Grid nodes and services

The StorageGRID system uses four types of grid nodes:

Admin Nodes provide management services such as system configuration, monitoring, and logging. When you sign in to the Grid Manager, you are connecting to an Admin Node. Each grid must have one primary Admin Node and might have any number of non-primary Admin Nodes for redundancy. You can connect to any Admin Node, and each Admin Node displays a similar view of the StorageGRID system. However, maintenance procedures must be performed using the primary Admin Node.
Admin Nodes can also be used to load balance S3 and Swift client traffic.
Storage Nodes manage and store object data and metadata. Each StorageGRID system must have at least three Storage Nodes. If you have multiple sites, each site within your StorageGRID system must also have three Storage Nodes.
Gateway Nodes (optional) provide a load-balancing interface that client applications can use to connect to StorageGRID. A load balancer seamlessly directs clients to an optimal Storage Node at an optimal site, so that the failure of nodes or even an entire site is transparent. You can use a combination of Gateway Nodes and Admin Nodes for load balancing, or you can implement a third-party HTTP load balancer.
Archive Nodes (optional) provide an interface through which object data can be archived to tape.

Software-based nodes

Software-based grid nodes can be deployed in the following ways:

As virtual machines (VMs) in VMware vSphere Web Client
Within Docker containers on Linux hosts. The following operating systems are supported:
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux
- CentOS
- Ubuntu
- Debian

Use the NetApp Interoperability Matrix Tool to get a list of supported versions.

StorageGRID appliance nodes

StorageGRID hardware appliances are specially designed for use in a StorageGRID system. Some appliances can be used as Storage Nodes. Other appliances can be used as Admin Nodes or Gateway Nodes. You can combine appliance nodes with software-based nodes or deploy fully engineered, all-appliance grids that have no dependencies on external hypervisors, storage, or compute hardware..

Four types of StorageGRID appliances are available:

The SG1000 services appliance is a 1-rack-unit (1U) server that can operate as the primary Admin Node, a non-primary Admin Node, or a Gateway Node.
The SG6000 storage appliance operates as a Storage Node and includes the 1U SG6000-CN compute controller and a 2U or 4U storage controller shelf. The SG6000 is available in two models:
- SGF6024: a 2U enclosure that includes 24 solid state drives (SSDs) and redundant storage controllers.
- SG6060: a 4U enclosure that includes 58 NL-SAS drives, 2 SSDs, and redundant storage controllers. Each SG6060 appliance can be installed with one or two 60-drive expansion shelves, providing up to 178 drives dedicated to object storage.
The SG5700 storage appliance is an integrated storage and computing platform that operates as a Storage Node. The SG5700 is available in two models:
- SG5712: a 2U enclosure that includes 12 NL-SAS drives and integrated storage and compute controllers.
- SG5760: a 4U enclosure that includes 60 NL-SAS drives and integrated storage and compute controllers.
The SG5600 storage appliance is an integrated storage and computing platform that operates as a Storage Node. The SG5600 is available in two models:
- SG5612: a 2U enclosure that includes 12 NL-SAS drives and integrated storage and compute controllers.
- SG5660: a 4U enclosure that includes 60 NL-SAS drives and integrated storage and compute controllers.

See the NetApp Hardware Universe for complete specifications.

Node services

Each type of grid node runs a different set of software services to provide specialized capabilities. The following table shows the primary services for each type of node; however, this table does not list all node services.

Note: Some services, such as the ADC service and the RSM service, typically exist only on three Storage Nodes at each site.

Node type	Service	Key function
Admin Node	Audit Management System (AMS)	Tracks system activity.
	Configuration Management Node (CMN)	Manages system-wide configuration. Primary Admin Node only.
	Management Application Program Interface (mgmt-api)	Processes requests from the Grid Management API and the Tenant Management API.
	High Availability Note: This service is also found on Gateway Nodes.	Manages high availability virtual IP addresses for groups of Admin Nodes and Gateway Nodes.
	Load Balancer Note: This service is also found on Gateway Nodes.	Provides load balancing of S3 and Swift traffic from clients to Storage Nodes.
	Network Management System (NMS)	Provides functionality for the Grid Manager.
	Prometheus	Collects and stores metrics.
Storage Node	Account (acct)	Manages tenant accounts.
	Administrative Domain Controller (ADC)	Maintains topology and grid-wide configuration.
	Cassandra	Stores and protects object metadata.
	Data Mover (dmv)	Moves data to Cloud Storage Pools.
	Distributed Data Store (DDS)	Monitors object metadata storage.
	Identity (idnt)	Federates user identities from LDAP and Active Directory.
	Local Distribution Router (LDR)	Processes object storage protocol requests and manages object data on disk.
	Replicated State Machine (RSM)	Ensures that S3 platform service requests are sent to their respective endpoints.
Gateway Node	Connection Load Balancer (CLB)	Provides Layers 3 and 4 load balancing of S3 and Swift traffic from clients to Storage Nodes. Legacy load balancing mechanism.
	High Availability Note: This service is also found on Admin Nodes.	Manages high availability virtual IP addresses for groups of Admin Nodes and Gateway Nodes.
	Load Balancer Note: This service is also found on Admin Nodes.	Provides Layer 7 load balancing of S3 and Swift traffic from clients to Storage Nodes. This is the recommended load balancing mechanism.
Archive Node	Archive (ARC)	Communicates with external tape storage systems.
All nodes	Server Status Monitor (SSM)	Monitors the operating system and underlying hardware.