The resident DNS server forwards the lookup request for the delegated zone to the delegated zone's server of authority, which is the SmartConnect Service IP (SIP) address on the cluster. If the node providing the SmartConnect service becomes unavailable, the SIP address automatically moves to a different node in the pool.
Connections are balanced across the cluster, which ensures optimal resource utilization and performance. If a node goes down, SmartConnect automatically removes the node's IP address from the available list of nodes, ensuring that a connection is not tried with the unavailable node. When the node returns to service, its IP address is added to the list of available nodes.
The delegated server authority is always the node with the lowest ID, unless it has surrendered its authority status, either voluntarily or involuntarily. This node should always be available, but if the status of the node changes and becomes unavailable, it voluntarily surrenders its role as server of authority.
You must add a delegation Name Server (NS) entry to the resident DNS server for the SmartConnect name, which points to the SIP address as the Name Server. In your DNS Manager, create a New Delegation using your SmartConnect zone name. In the Microsoft DNS wizard, a New Delegation record is added in the forward lookup zone for the parent domain.
SmartConnect balances connection loads to the Isilon cluster and handles connection failover. With SmartConnect, all Qognify SVRs use a single fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or universal naming convention (UNC) path for video storage access. Using this network name provides load balancing when the connection to the cluster is made and simplifies installations.
SmartConnect Basic can use a round-robin-type connection allocation, which is based on DNS load balancing.
SmartConnect Advanced can include multiple pools for each subnet, Dynamic IP addresses for NFS, and the following load-balancing options (Connection policy and Rebalance policy):
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Round-robin (recommended)
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Sequentially directs a connection to the next Isilon IP address in the cycle. Based on field reports, this option works well with 20 servers or more.
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Connection count
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Provides uniform distribution of the
Qognify
SVR servers to specified nodes in the Isilon cluster. Use a unique IP address pool for video recording and
SVR read/write access.
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Network throughput
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Based on NIC utilization. Use of throughput requires that each
SVR is activated, configured, and recording video after it connects to Isilon.
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CPU usage
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Uses the node CPU utilization to determine which Isilon IP address to assign to the next connection request.
Ensure that no other service uses the SVR IP address pool. Define additional pools for management (such as Isilon InsightIQ™ or administrative access), evidence repository, post process, or other use.