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With the new modular server architecture of Cordaware bestinformed® Version 6, where Infoserver, web server or it's database are able to operate independently, you can combine multiple Infoservers or databases from different systems to form a grid or cluster in order to distribute network traffic, achieve high availability and reliability or simply backup your data on an external system.

 

For example, if you have multiple sites with bestinformed® installations, you can combine these to form a grid where all data (e.g. Templates, Filters, Infos) and client connections are shared and accessible throughout all connected installations. If the connection to other sites is cut off, every site is able to run independently and local data can still be managed and Infos sent to locally connected clients (Island Mode).

 

 

Node Types

 

With the app Cluster (System -> Cluster) you can manage and create as many Cordaware bestinformed® nodes as you want, which will be combined into a cluster. There are two types of nodes you can combine from different Cordaware bestinformed® installations:

 

•Database Nodes: Combining data base nodes from different Cordaware bestinformed® installations will result in a data base cluster, where all stored data such as Infos, Templates or Filters will by synchronized across all connected database nodes. All new data and changes will be shared and synchronized in real-time to make sure every connected location has the same data.
 

•Infoserver Nodes: While combined database nodes only share stored data from the data base which doesn't include the clients and their information which are connected to each site, combining Infoserver nodes of multiple Cordaware bestinformed® installations will share all connected clients of each site and make them visible across all connected site.

 

 

To create a full cluster of multiple Cordaware bestinformed® installations from different systems, you need to combine both the database (best_data) nodes and the Infoserver (best_srv) nodes. Doing this will result in a grid of independent Cordaware bestinformed® systems where all data and client connections are shared across all connected systems. In case of a connection outage to other nodes, the system can still be operated locally and you are still able to address locally connected clients. When connection is re-established all changes from each database nodes will be synchronized across all connected nodes.

 

Image: Example of required nodes in the Cluster app for building a cluster from database and Infoserver nodes between three different Cordaware bestinformed® installations.

 

 

 

With the app Cluster (System -> Cluster) in the web interface you can review, manage all connected nodes and create new ones.

 

Register Database Nodes

 

In order to create a database cluster, you need to create at least two database nodes from two different best_data services. To create a new node, click on the button (New) in the toolbar.

 

First, enter your desired name for the node. We recommend using the location or server name where the service is running on.

 

 

 

Next, select the "Database" from the selection menu Type and enter the connection information below.

 

 

 

Finally, enter the Secret of the database. It's similar to a password which is required to access the data from other database nodes. Each database (CouchDB) has it's own Secret. You can find this Secret in the configuration file "local.ini", located in the installation directory of each database

(e.g. C:\Program Files\Cordaware\best_data\etc\local.ini).

 

Open the file, find the entry "secret=value" in the [couch_httpd_auth] section and copy it's value.

 

 

Paste the secret into both fields Secret and Confirm secret and save the node by clicking on the button Save.

 

 

Now repeat these steps with all the other database nodes you want to combine into a cluster. Keep in mind that every database has it's own Secret that needs to be entered in order access it's data.

 

 

 

Register Infoserver Nodes

 

In order to share connected clients and their information with other Cordaware bestinformed® Infoservers, you need register at least two Infoserver nodes. To register a new Infoserver node, click on the button (New) in the toolbar.

 

Enter a name of your choice for the new node used in the overview. We recommend using the location or server name where the service is running on.

 

 

 

Next, select the type Server from the dropdown menu Type and enter the server information below.

 

 

 

Additional settings for Infoserver nodes:

 

Just like the every Cordaware bestinformed database, every Cordaware bestinformed Infoserver has it's own Secret which is required to form a connection with the selected node. The Secret of each Infoserver can be found in it's installation directory within the configuration file "best_local.ini"

(e.g. C:\Program Files\Cordaware\best_srv\etc\best_local.ini).

 

Open the file with a text editor of your choice, find the entry secret=[value] in the [best] section and copy it's value.

 

 

Paste the Secret into both fields Secret and Confirm secret and save the node by clicking on the button Save.

 

 

Now repeat these steps with all the other Infoserver nodes you want to add to the cluster.

 

 

When successfully connecting at least two different Infoserver nodes, all nodes will share their connected clients and their information across all nodes in the cluster and will appear in the connection overview.