+++ This bug was initially created as a clone of Bug #1784601 +++

1. Proposed title of this feature request

A way to implement a more dymanic fence delay so that in the event of a network split, the cluster will fence the node running the fewest resources. 

2. What is the nature and description of the request?

The customer has a fence delay to avoid fence races.

The customer described a scenario in which a network split would result in the fencing of the node that is hosting a majority of cluster resources if the resources happen to be running on the node whose stonith resource is not configured with a delay. We discussed that currently the delay attribute is something that must be configured to decide the winner of a fence race ahead of time. The customer has requested that we file an RFE to look into ways for the delay to apply to the node that is hosting a majority of resource to minimize the impact of a fence event that results from a network split. 

--- Additional comment from Ken Gaillot on 2019-12-17 20:29:51 UTC ---

Coincidentally, there was a discussion upstream about this topic recently.[1] The proposed solution design is:

* Users would use the existing "priority" resource meta-attribute to weight each resource.

* A new cluster property "priority-fencing-delay" would set the specified delay on all cluster-initiated fencing targeting the node with the highest cumulative priority of all resources active on it. (It would not apply to manual fencing via stonith_admin, or externally initiated fencing by something like DLM.)

For a simple resource count as described here, it would be sufficient to give every resource a priority of 1. Of course if some resources are more important, they could be given higher priority.

[1] https://github.com/ClusterLabs/fence-agents/pull/308

--- Additional comment from Ken Gaillot ---

This has been fixed upstream as of commit 3dec930.

This is really only useful for 2-node clusters. If the new property is set, and the "priority" meta-attribute is configured for at least one resource, then in a split-brain situation, the node with the highest combined priority of all resources running on it will be more likely to survive.

As an example, with:

  pcs resource defaults priority=1
  pcs property set priority-fencing-delay=15s

and no other priorities, then the node running the most resources will be more likely to survive, because the other node will wait 15 seconds before initiating fencing. If a particular resource is more important than the rest, you can give it a higher priority.

The node running the master role of a promotable clone will get an extra 1 point, if a priority has been configured for that clone.