VersionDateTechNotes
1.02021-05-01Raj Goel, CISSP
raj@brainlink.com /
917-685-7731		Initial Version

Developed using brainlink’s SOPCULTURE technology

Purpose: I assisted a client with getting their NUTANIX Cluster installed. Nutanix support was excellent and I knew this was a technology I wanted to play with. So I built my own HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMMODITY NUTANIX Cluster

NUTANIX Commodity Cluster Bill of materials

1HDMI Extension cable https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08GPMQMPS
13-way HDMI Splitter https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06VX1PKQ7
1Logitech Wireless keyboard & Mouse https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079JLY5M5
3128GB Corsair RAM bundles https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085WQXKM2
3Asus D700SC https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09TLG7FCF
310GB SFP NICs https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06X9T683K
3SFP+ cables https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00U8BL09Q
1MicroTIK 4-port 10GB Switch https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07LFKGP1L/
3500GB Samsung 2.5 inch SSD https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08QBMD6P4
3Sabrent 4TB NVME SSD https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08VF99PV8
StepTaskScreenshot
1Unpack each of the PCs Per-server parts
2Remove Thumb screws & remove the side panel
3Press the 4 plastic tabs to remove the front cover Press the metal tab to rotate the front assembly 90 degrees
4Install 128GB Memory 10GB NIC 4TB NVME under the fan shroud 2.5” SATA SSD
5Close the case
6Connect the Servers via the 10GB SFP+ cables to the MicroTik switch Connect Microtik via ethernet to your network
7Download the NUTANIX COMMUNITY EDITION ISO from https://www.nutanix.com/products/community-edition
8Burn the ISO to a USB key using Rufus (on windows)
9Boot EACH PC off the USB
10MY IP CONFIGURATION: (Yours should match YOUR LAN IP schema!)

NODE1: 10.10.18.211 / Netmask: 255.255.25.0 / Gateway: 10.10.18.1
NODE2: 10.10.18.212 / Netmask: 255.255.25.0 / Gateway: 10.10.18.1
NODE3: 10.10.18.213 / Netmask: 255.255.25.0 / Gateway: 10.10.18.1

CVM1: 10.10.18.221 / Netmask: 255.255.25.0 / Gateway: 10.10.18.1
CVM2: 10.10.18.222 / Netmask: 255.255.25.0 / Gateway: 10.10.18.1
CVM3: 10.10.18.223 / Netmask: 255.255.25.0 / Gateway: 10.10.18.1
11PING ALL NODES & CVM Servers
All 6 servers should be up before proceeding		#NODE 1
ping 10.10.18.211 
#NODE 2
ping 10.10.18.212 
#NODE 3
ping 10.10.18.213 

#CVM 1
ping 10.10.18.221 
#CVM 2
ping 10.10.18.222 
#CVM 3
ping 10.10.18.223
12Ssh into the 1st Nodee.g. ssh root@10.10.18.211
13Check CVM Status virsh list –all 

Id    Name                           State
—————————————————-
1     NTNX-83cc7baf-A-CVM            running
14SSH into the 1st CVMssh nutanix@10.10.18.221
14Confirm you can ping ALL NODES & CVMs#NODE 1
ping 10.10.18.211 
#NODE 2
ping 10.10.18.212 
#NODE 3
ping 10.10.18.213 

#CVM 1
ping 10.10.18.221 
#CVM 2
ping 10.10.18.222 
#CVM 3
ping 10.10.18.223
16Create your cluster from ANY CVMcluster -s 10.10.18.221,10.10.18.222,10.10.18.223 create 
17After cluster has been created, set NTP & DNS## SSH into ANY CVM
ssh nutanix@10.10.18.221 

## Set DNS
ncli cluster get-name-servers
ncli cluster add-to-name-servers servers=”10.10.18.1″
ncli cluster get-name-servers 

## Set NTP
ncli cluster get-ntp-servers
ncli cluster add-to-ntp-servers servers=”pool.ntp.org”
ncli cluster get-ntp-servers
18Login to PRISMhttps://10.10.18.223:9440/
19Rename your cluster & set Cluster IP
20Cluster dashboard
21<SOP READY for team Review>