The Linux Enterprise Cluster: Build a Highly Available Cluster with Commodity Hardware and Free Software

Karl Kopper

Jan 2005 · No Starch Press

About this ebook

The Linux Enterprise Cluster explains how to take a number of inexpensive computers with limited resources, place them on a normal computer network, and install free software so that the computers act together like one powerful server. This makes it possible to build a very inexpensive and reliable business system for a small business or a large corporation. The book includes information on how to build a high-availability server pair using the Heartbeat package, how to use the Linux Virtual Server load balancing software, how to configure a reliable printing system in a Linux cluster environment, and how to build a job scheduling system in Linux with no single point of failure. The book also includes information on high availability techniques that can be used with or without a cluster, making it helpful for System Administrators even if they are not building a cluster. Anyone interested in deploying Linux in an environment where low cost computer reliability is important will find this book useful.

The CD-ROM includes the Linux kernel, ldirectord software, the Mon monitoring package, the Ganglia package, OpenSSH, rsync, SystemImager, Heartbeat, and all the figures and illustrations used in the book.

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About the author

Karl Kopper has worked with distributed computing environments on many platforms, including Linux, Windows, Macintosh, a wide variety of UNIX platforms, and Tandem mainframes. As a consultant for a private wholesale food distribution company, he worked on the conversion to a new business system the Linux Enterprise Cluster described in the book that has worked flawlessly to date. When he's not building Linux clusters and studying free software projects he enjoys spending time in the garden, growing food with friends and family.