How many computers do I need to run a MySQL Cluster, and why?
A minimum of three computers is required to run a viable cluster. However, the minimum recommended number of computers in a MySQL Cluster is four: one each to run the management and SQL nodes, and two computers to serve as data nodes. The purpose of the two data nodes is to provide redundancy; the management node must run on a separate machine to guarantee continued arbitration services in the event that one of the data nodes fails. To provide increased throughput and high availability, you should use multiple SQL nodes (MySQL Servers connected to the cluster). It is also possible (although not strictly necessary) to run multiple management servers.
