 8.0
    • 7.9, 7.8, 7.7, 7.6, 7.5, 7.4, 7.3, 7.2
  • Ubuntu:
    • 22.04
    • 20.04
    • 18.04
  • Amazon Linux:
    • AMI 2018.03
    • AMI 2017.09
  • Amazon Linux 2 LTS (formerly Amazon Linux 2 LTS 17.12)
    • Latest update package that was tested: 5.10.176-157.645.amzn2.x86_64
  • RHEL:
    • 9.2, 9.1, 9.0
    • 8.8. 8.7, 8.6, 8.5, 8.4, 8.3, 8.2, 8.1, 8.0
    • 7.9, 7.8, 7.7, 7.6, 7.5, 7.4, 7.3, 7.2
  • Rocky Linux:
    • 9.2, 9.1, 9.0
    • 8.8. 8.7, 8.6
  • CentOS:
    • 8.5, 8.4, 8.3, 8.2, 8.1, 8.0
    • 7.9, 7.8, 7.7, 7.6, 7.5, 7.4, 7.3, 7.2
  • Ubuntu:
    • 22.04
    • 20.04
    • 18.04
  • Amazon Linux:
    • AMI 2018.03
    • AMI 2017.09
  • Amazon Linux 2 LTS (formerly Amazon Linux 2 LTS 17.12)
    • Latest update package that was tested: 5.10.176-157.645.amzn2.x86_64
  • SLES:
    • 15 SP4
    • 15 SP2
    • 12 SP5
The following kernel versions are supported:
  • 5.3-5.18
  • 4.4.0-1106 to 4.19
  • 3.10
  • Kernels 5.15 and higher are not supported with Amazon Linux operating systems.
  • It is recommended to turn off auto kernel updates, so it will not get upgraded to an unsupported version.
  • Confirm that both the kernel version and the operating system version are listed as supported, as these are distinct components with their own compatibility considerations.

General

  • All WEKA servers must be synchronized in date/time (NTP recommended)
  • A watchdog driver should be installed in /dev/watchdog (hardware watchdog recommended); search the WEKA knowledge base in the WEKA support portal for more information and how-to articles.
  • If using mlocate or alike, it's advisable to exclude wekafs from updatedb filesystems lists; search the WEKA knowledge base in the WEKA support portal for more information and how-to articles.

SELinux

  • SELinux is supported in both permissive and enforcing modes.
    • The targeted policy is supported.
    • The mls policy is not supported yet.
To set the SELinux security context for files, use the -o acl in the mount command, and define the wekafs to use extended attributes in the SELinux policy configuration (fs_use_xattr).

cgroups

  • WEKA backends and clients that serve protocols must be deployed on a supported OS with cgroups V1 (legacy).

WEKA installation directory

  • WEKA installation directory: /opt/weka
  • Boot drive minimum requirements:
    • Capacity: NVMe SSD with 960 GB capacity
    • Durability: 1 DWPD (Drive Writes Per Day)
    • Write throughput: 1 GB/s
  • Boot drive considerations:
    • Do not share the boot drive.
    • Do not mount using NFS.
    • Do not use a RAM drive remotely.
    • If two boot drives are available:
      • It is recommended to dedicate one boot drive for the OS and the other for the /opt/weka directory.
      • Do not use software RAID to have two boot drives.
  • Software required space:
    • Ensure that at least 26 GB is available for the WEKA system installation.
    • Allocate an additional 10 GB per core used by WEKA.
  • Filesystem requirement:
    • Set a separate filesystem on a separate partition for /opt/weka.

Networking

Adhere to the following considerations when choosing the adapters:
  • LACP: LACP is supported when connecting ports on a single Mellanox NIC but is not compatible when using Virtual Functions (VFs).
  • Intel E810:
    • Only supported on RHEL 8.6 and Rocky Linux 8.6. For other operating systems, consult with the Customer Success Team.
    • The ice Linux Base Driver version 1.9.11 and firmware version 4.0.0 are required.
  • MTU: It is recommended to set the MTU to at least 4k on the NICs of WEKA cluster servers and the connected switches.
  • Jumbo Frames: While it is possible to configure the WEKA cluster without enabling jumbo frames for both Ethernet and InfiniBand, doing so may lead to suboptimal performance and an inability to efficiently handle high data loads. Before implementing this mode, it is recommended to consult with the Customer Success Team. For clients, jumbo frames are not essential, but it may impact performance.
  • IOMMU support: When working with Mellanox NICs, all cluster servers must have the same IOMMU (enabled/disabled) settings. For the IOMMU configuration steps, consult with the Customer Success Team.
  • Mixed networks: It refers to a setup where the system is connected to both InfiniBand and Ethernet networks. If both types of connections exist, the system prioritizes the InfiniBand links for traffic but will use the Ethernet links if any issues arise with the InfiniBand network.
  • IP Addressing for Dataplane NICs: Exclusively use static IP addressing. DHCP is not supported for dataplane NICs.

Supported network adapters

The following table provides the supported network adapters along with their supported features for backends and clients, and clients-only.
For more information about the supported features, see WEKA networking.
Right-scroll the table to view all columns.

Supported network adapters for backends and clients

Adapters
Protocol
Mixed networks
LACP
Shared IP
SRIOV VF
rx interrupts
RDMA
HA
PKEY
Routed network
IOMMU
Amazon ENA
Ethernet
👍
Broadcom BCM957508-P2100G dual port
Ethernet
👍
👍
👍
Intel E810 2CQDA2
Ethernet
👍
👍
👍
NVIDIA Mellanox CX-7 single port
InfiniBand
👍
👍
👍
👍
👍
👍
NVIDIA Mellanox CX-7 dual port
InfiniBand
👍
👍
👍
👍
👍
👍
👍
NVIDIA Mellanox CX-6 LX
Ethernet
👍
👍
👍
👍
👍
(ETH only)
👍
NVIDIA Mellanox CX-6 DX
Ethernet
👍
👍
👍
👍
👍
(ETH only)
👍
NVIDIA Mellanox CX-6
Ethernet InfiniBand
👍
👍
👍
👍
👍
(IB only)
👍
👍
(IB only)
👍
(ETH only)
👍
NVIDIA Mellanox CX-5 EX
Ethernet InfiniBand
👍
👍
👍
👍
(IB only)
👍
👍
(IB only)
👍
NVIDIA Mellanox CX-5 BF
Ethernet
👍
👍
👍
👍
👍
NVIDIA Mellanox CX-5
Ethernet InfiniBand
👍
👍
👍
👍
👍
(IB only)
👍
👍
(IB only)
👍
(ETH only)
👍
NVIDIA Mellanox CX-4 LX
Ethernet InfiniBand
👍
👍
👍
👍
👍
👍
(ETH only)
👍
NVIDIA Mellanox CX-4
Ethernet InfiniBand
👍
👍
👍
👍
👍
👍
(ETH only)
👍

Supported network adapters for clients-only

Adapters
Protocol
Mixed networks
LACP
Shared IP
SRIOV VF
rx interrupts
RDMA
HA
PKEY
Routed network
IOMMU
Intel X540
Ethernet
👍
Intel X550-T1
Ethernet
👍
Intel X710
Ethernet
👍
Intel X710-DA2
Ethernet
👍
Intel XL710
Ethernet
👍
Intel XL710-Q2
Ethernet
👍
Intel XXV710
Ethernet
👍
Intel 82599ES
Ethernet
👍
Intel 82599
Ethernet
👍
Avoid using the Intel X550-T1 adapter in a single client connected to multiple clusters.

Ethernet drivers and configurations

Ethernet drivers
Ethernet configurations
  • Supported Mellanox OFED versions for the Ethernet NICs:
    • 23.10-0.5.5.0
    • 23.04-1.1.3.0
    • 5.9-0.5.6.0
    • 5.8-1.1.2.1 LTS
    • 5.7-1.0.2.0
    • 5.6-2.0.9.0
    • 5.6-1.0.3.3
    • 5.4-3.5.8.0 LTS
    • 5.4-3.4.0.0 LTS
    • 5.1-2.6.2.0
    • 5.1-2.5.8.0
    Note: Subsequent OFED minor versions are expected to be compatible with Nvidia hardware due to Nvidia's commitment to backwards compatibility.
  • Supported ENA drivers:
    • 1.0.2 - 2.0.2
    • A current driver from an official OS repository is recommended
  • Supported ixgbevf drivers:
    • 3.2.2 - 4.1.2
    • A current driver from an official OS repository is recommended
  • Supported Intel 40 drivers:
    • 3.0.1-k - 4.1.0
    • A current driver from an official OS repository is recommended
  • Supported ice drivers:
    • 1.9.11
  • Ethernet speeds:
    • 200 GbE / 100 GbE / 50GbE / 40 GbE / 25 GbE / 10 GbE.
  • NICs bonding:
    • Can bond dual ports on the same NIC (modes 1 and 4). Only supported on NVIDIA Mellanox NICs.
  • IEEE 802.1Q VLAN encapsulation:
    • Tagged VLANs are not supported.
  • VXLAN:
    • Virtual Extensible LANs are not supported.
  • DPDK backends and clients using NICs supporting shared IP:
    • Require one IP address per client for both management and data plane.
    • SR-IOV enabled is not required.
  • DPDK backends clients using NICs supporting non-shared IP:
    • IP address for management: One per NIC (configured before WEKA installation).
    • IP address for data plane: One per WEKA core in each server (applied during cluster initialization).
      • Ensure the device supports a maximum number of VFs greater than the number of physical cores on the server.
      • Set the number of VFs to match the cores you intend to dedicate to WEKA.
      • Note that some BIOS configurations may be necessary.
    • SR-IOV: Enabled in BIOS.
  • UDP clients:
    • Use a single IP address for all purposes.
When assigning a network device to the WEKA system, no other application can create VFs on that device.

InfiniBand drivers and configurations

InfiniBand drivers
InfiniBand configurations
WEKA supports the following Mellanox OFED versions for the InfiniBand adapters:
  • 23.10-0.5.5.0
  • 23.04-1.1.3.0
  • 5.9-0.5.6.0
  • 5.8-1.1.2.1 LTS
  • 5.7-1.0.2.0
  • 5.6-2.0.9.0
  • 5.6-1.0.3.3
  • 5.4-3.5.8.0 LTS
  • 5.4-3.4.0.0 LTS
  • 5.1-2.6.2.0
  • 5.1-2.5.8.0
Note: Subsequent OFED minor versions are expected to be compatible with Nvidia hardware due to Nvidia's commitment to backwards compatibility.
WEKA supports the following InfiniBand configurations:
  • InfiniBand speeds: FDR / EDR / HDR
  • Subnet manager: Configured to 4092
  • One WEKA system IP address for management and data plane
  • PKEYs: Supported
  • Dual InfiniBand can be used for both HA and higher bandwidth
If it is necessary to change PKEYs, contact the Customer Success Team.

Required ports

When configuring firewall ingress and egress rules the following access must be allowed.
Right-scroll the table to view all columns.
Purpose
Source
Target
Target Ports
Protocol
Comments
WEKA server traffic for bare-metal deployments
All WEKA server IPs
All WEKA server IPs
14000-14100 14200-14300 14300-14400
TCP and UDP TCP and UDP TCP and UDP
These ports are the default for the Resources Generator for the first three containers. You can customize these values.
WEKA server traffic for cloud deployments
All WEKA server IPs
All WEKA server IPs
14000-14100
15000-15100
16000-16100
TCP and UDP TCP and UDP TCP and UDP
These ports are the default. You can customize these values.
WEKA SSH management traffic
All WEKA server IPs
All WEKA server IPs
22
TCP
WEKA clients traffic
Client host IPs
All WEKA server IPs
14000-14100
TCP and UDP
WEKA GUI access
All WEKA management IPs
14000
TCP
User web browser IP
NFS
NFS client IPs
WEKA Server NFS IPs
2049 <mountd port>
TCP and UDP TCP and UDP
You can set the mountd port using the command: weka nfs global-config set --mountd-port
SMB
SMB client IPs
WEKA Server SMB IPs
139 445
TCP TCP
S3
S3 client IPs
WEKA Server S3 IPs
9000
TCP
wekatester
All WEKA server IPs
All WEKA server IPs
8501 9090
TCP TCP
Port 8501 is used by wekanetperf.
WEKA Management Station
User web browser IP
WEKA Management Station IP
8501 9090
TCP TCP
Cloud WEKA Home, Local WEKA Home
All WEKA server IPs
Cloud WEKA Home or Local WEKA Home
80 443
HTTP HTTPS
Open according to the directions in the deployment scenario: - WEKA server IPs to CWH or LWH. - LWH to CWH (if forwarding data from LWH to CWH)
Troubleshooting by the Customer Success Team (CST).
All WEKA server IPs
CST remote access
4000 4001
TCP TCP

HA

SSDs

  • The SSDs must support PLP (Power Loss Protection).
  • WEKA system storage must be dedicated, and partitioning is not supported.
  • The supported drive capacity is up to 30 TiB.
  • IOMMU mode is not supported for SSD drives. If you need to configure IOMMU on WEKA cluster servers, for instance, due to specific applications when running the WEKA cluster in converged mode, contact our Customer Success Team for assistance.
To get the best performance, ensure TRIM is supported by the device and enabled in the operating system.

Object store

  • API must be S3 compatible:
    • GET
      • Including byte-range support with expected performance gain when fetching partial objects
    • PUT
      • Supports any byte size of up to 65 MiB
    • DELETE
  • Data Consistency: Amazon S3 consistency model:
    • GET after a single PUT is strongly consistent
    • Multiple PUTs are eventually consistent

Certified object stores

  • Amazon S3
    • S3 Standard
    • S3 Intelligent-Tiering
    • S3 Standard-IA
    • S3 One Zone-IA
    • S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval