Managing nodes

A node is the representation on the SC//Reliant™ platform of a physical host. A node is associated with a node group and can consist of one or more virtual nodes. When defining the configuration for a node in the SC//Reliant Platform Manager, settings exist either at the node group or node level. Determining where to define the configuration is a key step to setting up and using an SC//Reliant environment.

How nodes come online

The SC//Reliant platform is built around zero-touch provisioning so on-site staff without IT skills can bring a new node online by plugging it in. The flow is consistent across new appliances, replacement hardware, and large-scale parallel rollouts.

Zero-touch provisioning

The appliance ships from the factory pre-imaged with the SC//Reliant platform base image and a unique device certificate. On-site staff plug in power and connect the Wide Area Network (WAN) or cellular link. The appliance boots, contacts the Puppet and SC//Reliant Platform Manager control plane using the factory-provisioned credentials, identifies itself by its registered site identifier, and pulls the full site-specific configuration. It then self-configures the network, VLANs, firewall, and workloads, and brings up the declared containers and virtual machines (VMs).

Prerequisites before shipment are minimal: a power outlet, WAN or cellular connectivity at the site, and the site identifier registered in SC//Reliant Platform Manager. With those prerequisites met, elapsed time from hardware delivery to a fully operational site is typically minutes to a few hours, with no on-site IT specialist required. For large fleets, the same model supports parallel rollout waves with appropriate logistics.

On-site staff can track install progress from a mobile device by scanning the node's QR code, without needing access to SC//Reliant Platform Manager. For details on this status page and how to reset it if the install needs to be rerun, see Using the Edge Install Monitor.

Secure device onboarding

Onboarding is cryptographic. Each SC//Reliant platform node is provisioned with a unique X.509 certificate at the factory. Puppet's built-in certificate authority signs node certificates and verifies them on every connection, and servers and agents communicate over HTTPS using SSL certificates.

Workloads are deployed only after the node's identity is cryptographically verified by the control plane. Trusted Platform Module (TPM)-based hardware root-of-trust binding and FIDO Device Onboarding (FDO) support can be evaluated against specific identity requirements during the design phase.

Brownfield onboarding for existing hardware

Because the platform is software-based and hardware-agnostic, existing servers can be evaluated for brownfield onboarding without factory pre-configuration. Major server OEM platforms commonly found in existing fleets, such as Dell PowerEdge, HPE ProLiant, Lenovo ThinkSystem, and Supermicro, can be assessed against the SC//Reliant platform baseline (CPU, RAM, storage, NIC requirements) to determine whether each unit qualifies for brownfield deployment and which workloads it can host.

Brownfield onboarding requires that hardware meets the minimum specifications, the SC//Reliant platform base image is installed (network or USB media), and the node is registered in SC//Reliant Platform Manager with a unique site identifier. On first boot the node pulls full configuration through Puppet. This path supports phased migration that respects in-flight depreciation timelines on existing hardware.

Hardware inventory and topology mapping

When included in an implementation, SC//AcuVigil™ provides device discovery and on-site network mapping, with optional Network Access Control (NAC) locking down switch ports based on MAC address. SC//AcuVigil maintains an inventory that can be exported as CSV into a Configuration Management Database (CMDB) or other asset-management platform, so each site's actual hardware configuration and network topology is discovered and tracked centrally without manual asset surveys.

Additional documentation

The following pages cover creating, viewing, updating, and accessing nodes, along with the tools used to bring nodes online and transfer their ownership.

To connect to a node over SSH, see Connecting to a node. For the read-only diagnostic commands available on a node, see Node diagnostic command reference.