Archive for April 19th, 2009

Apr 19 2009

Introduction to Dedicated Web Server Cluster Technology

Basically, in the Web Hosting Industry, a Cluster is referred to a number of servers which work together to offer you optimum performance, reliability and scalability and these are arranged in such a manner that the performance of each server remains the same as the load gets distributed within all of them.

Why a server Cluster is needed ?

The answer is quite simple then it seems. If you have single server there are chances that the server fails due to some reason and all the applications and services fail. When it comes to Cluster, it will prevent something like this to happen. Some of the failures that a Cluster can prevent are given below :

1. Most important services are disabled or stopped due to some Hardware or software failures.

2. Websites stop working due to some problems caused to the server connectivity (Problem could be natural disasters or power outages in some cases)

3. Server stops working due to failures in power supply or Hardware faults such as RAM failure, HARD Drive overusage, CPU’s bursting etc.

These failures can be well prevented if the dedicated web servers are well adjusted i.e. setup and optimized accordingly. Cluster is required for making the important services available all the time in order to make sure that the user can execute the tasks using those services at any time.

Working of a Server Cluster

Each Machine in a Cluster comprises of the applications and services which are run by the whole Cluster. However, each machine does have it’s own Operating system and other Local Devices which are actually connected to each other by some medium. When it comes to managing the whole server Cluster and services which are run by the server, it is Managed by connecting to a Single server as all the servers within the Cluster are Connected to each other.

Coming to applications, all the applications which are run by the Cluster are stored in one of the Disk arrays which is commonly shared between all the Servers. This data can only be accessed from the Servers within the Cluster which ensures Security.

If one of the Servers fails, all the other Servers in the Cluster will maintain the availability of the Necessary Applications and make sure that the Data is not lost.

Server failure can be a threat to your Online presence if you are Running Applications and Services which are Really Important to you and if you want to make sure that your Services always remain present online then Server Cluster is the Best option for you.

207 responses so far