Hi,
someone? sucessfully? This is probably the most popular configuration for customers that want load balancing/high availabilty without incurring the cost of WAS ND. We only have such customers and (for the smaller ones without LB needs) windows servers with VMware vmotion.
General: Answer to 1 is no and to 2 is yes.
Config:
1.
Does this imply that all CPE servers share the same Virtual hostname and IP, having "local" actual names and IPs?Correct,but this concept is not specific to FileNet, it is a general concept and the servers must act stateless for this to work (as you do not know if the second part of a request gets routed to another server)
2. LBs do a good job themselves discovering if a service is down, but if you want you can utilize the health pages
3.
Does this mean to deploy on the first CPE server and then copy the .ear file on Deploy directory on the rest of the servers and configure WAS and deploy?Yes unless you have WAS ND and a deployment node (most likely you would have WAS Application Server no ND)
4.
How each CPE server is aware of the other CPE server's documents? An entry in the shared db (table docversion)....
5.
We have one FileNet Domain and all CPE servers share the same GCD database? Yes, and the same object stores and the same ressources and.... everything
6. You are actually touching a good point here. I have made it a habit to use an actual hostname when configuring things, otherwise funny errors are on their way. Lets assume you create a property and then add it to a docclass using virtual ip. Creating the property goes to server 1. When you update the docclass soon after that this MIGHT go to server 2 which (until it refreshes its cache) has no idea of that property.... -> error property does not exist.
So using an LB is harmless unless you make config changes where I recommend a real host. Certain updates (those that do not change the database) you can do during production hours. Take service 1 down, do the IFix, bring service 1 up, bring service 2 down,.... and so on.
Hope this helps,
/Gerold
PS: Note that fronting ICN with a LB wasn't possible as it needed EJB transport (which DOES NOT work over LB) , but in recent versions (probably for containerization) they support WSI transport.
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Gerold Krommer
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Original Message:
Sent: Mon August 01, 2022 11:05 AM
From: Christos Chorattides
Subject: Stovepipe Configuration for Content Navigator and CPE
Hi everyone,
I am wondering if someone, successfully implemented the Stovepipe architecture for ICN-CPE, and runs problem-free in a production environment. I need to implement an ICN-CPE stovepipe solution.
I have a few questions regarding installation/configuration which are is not covered in detail in the IBM's technote.
Ok. First the two general questions.
- Is there a more detailed guide for this implementation, than the 8-page white paper?
- Does IBM support this configuration? That is, provides assistance to configure and technical support on issues that may rise on production?
Install/Config questions.
- In section "Using Hosts Files to Identify Servers" says, A generic virtual host name is used for each application in the IBM ECM solution. Does this imply that all CPE servers share the same Virtual hostname and IP, having "local" actual names and IPs?
- In Load Balancers configuration, needs monitor checks for servers. How these checks are configured? Is this done by checking URL:Port ?
- In Installation/Configuration, paper says, all CPE servers must be deployed using the same EAR file. Does this mean to deploy on the first CPE server and then copy the .ear file on Deploy directory on the rest of the servers and configure WAS and deploy?
- How each CPE server is aware of the other CPE server's documents? I understand Filestores must be on a highly available file share.
- We have one FileNet Domain and all CPE servers share the same GCD database?
- When do we use the Virtual name and when the actual host name? e.g. When creating a Repository on Navigator we use the actual CPE host name?
Thank you.
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Christos Chorattides
Datatech
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