Perimeter Servers and Clustering

You can use perimeter servers when you install Sterling B2B Integrator in a clustered environment to enhance load balancing and failover activities.

A cluster is two or more connected copies of Sterling B2B Integrator that share a database. A node is one copy of Sterling B2B Integrator in the cluster.

In a clustered environment, each node may have a perimeter server configured. You can have more than one perimeter server for each node, which enables you to increase the number of connections and improve processing times. However, each perimeter server can serve only one Sterling B2B Integrator node. You can also have many different services and adapters using the same perimeter server.

You can use service groups in a cluster to enhance load balancing and failover activities. A service group is a group of the same service or adapter type that acts as peers. If all of the services or adapters in a service group are configured compatibly (identically, except for perimeter server selection), and one of the services in the service group is busy, another service configuration can pick up the business process and begin processing. This is load balancing. If one of the services in the service group is disabled, another service in the service group can pick up a business process and begin processing. This is failover support.

For more information about setting up a clustered environment, call Sterling B2B Integrator Customer Support.

The following figure shows a clustered environment running perimeter servers:

A clustered environment running perimeter servers

The following explains the preceding figure:

  1. Node 1 and Node 2 share a database in a clustered environment.
  2. Node 1 includes Service Group A and Service Group B configured for use with a perimeter server:
    • Service Group A is a group of adapters that are all configured compatibly (identically, except for perimeter server selection) to achieve load balancing and failover support.
    • Service Group B is a group of adapters that are configured differently and cannot be used for load balancing or failover support.
  3. Node 2 includes a service and an adapter configured for use with a perimeter server.
  4. Node 1 and 2 both have two perimeter servers configured:
    • Node 1 Perimeter Server Configuration 1 is configured to communicate using Service Group A.
    • Node 1 Perimeter Server Configuration 2 is configured to communicate using Service Group B.
    • Node 2 Perimeter Server Configuration 1 is configured to communicate using a single service configuration.
    • Node 2 Perimeter Server Configuration 2 is configured to communicate using a single adapter configuration.
  5. The DMZ Server has two perimeter servers configured:
    • DMZ Server Perimeter Server Configuration 1 is configured to communicate with Node 1 Perimeter Servers 1 and 2.
    • DMZ Server Perimeter Server Configuration 2 is configured to communicate with Node 2 Perimeter Servers 1 and 2.
  6. Three trading partners are configured to communicate with the DMZ Server Perimeter Servers:
    • Trading Partner 1 communicates with DMZ Server Perimeter Server Configuration 1.
    • Trading Partner 2 communicates with DMZ Server Perimeter Server Configuration 2.
    • Trading Partner 3 communicates with DMZ Server Perimeter Server Configuration 3.

The following is an example of how a business process is routed through the preceding figure:

  1. Trading Partner 1 sends a message to your cluster.
  2. The message is sent through the DMZ Perimeter Server Configuration 1, which communicates with the Node 1 Perimeter Server Configuration 1 in your cluster.
  3. The Node 1 Perimeter Server Configuration 1 is configured for Service Group A, which allows for load balancing and failover support. The first service configuration in Service Group A is disabled, so the second configuration receives the message and begins the processing on Node 1 in your cluster.
  4. Because clustering is a way to control load balancing and scale your system, if Node 1 is too busy processing other business processes, Node 2 accepts and processes the business process.