Symantec 10521146 Administration Guide - Page 275

Advanced configuration 275 Managing node clusters Managing node clusters Clusters are based on a hierarchy consisting of one central master node that receives information from and manages multiple slave nodes. The Network Security console provides a way to configure slave nodes by logging into the master node from the Network Security console, and to view events and incidents from them. This section describes how to set up a cluster hierarchy and manage it: ■ Creating a new cluster ■ Managing an established cluster ■ Setting a cluster-wide parameter ■ Backup up cluster-wide data Creating a new cluster In a cluster, one node acts as the master or primary node to which all other nodes in the cluster synchronize. By default, the first node added under the Enterprise location object acts as master node, and all subsequent nodes act as slave nodes. Superusers can change the status by setting a new node as the cluster master. SuperUsers can also assign a standby node to provide high availability for either a slave or master node, in case of an emergency failure. This section includes the following topics: ■ Building a cluster ■ Establishing a master node ■ Adding slave nodes to clusters ■ Deleting nodes from clusters Building a cluster The installation process automatically creates an object in the topology tree to represent the first software or appliance node. This defaults to master node status, and the installation program automatically assigns it a node number of 1. By default, all software and appliance nodes installed in the network after this master node default to slave node status. The master node synchronizes the databases on all slave nodes in a cluster to its topology, detection and response policy, and configuration databases. This section describes the order in which to add nodes to build a node cluster.