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Configuring ColdFusion Clusters


Creating Clusters

If you have successfully installed ClusterCATS, you are ready to create server clusters.

This section explains the following:

Creating clusters in Windows

You can create clusters using the Cluster Setup Wizard or manually using the ClusterCATS Explorer. It is easier and quicker to create and configure clusters completely using the Cluster Setup Wizard.

This section describes how to create clusters both ways:

Creating clusters with the Cluster Setup Wizard

The ClusterCATS Explorer includes the Cluster Setup Wizard that makes creating and configuring clusters easy. The Wizard walks you through the required definition and configuration steps. After creating a cluster with the Wizard, you can use the ClusterCATS Explorer to make any necessary changes.

To create a server cluster using the Cluster Setup Wizard:

  1. Select Start > Programs > ColdFusion > ClusterCATS Explorer.

    The ClusterCATS Explorer opens:

  2. Select Configure > Cluster Setup Wizard. Alternatively, you can click the Cluster Setup Wizard icon that appears in the toolbar.

    The Create New Cluster dialog box appears:

  3. Enter a name for your cluster and GoColdFusion in the License Key field and click Next.

    Note

    The License Key field is case-sensitive, so be sure to enter the key exactly as shown in this step.

    Make your cluster names logically consistent with their purpose. For example, Sales Web, Customer Support Web, and so on.

    The List of Web Servers dialog box appears:

  4. Click Add to add available Web servers to your cluster.

    The Add New Server dialog box appears:

  5. Enter the fully qualified host name of a Web server in the New Web Server Name field (for example, doc.allaire.com).
  6. If you are using the ClusterCATS dynamic IP addressing scheme AND you do not have the maintenance IP address bound to your NIC, select ClusterCATS Maintenance Support.

    If you are not configuring this Web server for offline maintenance support, go to step 8.


    Note

    You can only set the maintenance support option when creating a cluster or adding a cluster member to a cluster. You cannot configure or modify this option after you have created and added the cluster member to the cluster.

    Enabling maintenance support for clusters requires that you configure your cluster for ClusterCATS dynamic IP addressing. For more information, see "ClusterCATS Dynamic IP Addressing (Windows only)".

  7. Enter the fully qualified host name of the maintenance address (for example, serv1.yourcompany.com) in the Maintenance Address field.
  8. Click OK.
  9. Repeat steps 4 through 8 for each Web server you want to add to the cluster and then click Next to proceed.

    The Load Management dialog box appears:

  10. If you want to use the default load threshold settings, click Next and go to step 13. However, if you do not want to use the defaults, select the server and click Configure to configure new peak and gradual redirect load thresholds for that cluster member.

    The Load Thresholds dialog box appears:

  11. Enter new numerical values (not higher than 100%) in the Peak Load Threshold and Gradual Redirect fields and click OK.

    Be sure to keep your Peak load threshold below 100% to accommodate ColdFusion's processing needs. Set your Gradual Redirection threshold to be lower than your peak threshold.

  12. Click Next.

    The Alert Notification dialog box appears:

  13. Enter the name of your outbound SMTP mail server in the SMTP Mail Server field and the e-mail address for a recipient of cluster alerts in the E-mail Address field. If multiple people will receive different alerts for different types of notification events, go to step 14. Otherwise, click Next and proceed to step 16.
  14. If you want to configure different types of alerts to go to different people, click Details in the Alert Notification dialog box.

    The Alarm Notification dialog box appears:

  15. Select an alert event and enter the e-mail address of the recipient.

    If you want the same person to receive the majority of alerts, click Propagate to automatically fill each event's Recipient column with the same e-mail address. You can then manually change the few recipients that are different. If there are multiple recipients for the same alert event, separate your e-mail address entries with commas. Click OK to return to the Alarm Notifications dialog box and then click Next to proceed.

    The Session State Management dialog box appears:

  16. If your server cluster supports a site that needs to maintain persistent state on the same Web server during a user session, select Yes to enable session-aware load balancing. Otherwise, select No and click Next.

    The Load Balancing Device dialog box appears:

  17. If you are using a hardware-based load balancing device in addition to ClusterCATS to manage and distribute load, enter the name of the Web site that this device supports (for example, www.yourcompany.com) and click Next.
  18. Click Finish.

    ClusterCATS creates the cluster you just configured and displays it in the ClusterCATS Explorer's left pane.

Manually creating clusters

If you do not want to create your clusters using the Cluster Setup Wizard, you can create them manually. Keep in mind that if you manually create clusters, you must then add each cluster member using the ClusterCATS Explorer.

To manually add additional cluster members to your new cluster, refer to "Adding Cluster Members".

To manually create clusters:

  1. Select Start > Programs > ColdFusion > ClusterCATS Explorer.

    The ClusterCATS Explorer opens:

  2. Select Cluster Manager > New Cluster. Alternatively, you can right-click the Cluster Manager icon and select New Cluster or click the New Cluster button in the toolbar.

    The Create New Cluster dialog box appears:

  3. Add a new cluster using the fields as described in the following table:
    Field
    Description
    Cluster Name
    		 Enter a unique name for the cluster.
    Make your cluster names logically consistent with their purpose. For example, Sales Web, Customer Support Web, and so on.
    License Key
    		 Enter GoColdFusion. This field is case-sensitive, so be sure to enter the key exactly as shown.
    Web Server Name
    		 Enter the fully qualified host name (for example, doc.allaire.com) for the first server you want to be a member of this cluster.
    You cannot create an empty cluster; you must specify a Web server that will be part of the cluster. If this is the first server that you have added to the cluster, it is known as the Admin Manager. The remaining steps guide you in configuring the Admin Manager.
    Bring Up in Passive Mode
    		 Select this checkbox to bring the Admin Manager up in Passive mode. If you do not select this checkbox, the server will be brought up in Active mode.
    For more information on passive/active modes, refer to "Changing Active/Passive Settings".
    ClusterCATS Maintenance Support
    		 Select the ClusterCATS Maintenance Support check box to enable support for offline maintenance.. The Admin Manager must be configured with a maintenance IP address.
    Using maintenance support requires that your cluster support ClusterCATS dynamic IP addressing. For more information, refer to "ClusterCATS Dynamic IP Addressing (Windows only)".
    Offline maintenance support is only available on Windows NT server clusters. You can only set the maintenance support option when creating a cluster or adding a cluster member to a cluster. You cannot configure or modify this option after you have created and added the cluster member to the cluster.
    Maintenance Address
    		 Enter the fully qualified host name of the maintenance address (for example, serv1.yourcompany.com). This field is only accessible if you selected ClusterCATS Maintenance Support.
  4. Click OK

    Your cluster appears below the Cluster Manager icon in the ClusterCATS Explorer left pane. To manually add additional cluster members to your new cluster, see to "Adding Cluster Members".

Creating clusters in UNIX

  1. Open the ClusterCATS Web Explorer if it is not already opened.
  2. Click the Create New Cluster link.

    The Create New Cluster page appears:

  3. Add a new cluster using the fields as described in the following table:
    Field
    Description
    Cluster Name
    		 Enter a unique name for the cluster.
    Make your cluster names logically consistent with their purpose. For example, Sales Web, Customer Support Web, and so on.
    Web Server Name
    		 Enter the fully qualified host name (for example, doc.allaire.com) for the first server you want to be a member of this cluster.
    You cannot create an empty cluster; you must specify a Web server that will be part of the cluster. If this is the first server that you have added to the cluster, it is known as the Admin Manager.
    You cannot create an empty cluster; you must specify a Web server that will be part of the cluster.
    License Key
    		 Enter GoColdFusionGoJava.
    The License Key field is case-sensitive, so be sure to enter the key exactly as shown in this step.
    Make your cluster names logically consistent with their purpose. For example, Sales Web, Customer Support Web, and so on.
  4. Click OK.

    ClusterCATS creates the cluster and displays its members on the Cluster Member List page.

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