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OpenShift Container Platform 4.8 requires a minimum of four servers for a three-node cluster, with each node running as both a control-plane node and a compute node. A three-node cluster can be expanded to a standard cluster if required. You can also expand the standard cluster with more compute nodes at any time.
This guide uses a server-node base configuration for the PowerEdge R6525 and R7525 server nodes that can be used in each node role. For compute nodes that require add-in devices such as GPUs, Dell Technologies strongly recommends using PowerEdge R7525 servers. Appendix A shows the PowerEdge server baseline configurations that we used in the cluster design for our validation. The following table shows the hardware configuration of the reference design:
Node name | Quantity | Configuration |
CSAH | 2 | PowerEdge R6525 server configuration |
Controller | 3 | PowerEdge R6525 server configuration |
Compute | 2 or more* | PowerEdge R6525 or R7525 server configuration |
*A three-node cluster does not require any compute nodes. However, to expand a three-node cluster with additional compute machines, you must first expand the cluster to a five-node cluster with two additional compute nodes.
The following table provides additional cluster configuration information:
Quantity* | Description | Dell Technologies reference |
1 | Rack enclosure: APC AR3300 NetShelter SZ 42U | |
1 | Management switch: Dell Networking S3148-ON | |
2 | Data switch: Dell Networking S5248F-ON or Dell Networking S5232F-ON | |
7 | CSAH, Control-plane: Dell PowerEdge R6525 Compute nodes: or Dell PowerEdge R7525 | or |
2 | Power distribution unit: APC metered rack PDU 17.2 kW | APC Metered Rack PDU AP8867 - 0U - 208V 3Phase IEC 309 60A 3P+PE Input / (30) C13 Output |
*Rack enclosures and power distribution units are site-specific. Review the physical dimensions and power requirements in a site survey.