Deploying cloud edition

If you already set up the prerequisites for Cloud Edition GCP, it takes about 30 to 45 minutes to deploy a Cloud Edition cluster.

Procedure

  1. In Data Management, select Settings > Data Platform for Cloud.
  2. Click Deploy and select GCP.

    The Deployment Checklist window appears.

  3. Upload the Service Account Key file by either dropping the file in the Service Account JSON key file drop box or by clicking Choose a file.
  4. Click Verify.

    The Cloud Environment Details page appears.

  5. Provide the information that is specified in the following table, and then click Continue.
    Cloud environment details
    Field Description
    Project ID From the drop-down list, select the project in which the Cloud Edition needs to be deployed.
    Region From the drop-down list, select the GCP region where the IBM® cluster Cloud Edition GCP runs, for example: us-west1. For more information about GCP Regions, see Regions and Zones in the GCP documentation.
    Zone From the drop-down list, select the GCP zone where the Data Management cluster Cloud Edition GCP runs, for example: us-west1-b. For more information about GCP Zones, see Regions and Zones in the GCP documentation.
    VPC From the drop-down list, select the VPC network that the Cloud Edition instances must use.
    Subnet From the drop-down list, select a subnet in the chosen VPC that the GCP instances(nodes) of the IBM cluster must use.

    VPC

    Connector    		 From the drop-down list, select the VPC connector to be used to deploy the Cloud Edition.
    Network Tag

    Provide network tag names in a comma-separated list.

    These network tags are added to the node instances and allow you to make firewall rules and routes applicable to specific VM instances.

    Ensure that the network tags:
    • are limited to 63 characters
    • have only lowercase letters, numbers, and dashes
    • start and end with a lowercase letter
    Label Provide key value pairs to be added to the node instances. For more information, see Labeling Resources in the GCP documentation.
  6. In the Cloud Details page, provide the details that are listed in the following table, and then click Deploy:
    Cloud details
    Field Description
    Cluster Name

    Specify the name of the cluster.

    The cluster name requirements are:
    • Must start with lowercase letters.
    • Must be of at least 42 characters long with a combination of lowercase letters, numbers, or hyphens.
    • Must not end with a hyphen.

    Example: storagedefender1mycompany-5896548855-qwerty632105

    This is the name of the cluster as displayed in the IBM UI and the IBM CLI.

    Cluster Image From the drop-down list, select the version of the IBM Cloud® Edition you want to deploy.
    Node Size Select the size for each node:
    • Small: Each node has one 1.6 TB SSD and one HDD with 2 TB.
    • Medium: Each node has one 1.6 TB SSD and three HDDs with 2 TB each.
    • Large: Each node has one 1.6 TB SSD and six HDDs with 2 TB each.
    Number of Nodes Specify how many nodes to add to the cluster. For a production, at least 3 nodes are required. However, for test or demonstration purposes, you can select 1 or 2 nodes. The cluster will not allow node failures.
    Fault

    Tolerance

    		 Enable this option to tolerate the failure of a single node. This option is available only if the cluster has three or more nodes.
    DNS Servers Specify the IP address of the Domain Name System (DNS) servers that the IBM cluster should use and press Enter. You can specify multiple DNS Servers.
    NTP Servers

    Specify the NTP server name and press Enter. You can specify multiple NTP Server names.

    IBM suggests to use the external Google Public Network Time Protocol (NTP) server and specify multiple servers (time1.google.com, time2.google.com, time3.google.com,time4.google.com). Avoid to use the pool.ntp.org or time.nist.org NTP servers, as they are sometimes unavailable and their IP addresses tend to change. If using an internal NTP server, use only one server (and no external servers).

    Specify the IP address or the Fully Qualified Domain Name of the NTP server(s). The cluster uses the specified NTP server to synchronize the time on all nodes in the cluster.
    Domain Names Specify the fully qualified domain name for the IBM cluster and press Enter. You can specify multiple domain names.
    Cluster Encryption The cluster supports AES256 software encryption. If wanted, enable encryption to encrypt all the data that is to be stored on the cluster. After a cluster is created, cluster-level encryption is not editable, however, you can enable encryption at the Storage Domain level. You can also enable encryption while creating a Storage Domain. After a Storage Domain has been created, Storage Domain-level encryption is not editable.

    The process of deploying the cluster into the GCP account begins. A message indicates deployment initiation and the cluster name is displayed in the list of Cloud Edition.

    Tip: You can cancel the deployment at any time by clicking the X next to the cluster name.