Components that are not bundled with the Sterling B2B Integrator package

Sterling B2B Integrator and Sterling B2B Integrator require IBM® WebSphere® MQ, replication server, third-party components such as load balancers, databases, and shared file system. Optional components such as IBM Sterling Secure Proxy, perimeter servers, and IBM Control Center can also be used.

IBM WebSphere MQ

WebSphere MQ is required to notify Sterling B2B Integrator about events that are related to Global Mailbox, for example, when a message is added. Files are processed in the data center in which they are received. For high availability within the data center, you must have a multi-instance queue manager. For high availability of processing files, the system requires a highly available WebSphere MQ installation with an active and a standby queue manager. For more information, see WebSphere MQ and the Global Mailbox system.

WebSphere MQ is a mandatory requirement for Global Mailbox. For WebSphere MQ installation requirements and installation information, see IBM WebSphere MQ documentation in IBM Knowledge Center.

After installing WebSphere MQ, you must configure it for event processing. For more information, see Configuring highly available WebSphere MQ for event processing.

Replication server

The replication server replicates payloads from the shared disk of one data center to the shared disk of another data center. When you install Global Mailbox, a replication server is embedded within the Global Mailbox Management nodes.

For high availability reasons you must have more than one Global Mailbox Management node in each data center.

Load balancer

Load balancers are used to balance work load across the servers in the data centers. They are also used to redirect requests to other servers in case of server failures or network connectivity issues. You must plan for the following types of load balancers in the data center:

  • Global load balancer: Directs a trading partner to the closest available data center.
  • Local load balancer: Balances the workload across all servers within a data center.

You must plan the installation and configuration of load balancers based on your business and IT requirements. For installation and configuration information, refer to the relevant vendor documentation.

Shared file system

Shared file system is a mandatory requirement for Global Mailbox. A shared file system is required for payload storage. Based on your business requirements, you can use any shared, highly available file system such as IBM GPFS™ or an HA NFS server. In each data center, you must set up the file system and mount it on the servers that are running the following nodes:

  • Sterling B2B Integrator
  • Global Mailbox management node
  • Replication server

Payload data is replicated and synched between the geographically dispersed data centers by using a replication server. When planning for shared file system capacity, ensure the shared disk has enough space to hold all the files that are stored in global mailboxes. After installing the file system, you must create a base file path directory in the server that is hosting the shared file system. When installing Global Mailbox, you must specify the directory as shared storage location.

For information about your file system installation, see appropriate vendor documentation. For IBM GPFS installation information, see GPFS documentation in IBM Knowledge Center.

Restriction: When installing Global Mailbox on a Windows server, you must specify the path to the shared folder in the <drive_name>:\<shared_foldername> format. For example, C:\Storage or a mapped drive or Z:\Storage.

Database

Global Mailbox uses two types of databases:
Database for Sterling B2B Integrator

Databases are a mandatory requirement for Sterling B2B Integrator.

The database is a repository for configuration, reference, and history data that Sterling B2B Integrator nodes generate and use. All information, except Global Mailbox data is stored in this database. Sterling B2B Integrator database are not shared across data centers. All data between the databases must be manually synched (through export and import functions of Sterling B2B Integrator) between the databases to ensure consistency for high availability.

IBM DB2 is provided with Sterling B2B Integrator. You can choose to install and set up IBM DB2 as Sterling B2B Integrator database. For DB2 installation information, see Installing DB2. For information about planning, server sizing, and overall database management, see Database management for Sterling B2B Integrator.

Database for Global Mailbox
Global Mailbox uses Apache Cassandra as the database. It is separate from the Sterling B2B Integrator database. For more information about Cassandra, see Apache Cassandra.

IBM Sterling Secure Proxy

You can use Sterling Secure Proxy in the DMZ to mask the IP address and HTTP details of the servers to secure your network and data centers. If you choose to include Sterling Secure Proxy, each Sterling B2B Integrator node must have one node or instance of Sterling Secure Proxy configured. A Sterling Secure Proxy instance can forward requests to any Sterling B2B Integrator node in the data center.

Sterling Secure Proxy is not a mandatory requirement for Global Mailbox and is not packaged with Global Mailbox. It is in the topology diagram to depict its location in the Global Mailbox system, if it is used.

For information about installing and configuring Sterling Secure Proxy, see Sterling Secure Proxy documentation in IBM Knowledge Center.

Perimeter server

Perimeter servers are used to reduce network congestion issues and scalability for high volume environments through session and thread management, and enhance security by moving security threats further from your secure network and data. You can deploy and configure perimeter servers based on your requirements.

Perimeter server is not a mandatory requirement for Global Mailbox. If required by your business or IT processes, you can install and configure perimeter servers. You must refer to the appropriate vendor documentation for installing and configuring perimeter servers.

IBM Control Center

Optionally, you can install and configure IBM Control Center V6.1 or later to monitor the status of Global Mailbox processes. IBM Control Center is not a mandatory requirement for Global Mailbox functioning and is not bundled with Global Mailbox package.