Create an Explore cluster

For the best performance, data redundancy, and stability, you must configure at least three Explore appliances in an Explore cluster.

1. Log in to the Administration settings on all three Explore appliances with the setup user account in three separate browser windows or tabs.
2. Select the browser window of node 1.
3. In the Status and Diagnostics section, click Fingerprint and note the fingerprint value. You will later confirm that the fingerprint for node 1 matches when you join the remaining two nodes.
4. Select the browser window of node 2.
5. In the Explore Cluster Settings section, click Join Cluster.
6. In the Host field, type the hostname or IP address of data node 1 and then click Continue.

   Note:

   For cloud-based deployments, be sure to type the IP address listed in the Interfaces table on the Connectivity page.

7. Confirm that the fingerprint on this page matches the fingerprint you noted in step 3.
   
8. In the Setup Password field, type the password for the node 1 setup user account and then click Join.
   When the join is complete, the Explore Cluster Settings section has two new entries: Cluster Members and Cluster Data Management.
9. Click Cluster Members. You should see node 1 and node 2 in the list.
   
10. In the Status and Diagnostics section, click Explore Cluster Status. Wait for the Status field to change to Green before adding the next node.
11. Repeat steps 5 - 10 to join each additional node to the new cluster.

    Note:

    To avoid creating multiple clusters, always join a new node to an existing cluster and not to another single appliance.

12. When you have added all of your Explore appliances to the cluster, click Cluster Members in the Explore Cluster Settings section. You should see all of the joined nodes in the list, similar to the following figure.
    
13. In the Explore Cluster Settings section, click Cluster Data Management and make sure that Replication Level is set to 1 and Shard Reallocation is ON.