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shreenivas_8716
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May 14, 2011

Using GTM with TIBCO EMS Fault tolerant solution

Hi ,

 

 

I am a novice to 3 DNS , GTM ,LTM based solutions for Disaster recovery. I am a TIBCO SME and i need input on how F5 technology can be used in conjuction with TIBCO EMS (JMS ) servers. Below is the story. I need input on what is needed from an F5 perspective in acheiving the objective.

 

 

 

one of the components of our application is the messaging infrastructure ( TIBCO EMS - its a JMS middleware messaging server). The application has a very strict SLA's in terms of recovery time from failure. We have 2 Data centers where the application can be deployed.

 

Each datacenter has 2 nodes ( Primary and Secondary ) on which the EMS servers will be running.

 

 

Requirement 1: If a Messaging server (EMS) in DC-1 then a secondary Messaging server shuld be able to accept the requestes and process the messages in the next 5 seconds.

 

 

Requiremetn 2: If the messaging server infrastructure is down in DC -1 then the Messaging server infrastructure in DC-2 should be able to accept client connections and process the messages in the next 30 seconds.

 

 

EMS Sever deployment design:

 

 

To meet requirement 1 we deploy a pair of EMS servers in a HOT- WARM fashion on 2 different physical nodes (host 1 and host 2) in DC-1 . These are configured as a fault tolerant pair using the products inherent heartbeat mechanism. one is active and the other is standby . when the instance on host 1 goes down the instance on host 2 becomes active almost instantly. all the client connections are recovered and are now connected to the instance on host 2.also note that when we recover the instance on host 1 that instance will now be in stand by mode - the client stay connected to the instance on host 2.

 

 

To meet requirement 2 , we deploy another pair of EMS servers in DC-2 similar to the one on DC-1.

 

 

Problem statement:

 

 

The client application is pointing to DC-1 EMS pair. When Both the EMS servers on DC-1 are unavailable (both host 1 and host 2 are down ) then we would like to do a DNS switch / ip switch using F5 to EMS pair in DC-2 is this possible ?

 

What DNS infrastructure needs to be used for with in the same data center and what needs to be used for the shift between DC-1 and DC-2.

 

 

Also , please note that TIBCO EMS uses TCP protocol so all client connections to the server are tcp connections on a specific port.

 

 

Any input provided on how and what DNS infrastructure needs to be used to acheive this will be very helpful.

 

 

Thanks in advance .

 

 

-Shreenivas

1 Reply

  • Hi Shreenivas,

     

     

     

     

     

    Q: The client application is pointing to DC-1 EMS pair. When Both the EMS servers on DC-1 are unavailable (both host 1 and host 2 are down ) then we would like to do a DNS switch / ip switch using F5 to EMS pair in DC-2 is this possible ?

     

    A: Yes it's possible with the GTM/LTM setup.

     

     

     

    Q:What DNS infrastructure needs to be used for with in the same data center and what needs to be used for the shift between DC-1 and DC-2.

     

    A: I in my mind it's recommended that you have an LTM in each datacenter. However, the GTM can be located in different areas and they would be authoritative of domain you can use against the virtual addresses within DC-1 and DC-2. All systems to be routable with each other.

     

     

     

     

     

    I hope this helps

     

    Bhattman