As user expectations of database availability have increased, so have the stakes on business and brand reputation for disruptions in database availability and access.

As a reliant platform, IBM Cloud LinuxONE Virtual Servers for VPC protects and supports a variety of open-source and enterprise-grade applications, extending business continuity and avoiding risks to business and brand reputation for disruptions in availability.

This blog post will look at two ways to set up high availability solutions on IBM Cloud LinuxONE Virtual Servers by configuring: 1) PostgreSQL active-active mode with Bucardo for open-source applications and 2) Fujitsu Enterprise Postgres for enterprise-grade applications.

Protection for open-source solutions

With IBM LinuxONE Virtual Servers for VPC and its Bring Your Own Image (BYOI) functionality, clients have the option to deploy a wide range of open-source solutions, including PostgreSQL active-active mode using Bucardo.

What is PostgreSQL?

As one of the most popular relational database management systems (RDBMSs) available, PostgreSQL is a free, open-source database with a reputation for reliability, scalability and performance. It supports a variety of use cases with powerful extension ability, making it suitable for many different client industries.

PostgreSQL should be considered for clients who want to do the following:

• Provide web, mobile, geospatial or analytic applications.
• Build out custom functions or write code with different programming languages.

What is active-active mode?

Active-active mode is a type of high availability (HA) data resiliency architecture. It distributes clients’ workloads across two or more servers, keeping data safe and available in expected or unexpected server failures. Active-active distributes workloads evenly across servers via load balancing, evoking high performance. For example, it will automatically ensure performance and business continuity despite high demand during particular seasons when more resources are needed.

It is worth mentioning the other type of HA data resiliency architecture — active-passive. In this case, the main server handles the full workload and the backup server will only be activated in the event of the main server’s failure.

Active-active mode is appropriate for clients who experience unpredictable periods of demand, cannot afford “downtime” and value business performance, resilience and continuity.

Bucardo

Bucardo is a replication program for two or more Postgres databases. This means that the contents of one database are copied and distributed to another, all while maintaining synchronization and consistency across the two databases.

Bucardo can be used to set up multi-node replication with instances of PostgreSQL in different regions, providing cross-regional availability.

Configuring PostgreSQL active-active mode

In this new tutorial, learn how to configure active-active mode for PostgreSQL.

First, an IBM Cloud account is needed. Users may sign into an existing account or create one here. Then, users will provision at least two instances of IBM Cloud LinuxONE Virtual Servers for VPC. After that, users should expect about 60–90 minutes to follow the 10 steps clearly outlined in the tutorial.

Protection for enterprise-grade solutions

Configuring Fujitsu Enterprise Postgres mode is appropriate for enterprise-grade solutions or ones that require high levels of security, performance and scalability. 

What is Fujitsu Enterprise Postgres?

Fujitsu Enterprise Postgres extends the PostgreSQL value proposition by providing critical security features. These features include “Transparent Data Encryption” to protect data at rest, “Data Masking” to redact data in-flight and the “Dedicated Audit Log” to record database access and monitor suspicious activity. These features protect enterprises from database security threats.

Fujitsu Enterprise Postgres is fully compatible with PostgreSQL, sharing the same operation method and interface for application development. Fujitsu is an excellent enterprise-grade database option for its open-source innovation support, adaptability to data and business requirements as well as its performance stability.

Configuring Fujitsu Enterprise Postgres

Learn how to configure Fujitsu Enterprise Postgres for enterprise clients.

Users will follow the same initial steps as above, starting with signing in to an existing account or creating one here and then provisioning at least two instances of IBM Cloud LinuxONE Virtual Servers for VPC. To proceed, follow the steps outlined in this tutorial.

Learn more

PostgreSQL and Fujitsu Postgres on IBM Cloud LinuxONE Virtual Servers offer compute lifecycle security for open-source or enterprise-grade solutions. Together, these solutions together offer clients the assurance that their sensitive data and workloads will be protected from inside and outside threats.

The family of IBM Hyper Protect Services enables end-to-end protection of clients’ workloads. In addition to IBM Cloud Hyper Protect Virtual Servers and IBM Cloud LinuxONE Virtual Server for VPC, the family includes Hyper Protect Crypto Services, which provide key management for data encryption keys and cloud hardware security modules and Keep Your Own Key (KYOK) for data encryption at rest. The family also includes Hyper Protect DBaaS, which offers tamper-proof, enterprise cloud database environments with high availability for workloads with sensitive data.

Check out our Confidential Computing page.