---
title: Manage the Network Configuration of an Ocient System
slug: mbqqnusV3n7oagcIxJ_HS
description: Configure network settings for your Ocient system, optimizing for connectivity and performance.
docTags: 
createdAt: Wed Mar 06 2024 14:35:57 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
updatedAt: Mon Mar 30 2026 18:52:31 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
---

Control the grouping of SQL Nodes in an Ocient® System by managing network traffic using connectivity pools. For advanced configuration, you can expand a connectivity pool by the number of nodes or you can change the network configuration of the system.

# SQL Nodes Belong to Connectivity Pools

A connectivity pool is a pool of potential SQL Nodes for client connection. The pool contains all the required information to connect to a node in that pool. For a description of the metadata of a connectivity pool, see the [CREATE CONNECTIVITY\_POOL](<./././SQL Reference/Data Definition Language _DDL_ Statement Reference/Cluster and Node Management.md>) statement.

All SQL Nodes in the system must belong to a connectivity pool. If you do not configure the connectivity pools during bootstrapping, the Ocient System assigns each SQL Node to its own connectivity pool named with the node name concatenated by `default`*.&#x20;*&#x46;or example, for the node named `sql0`, the system creates a connectivity pool named `sql0_default`. For bootstrapping the Ocient System, see [Ocient System Bootstrapping](<././Install an Ocient System/Ocient System Bootstrapping.md>).

## Connectivity Pool Considerations

For different networks, you can connect a SQL Node to multiple networks at the same time. Connectivity pools enable each SQL Node to specify the IP address and port number for listening in each network.&#x20;

:::hint{type="info"}
Connectivity pools assume that the IP address for each SQL Node remains static. They do not support dynamic IP addresses. If the IP address of your SQL Node changes, you must manually update it by using an [ALTER CONNECTIVITY\_POOL ALTER PARTICIPANT](<./././SQL Reference/Data Definition Language _DDL_ Statement Reference/Cluster and Node Management.md>) SQL statement.&#x20;
:::

You can direct network traffic to groups of SQL Nodes by creating connectivity pools with numerous nodes. Also, you can use connectivity pools to isolate SQL Nodes, which allows you to connect to a subset of nodes and redirect network traffic between them. For example, you can configure the network so that the Ocient System sends only certain SQL queries to certain SQL Nodes.&#x20;

You connect directly to SQL Nodes. You must know the correct connection information to the SQL Node related to the connectivity pool where you want to create the connection. SQL Nodes only listen to IP addresses and port numbers for the connectivity pools associated with the SQL Nodes. Each node can have multiple connectivity pools assigned to it. Assign different IP addresses to SQL Nodes based on the network (e.g., VPN, internal network). You can configure the configuration to reflect your network, whether the network is on-site, a virtual public cloud, or a remote network.

Connectivity pools can use the same IP addresses and port numbers across pools. A pool can also use the IP address of the source client connection to distribute the SQL queries in the case where the SQL Node connection information matches multiple connectivity pools.&#x20;

When you connect to a SQL Node using a specific IP address, the node finds all connectivity pools associated with that IP address. The SQL Node then identifies all the other nodes in the connectivity pool and uses that set of nodes as a redirect group to distribute the SQL query. When a SQL Node matches multiple pools by the IP address and port number combination, the node uses the source connection information (or the information you used to connect) to find a more relevant connectivity pool. The SQL Node uses the chosen connectivity pool to redirect SQL queries to the group of nodes.

## Initial Configuration Setup

For the initial configuration, a common Ocient System configuration has all SQL Nodes in one connectivity pool. However, you can structure the network of nodes based on your initial needs. You can change your initial configuration setup later as your needs change.&#x20;

Create your initial configuration of the network using the see the [CREATE CONNECTIVITY\_POOL](<./././SQL Reference/Data Definition Language _DDL_ Statement Reference/Cluster and Node Management.md>) statement or specify the configuration in the `bootstrap.conf` file. For details about the `bootstrap.conf` file, see [Node Bootstrapping Reference](<././Install an Ocient System/Installation Reference/Node Bootstrapping Reference.md>).

If you do not specify the configuration of the SQL Nodes during the initial Ocient System setup, the system assigns nodes to default connectivity pools. In this case, each node always has a connectivity pool that isolates the node. A common Ocient System configuration has all nodes in one connectivity pool. Thus, you can create a new connectivity pool using the CREATE CONNECTIVITY\_POOL statement to add all nodes in the network to it. Then, remove all the default pools using the [DROP CONNECTIVITY\_POOL](<./././SQL Reference/Data Definition Language _DDL_ Statement Reference/Cluster and Node Management.md>) SQL statement.

For advanced configuration, you can expand the connectivity or change the network configuration of the system.

# Expand the Network of an Ocient System

You can expand the connectivity pool of an Ocient System by adding SQL Nodes. Then, remove the automatically generated connectivity pool that is no longer needed.

For example, with an Ocient System that has SQL Nodes `sql0`, `sql1`, and `sq3` in the connectivity pool named `test_pool`, add a new SQL Node `sql4` to the pool that belongs to the default pool named `sql0_default`. The nodes have the IP address `111.1.1.1` and port number `4050` for listening. Specify the local IP address and port number `4050` to return to the client.&#x20;

```sql
ALTER CONNECTIVITY_POOL test_pool
    ADD PARTICIPANTS(
       (NODE sql4 
        LISTEN_ADDRESS '111.1.1.1' 
        LISTEN_PORT 4050 
        ADVERTISED_ADDRESS 'localhost' 
        ADVERTISED_PORT 4050));
```

Remove the default connectivity pool `sql0_default`.

```sql
DROP CONNECTIVITY_POOL IF EXISTS sql0_default;
```

# Change the Network Configuration of an Ocient System

You can configure IP addresses that the Ocient System uses to connect to the external client or to other nodes in the system. Configure IP addresses for external client connections using the [ALTER CONNECTIVITY\_POOL](<./././SQL Reference/Data Definition Language _DDL_ Statement Reference/Cluster and Node Management.md>) SQL statement. Configure IP addresses for connections with other nodes in the system using the [ALTER NODE SET ADDRESS](<./././SQL Reference/Data Definition Language _DDL_ Statement Reference/Cluster and Node Management.md>) SQL statement.

If you add a new SQL Node to an existing Ocient System, configure a new system, or add a SQL role using the [ALTER NODE ADD ROLE](<./././SQL Reference/Data Definition Language _DDL_ Statement Reference/Cluster and Node Management.md>) SQL statement, you must configure the connectivity pools using the [CONNECTIVITY\_POOL](<./././SQL Reference/Data Definition Language _DDL_ Statement Reference/Cluster and Node Management.md>) SQL statements. If you add a SQL Node to any connectivity pool, then you must remove the default connectivity pool where the node previously belonged using the [DROP CONNECTIVITY\_POOL](<./././SQL Reference/Data Definition Language _DDL_ Statement Reference/Cluster and Node Management.md>) SQL statement.

# Connectivity Pool Troubleshooting&#x20;

When you experience issues with connection to the configured connectivity pools, you have two ways to temporarily manipulate the network configuration to address the issues.

You can use the `rolehostd.conf` file. When you cannot establish the connection using the connectivity pool, you can use this configuration in the `rolehostd.conf` file to correct the configuration of the SQL Nodes. This configuration specifies that nodes listen using the IP address `0.0.0.0` and port number `4050` to enable recovery.

```none
sql:
   defaultListen: true
```

You must restart the `rolehostd` process after you add this configuration.

```shell
sudo systemctl restart rolehostd
```

Or, you can change the IP address of the SQL Nodes in the connectivity pool.

:::hint{type="warning"}
For existing clusters, the Ocient System configures all SQL Nodes to listen to the IP address `0.0.0.0`, which allows client connections to manually create the initial connectivity pools.
:::

# Related Links

[Install an Ocient System](<././Install an Ocient System.md>)

[Ocient System Bootstrapping](<././Install an Ocient System/Ocient System Bootstrapping.md>)

[Node Bootstrapping Reference](<././Install an Ocient System/Installation Reference/Node Bootstrapping Reference.md>)

[CONNECTIVITY POOL](<./././SQL Reference/Data Definition Language _DDL_ Statement Reference/Cluster and Node Management.md>)

[ALTER NODE ADD ROLE](<./././SQL Reference/Data Definition Language _DDL_ Statement Reference/Cluster and Node Management.md>)

[ALTER NODE REMOVE ROLE](<./././SQL Reference/Data Definition Language _DDL_ Statement Reference/Cluster and Node Management.md>)

[ALTER NODE SET ADDRESS](<./././SQL Reference/Data Definition Language _DDL_ Statement Reference/Cluster and Node Management.md>)
