ggRock Site Preparation Guide

Preparing your site for a ggRock server involves careful planning of both hardware and network infrastructure to ensure optimal performance and reliability.

Below are the key requirements:

Electrical:

• Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS):

  • Use a dedicated UPS for the ggRock server to protect against power interruptions.

  • Recommended model: CyberPower OR1500LCDRT2U.

• Redundant Power Supplies:

  • Equip the server with multiple power supply units for redundancy.

  • Ensure each power supply is connected to separate batteries within the UPS or to different UPS units.

Physical Network:

• Server to Switch Connection:

  • Establish at least a 10 Gigabit connection between the ggRock server and the primary switch.

  • For larger deployments, consider 25 or 40 Gigabit connections to accommodate higher data throughput.

• Switch Interconnections:

  • Ensure that any supporting switches also have a minimum of 10 Gigabit connections, especially between primary and secondary switches.

• Client Network Connection:

  • Each client machine should have at least a 1 Gigabit network connection to maintain efficient data transfer.

• Network Interfaces:

  • Utilize SFP+ connectors, as they are commonly used for 10G connections on ggRock servers and compatible switches.

  • Avoid using traditional 1 Gigabit ports on the server, except for testing purposes, to prevent noticeable increases in boot and program load times for clients.

Network Configuration:

• Network Segmentation:

  • Ideally, place the ggRock server and client PCs on the same network segment for optimal performance.

  • ggRock supports operation across multiple subnets. For versions newer than 1.1.3.1, this feature can be configured via the ggRock web UI under Settings > Network > Multiple Networks Support.

• DHCP Server:

  • Operate a DHCP server independent of ggRock.

  • ggRock functions as a proxy DHCP server and cannot serve as the main DHCP server.

• PXE Server:

  • Ensure ggRock is the only PXE server on a given network segment.

  • If multiple PXE responders are present, enable only one at a time per network segment.

  • Layer 3 switches may require the IP helper address of all PXE responders in the helper address list to route PXE/iSCSI/DHCPDISCOVER traffic properly.

• Disable Specific Settings:

  • Flow Control

  • DHCP options 60, 66-68

  • DHCP snooping

  • Spanning Tree Protocol (STP): While optional, STP has been known to cause network boot timeout issues.

Windows Licensing

ggRock does not handle Windows licensing. You will need to ensure that all systems booting from ggRock are properly licensed for Windows.

For information on Windows licensing options and compliance strategies, check out our FAQ on Windows Licensing: https://ggcircuit.atlassian.net/wiki/x/0Qby?atlOrigin=eyJpIjoiNDUyZWE0ZjQxODdkNDQ3OWEyMTA4ZmVhMTEzYTJjNzYiLCJwIjoiYyJ9

For further assistance or to discuss how we can support your server configuration and on-site services, please reach out to us at sales@ggcircuit.com.