A clustered solution consists of multiple servers working in concert to perform one or more functions. The solution should be designed to the specifics of the functions the cluster will be performing. In some cases, this can be as simple as a two-server (web engine + database server) configuration. Whereas, in more advanced deployment, you may have multiple (hardware) load balanced front-end web servers, a multi-master database back-end, a NAS storage array, and fault-tollerant hardware firewalls. Ultimately, your cluster’s form should fit the function it’s serving, while providing room for scalability. Moving on, lets take a few moments to discuss the significance of LANs and BackLANs. As you’re probably already aware, a LAN is a Local Area Network: multiple servers, in a single geographic location, connected together. BackLANs are similar, but they are a back-end connection between servers — not externally accessible to the Internet. Therefore, backLANs are typically employed to isolate portions of a solution that require a higher level of security — particularly when there is minimal desire to deploy a hardware firewall as part of a solution. Which conveniently brings us to hardware devices: switches, load balancers, firewalls, storage arrays, and the like. All of these devices (as well as others) have a place in enterprise solution design, but it’s important not to over-engineer yourself into headaches. A brief explanation of these components follow: • Switches - A network device with multiple ports used for transiting data to/from one portion of a network to another. Switches can range in size (4 or more ports) and capacity (10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, 1 Gbps, 10 Gbps, etc.) • Load balancers or “content switches” - A device used to distribute traffic or load over multiple servers. Though they can also be configured for failover, distribution is generally the preferred approach. • Firewalls - A piece of hardware used to protect portions of a solution (sensitive data, potentially exploitable systems, etc.) or for secure (encrypted) VPN services. • Storage Arrays - A device consisting of multiple drives utilized for network storage. Our final topic for this segment of our Advance Solutions piece is backups. Every solution (regardless of size) should have backups — both on-site and off-site backups. A cost-effective method of this would be backing up from your web server to your database server and visa versa, then storing a copy of each on your personal laptop. Whereas, a more verbose solution might include a backup array using something like R1Soft for backing up all your servers to a single (on-site) location, and then exporting a copy to a third-party back up service. That conclude this portion of our Advance Solution Series; please feel free to let us know if you have questions, or if we can help with building a solution for you.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 20:56:00 +0000
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