N1 Grid Service Provisioning System User’s Guide and Release Notes for the OS Provisioning Plug-In 1.0

OS Provisioning System Software Architecture

The OS provisioning plug-in provides a framework to provision heterogeneous
operating systems onto various target hosts that support different protocols, such
as IPMI, ALOM, LOM, ILO, SC, and telnet.

Software Architecture Big Picture

The following diagram provides the functional components in use for the OS provisioning
plug-in. The diagram assumes that the N1 Grid SPS Master Server is outside the
firewall, and the other components are inside the firewall. The OS provisioning server
assumes that the user set up the network layer 2 connectivity, which consists of subnets,
VLAN’s, and so on. All the network information is registered with the OS provisioning
server.

Figure 1–1 Software Architecture Diagram

The figure describes the following relationships among the OS provisioning components
and uses slightly abbreviated terminology:

• Remote Client – The N1 Grid SPS remote client runs the
  browser interface and command-line interface. The remote client can be a separate
  system from the Master Server.

• N1G SPS Master – The N1 Grid SPS Master Server is the main
  processing engine of the N1 Grid SPS software.

• N1 OSP Plug-In – The OS provisioning plug-in is installed on
  the Master Server. The plug-in provides functionality to install operating systems
  on different hardware platforms that support different protocols.

• N1 OSP Server – The OS provisioning control server, usually
  referred to as the OS provisioning server, is the main processing engine of the OS
  provisioning plug-in. The OS provisioning server runs the OS provisioning service
  (N1G OSP Service), which orchestrates the OS provisioning activities. The OS provisioning
  server controls the target hosts through a control network using appropriate network
  management protocols (such as IPMI, ALOM, LOM, ILO, and terminal server). These protocols
  over the control network are used to automate the power, boot, and console services.

  The OS provisioning server supports extensive network topologies (multiple
  subnets, VLANs, and so on). The OS provisioning server has a bundled DHCP server
  to serve relevant IP addresses and other boot specific information to target hosts
  .

• Boot and Install Servers – Three servers are shown supporting
  OS specific Boot and Install servers:

  • Solaris B + I Server – The Solaris boot and install server uses
    the JumpStartTM Enterprise Toolkit (JET) to automate the installation
    of the Solaris distribution media and installation profile.

  • Linux B + I Server – The Linux boot and install server uses
    the Linux Kickstart technology.

  • Windows B + I Server – The Windows boot and install server uses
    Windows Remote Installation Services (RIS) technology.

  The boot and install servers have OS-specific boot and install services for
  automation and monitoring purposes. You have to set up the Linux and Windows boot
  and install servers outside of the OS provisioning plug-in. For Linux systems, you
  have to install the N1 Grid SPS Remote Agent (RA) manually. For Solaris systems,
  the OS provisioning plug-in installs and configures the RA.

Network Protocols

The OS provisioning plug-in uses the following network protocols:

• DHCP – DHCP is used for allocating IP addresses and boot metadata
  between the OS provisioning server and the target hosts through a switch fabric.

• Network management protocols – Protocols, such as IPMI, ALOM,
  LOM, ILO and terminal server, are used through a Control Network from the OS provisioning
  server to the target hosts.

• TFTP, Active Directory, NFS, and FTP protocols – The boot
  and install servers use the appropriate protocols to communicate and to install the
  OS onto the target hosts.