.. _Configuring Node Network Interfaces:

Configuring Node Network Interfaces
-----------------------------------

As described in **Planning Network** in the *Acronis Storage 2.0 Installation Guide*, Acronis Storage requires one internal network for node traffic and one public network for exporting the storage space. You need to create these networks by assigning correct network roles to network interfaces on each node.

.. important:: To be able to create a cluster, you will need to assign a storage role to a node's network interface.

To assign a network role to a network interface, do the following:

1. On the **NODES** screen, click the node to configure the network interface(s) of.

   .. image:: ../../../images/stor_image15.png
      :align: center
      :class: align-center

2. On the node overview screen, click **NETWORK**.

   .. image:: ../../../images/stor_image16.png
      :align: center
      :class: align-center

3. Select a network interface and click **Configure**.

   .. image:: ../../../images/stor_image17.png
      :align: center
      :class: align-center

4. On the **Configure** screen, do one of the following:

   - To obtain the IP address, DNS, and routing settings from the DHCP server, select **Automatically (DHCP)**.

   - To obtain just the IP address from the DHCP server, select **Automatically (DHCP address only)**.

   - To specify the IP address manually, select **Manual** and add the IP address.

   .. warning:: Dynamic IP address allocation will cause network issues as soon as the IP addresses of cluster nodes will change. Configure static IP addresses from the start or as soon as possible.

   .. image:: ../../../images/stor_image18.png
      :align: center
      :class: align-center

5. If necessary, set up a gateway and a DNS server.

6. If you have set a custom maximum transmission unit (MTU) on the network hardware, set the same value in the corresponding field.

   .. warning:: Setting a custom MTU in management panel prior to configuring it on the network hardware will result in network failure on the node and require manual resetting. Setting an MTU that differs from the one configured on the network hardware may result in network outage or poor performance.

7. Click **Done** to return to the list of network interfaces, do not change the selection, and click **Choose role**.

8. On the **Choose roles** panel, select roles to assign to the network interface (for details, see **Network Interface Roles** in the *Acronis Storage 2.0 Installation Guide*).

   .. image:: ../../../images/stor_image19.png
      :align: center
      :class: align-center

9. If you need to open specific ports on a network interface with public roles, do the following:

   1. Click **Configure**.

      .. image:: ../../../images/stor_image19_1.png
         :align: center
         :class: align-center

   2. On the **Configure custom role** panel, create custom roles: click **Add** and specify role names and ports. Custom roles can later be assigned to any network interface in a cluster. 

      To remove a custom role, make sure it is not assigned to any interface, select it, and click **Remove**.

   3. Click **Done** to return to the **Choose roles** panel.

11. Select the required roles and click **Done** to assign them.

.. _Setting Up Network Bonding:

Setting Up Network Bonding
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bonding multiple network interfaces is optional but provides the following benefits:

- High network availability. If one of the interfaces fails, the traffic will be automatically routed through the working interface(s).

- Higher network performance. For example, two bonded Gigabit interfaces will deliver the throughput of about 1.7 Gbit/s or up to 200 MB/s. For a storage node, the required number of network interfaces to bond may depend on the number of disks. For example, an HDD can deliver data at speeds of up to 1 Gbps.

To create a bond, do the following:

1. On the **NODES** screen, click the node to bond the network interfaces on.

2. On the node overview screen, click **NETWORK**.

3. In the **NETWORK** list, check network interfaces to bond, and click **Create bonding** in the menu to the right.

   .. image:: ../../../images/stor_image20.png
      :align: center
      :class: align-center

4. On the **Configure Bonding** panel, select the bonding type from the drop-down list. The balance-xor type is selected by default and recommended for both fault tolerance and good performance.

   .. image:: ../../../images/stor_image21.png
      :align: center
      :class: align-center

5. Set up network parameters as described in step 4 in :ref:`Configuring Node Network Interfaces` and click **PROCEED**.

6. On the **Choose roles** panel, select roles to assign to the bonding network interface (for details, see **Network Interface Roles** in the *Acronis Storage 2.0 Installation Guide*).

   .. image:: ../../../images/stor_image19.png
      :align: center
      :class: align-center

7. Click **Done**.

.. _Setting Up VLAN Interfaces:

Setting Up VLAN Interfaces
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To set up a VLAN network interface, do the following:

1. On the **NODES** screen, click the node on which to configure VLAN.

2. On the node overview screen, click **NETWORK**.

3. Select a network interface and click **Create VLAN**.

4. On the **Configure VLAN** panel, specify a number for VLAN, add an IP address, and, if necessary, set up a gateway and a DNS server.

   .. image:: ../../../images/stor_image18_1.png
      :align: center
      :class: align-center

5. Click **Proceed** to create a VLAN interface.