Application Server Cluster Topology

Application Server Cluster Topology

In an application server cluster topology, you install the MDM Hub components in an application server cluster. An application server cluster topology plan can be complicated because multiple combinations are possible. The main advantage of an application server cluster topology is the ease of deployment.
To set up an application server cluster topology, you need multiple machines with application server instances that are part of an application server cluster. Deploy the Hub Server and the Process Server instances on separate application server clusters. The application server cluster topology can provision for planned or unplanned down time. You can achieve scalability by adding nodes to the cluster and by deploying additional MDM Hub components.

Topology for WebSphere Clusters

The sample installation topology contains four machines with two WebSphere clusters. The WebSphere Deployment Manager can be installed on any machine, but in the sample it is on a separate machine to provide for secure WebSphere administration. Each WebSphere cluster includes the same two nodes. A Hub Server instance is deployed on each node of one cluster, so that if one node fails, the other node of the cluster can take over. A Process Server instance is deployed on each node of the second cluster, so that if one node fails, the other node of the cluster can take over.
The Hub Server distributes the processing load between the Process Server instances. If a Process Server instance fails or is offline, the Hub Server sends the processing request to the Process Server instance that is online. The Hub Store is configured on the fourth machine on which a database server is installed.
You do not need to deploy the Process Server instances in a cluster. If you use JMS message queues, to consume outbound JMS messages, deploy the Hub Server instances in a cluster. Otherwise, each application server instance will have a different outbound JMS destination.
The following image shows a sample WebSphere cluster installation topology:
The installation topology contains four machines, Machine 1, Machine 2, Machine 3, and Machine 4. The WebSphere Deployment Manager is configured on Machine 1. WebSphere application server clusters, Cluster 1 and Cluster 2, are configured with two nodes each. In each cluster, one node is on Machine 1 and a second node is on Machine 2. A Hub Server instance is deployed on each node of Cluster 1. A Process Server instance is deployed on each node of Cluster 2. The database is configured on Machine 4.
The following table describes the capabilities of the application server cluster topology:
Capability
Availability
High availability
Yes.
The MDM Hub supports high availability for the following operations and components:
  • Hub Console operations
  • Services Integration Framework (SIF)
  • Outbound JMS messages
The MDM Hub does not support high availability for the following operations and components:
  • Batch jobs
    If a node in the cluster fails, the batch job requests that are initiated through the Hub Console fail over to the active node, but the batch jobs themselves do not fail over.
  • Informatica Data Director
Scalability
Yes.
To scale the MDM Hub to support large data volumes, add more MDM Hub components. Also, to process multiple requests concurrently, configure multiple threads for the Process Server.
The MDM Hub supports multithreading for the following operations and components:
  • Hub Console operations
  • Batch jobs
  • Services Integration Framework (SIF)
Load balancing
Yes. For load balancing, you do not need to deploy the Process Server instances on an application server cluster. The Process Server instances use an internal load balancing mechanism.
The MDM Hub supports load balancing for the following operations and components:
  • Hub Console operations
  • All batch jobs except the Generate Match Tokens job
    The MDM Hub supports load balancing for the fuzzy matching portion of the Match jobs and for the cleanse process portion of the Stage jobs.
  • Services Integration Framework (SIF)
  • Outbound JMS message
Informatica Data Director does not support load balancing in an application server cluster. Load balancing in a clustered environment might produce unexpected results.
To enhance the performance of the MDM Hub environment, you can use external load balancers.
Maintainability
More complicated than the standalone application server instance topology, but easier to deploy and maintain compared to the distributed application server topology. When you use the WebSphere Deployment Manager, it is easy to deploy the MDM Hub components across the nodes in a cluster.

Topology for WebLogic Clusters

The sample installation topology contains four machines with two WebLogic clusters. The WebLogic Administration Server can be installed on any machine, but in the sample it is on a separate machine to provide for secure WebLogic administration. Each WebLogic cluster includes the same two Managed Servers. A Hub Server instance is deployed on each Managed Server of one cluster, so that if one Managed Server fails, the other Managed Server of the cluster can take over. A Process Server instance is deployed on each Managed Server of the second cluster, so that if a Managed Server fails, the other Managed Server in the cluster can take over.
The Hub Server distributes the processing load between the two Process Server instances. If a Process Server instance fails or is offline, the Hub Server sends the processing request to the Process Server instance that is online. The Hub Store is configured on the fourth machine on which a database server is installed.
You do not need to deploy the Process Server instances in a cluster. If you use JMS message queues, to consume outbound JMS messages, deploy the Hub Server instances in a cluster. Otherwise, each application server instance will a have different outbound JMS destination.
The following image shows a sample WebLogic cluster installation topology:
The installation topology contains four machines, Machine 1, Machine 2, Machine 3, and Machine 4. The WebLogic Administration Server is configured on Machine 1. WebLogic application server clusters, Cluster 1 and Cluster 2, are configured with two Managed Servers each. In each cluster, one Managed Server is on Machine 1 and a second Managed Server is on Machine 2. A Hub Server instance is deployed on each Managed Server of Cluster 1. A Process Server instance is deployed on each Managed Server of Cluster 2. The database is configured on Machine 4.
The following table describes the capabilities of the application server cluster topology:
Capability
Availability
High availability
Yes.
The MDM Hub supports high availability for the following operations and components:
  • Hub Console operations
  • Services Integration Framework (SIF)
  • Outbound JMS messages
The MDM Hub does not support high availability for the following operations and components:
  • Batch jobs
    If a node in the cluster fails, the batch job requests that are initiated through the Hub Console fail over to the active node, but the batch jobs themselves do not fail over.
  • Informatica Data Director
Scalability
Yes.
To scale the MDM Hub to support large data volumes, add more MDM Hub components. Also, to process multiple requests concurrently, configure multiple threads for the Process Server.
The MDM Hub supports multithreading for the following operations and components:
  • Hub Console operations
  • Batch jobs
  • Services Integration Framework (SIF)
Load balancing
Yes. For load balancing, you do not need to deploy the Process Server instances on an application server cluster. The Process Server instances use an internal load balancing mechanism.
The MDM Hub supports load balancing for the following operations and components:
  • Hub Console operations
  • All batch jobs except the Generate Match Tokens job
    The MDM Hub supports load balancing for the fuzzy matching portion of the Match jobs and for the cleanse process portion of the Stage jobs.
  • Services Integration Framework (SIF)
  • Outbound JMS message
Informatica Data Director does not support load balancing in an application server cluster. Load balancing in a clustered environment might produce unexpected results.
To enhance the performance of the MDM Hub environment, you can use external load balancers.
Maintainability
More complicated than the standalone application server instance topology, but easier to deploy and maintain compared to the distributed application server topology. When you use the WebLogic Administration Server, it is easy to deploy the MDM Hub components across the WebLogic Managed Servers in a cluster.

Topology for JBoss Clusters

The sample installation topology contains three machines with two JBoss clusters. Each JBoss cluster includes the same two nodes. A Hub Server instance is deployed on each node of one cluster, so that if one node fails, the other node of the cluster can take over. A Process Server instance is deployed on each node of the second cluster, so that if one node fails, the other node of the cluster can take over. The Hub Server distributes the processing load between the two Process Server instances. If a Process Server instance fails or is offline, the Hub Server sends the processing request to the Process Server instance that is online. The Hub Store is configured on the third machine on which a database server is installed.
You do not need to deploy the Process Server instances in a cluster. You might want to deploy the Process Server instances in a cluster for ease of deployment, but each Process Server instance must be registered with the Hub Server. If you use JMS message queues, to consume outbound JMS messages, deploy the Hub Server instances in a cluster. Otherwise, each application server instance will have a different outbound JMS destination.
The following image shows a sample JBoss cluster installation topology:
The installation topology contains three machines, Machine 1, Machine 2, and Machine 3. JBoss application server clusters, Cluster 1 and Cluster 2, are configured with two nodes. One node, Node 1, is on Machine 1 and a second node, Node 2, is on Machine 2. A Hub Server instance is deployed on each node of Cluster 1. A Process Server instance is deployed on each node of Cluster 2. The database is configured on Machine 3.
The following table describes the capabilities of the application server cluster topology:
Capability
Availability
High availability
Yes.
The MDM Hub supports high availability for the following operations and components:
  • Hub Console operations
  • Services Integration Framework (SIF)
  • Outbound JMS messages
The MDM Hub does not support high availability for the following operations and components:
  • Batch jobs
    If a node in the cluster fails, the batch job requests that are initiated through the Hub Console fail over to the active node, but the batch jobs themselves do not fail over.
  • Informatica Data Director
Scalability
Yes.
To scale the MDM Hub to support large data volumes, add more MDM Hub components. Also, to process multiple requests concurrently, configure multiple threads for the Process Server.
The MDM Hub supports multithreading for the following operations and components:
  • Hub Console operations
  • Batch jobs
  • Services Integration Framework (SIF)
Load balancing
Yes. For load balancing, you do not need to deploy the Process Server instances on an application server cluster. The Process Server instances use an internal load balancing mechanism.
The MDM Hub supports load balancing for the following operations and components:
  • Hub Console operations
  • All batch jobs except the Generate Match Tokens job
    The MDM Hub supports load balancing for the fuzzy matching portion of the Match jobs and for the cleanse process portion of the Stage jobs.
  • Services Integration Framework (SIF)
  • Outbound JMS message
Informatica Data Director does not support load balancing in an application server cluster. Load balancing in a clustered environment might produce unexpected results.
To enhance the performance of the MDM Hub environment, you can use external load balancers.
Maintainability
None.
The MDM Hub supports the standalone mode for JBoss clusters. Unlike the domain mode clusters, the standalone mode clusters do not manage configuration and deployments.

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