The Gfs Withdraw Function - Red Hat ENTERPRISE LINUX 5 Configuration Manual

Chapter 5.

The GFS Withdraw Function

When a node can not talk to the rest of the cluster through its normal heartbeat packets, it will be
fenced by another node. If a GFS file system detects corruption due to an operation it has just
performed, it will withdraw itself. The GFS withdraw function is intended to be less severe than a
kernel panic. It means that the node feels it can no longer operate safely on that file system because
it found out that one of its assumptions is wrong. Instead of panicking the kernel, it gives you an
opportunity to reboot the node.
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