[Samba] Highly-available file server question..

[John_Delisle at ceridian.ca]

I'm working on a project which requires a highly-available Samba service 
in a hurry.

We multiple (3) servers with access to SAN storage using Oracle OCFS2 
(clustered filesystem, allows each of the 3 nodes to simultaneously access 
to the same SAN disk).  We need to somehow provide Windows clients with 
access to a location on this shared SAN disk, using Samba.  OS is RHEL 
5.5.

I can run samba on any/all of the 3 nodes, and have Cisco ACE's at our 
disposal too if that helps.   We don't have clustering software to use for 
the Samba service itself, and need to either run it on some or all of the 
nodes and somehow direct clients to one of them.  Ideally, windows clients 
will be provided with one UNC to access the share, and ideally will be 
able to use this regardless of which node is actively servicing their 
request.

At first, I was hoping we could use something like RHEL clustering for the 
Samba service.  This isn't possible due to cost and other issues.  I 
thought maybe we could go with DNS round-robin, pointing at the 3 Samba 
servers.. This is better than nothing, but doesn't handle a down node very 
gracefully (some clients will resolve to a down server). 

Has anyone used ACE's to load-balance Samba?  Can anyone recommended 
configuration for something like this, or maybe suggest a better way to do 
it?  I'm open to ideas! 
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
John Delisle | Business Analyst | Ceridian Canada Ltd. | ceridian.ca
400 ? 125 Garry Street | Winnipeg, MB R3C 3P2 | p: 204-975-5909 | 
john_delisle at ceridian.ca


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