High availability for application servers

WebSphere® Application Server can be configured in a cluster to achieve high availability. There are different approaches to application server configuration, so choose the option that suits the needs of your organization.

Different application server configurations provide different failover and system protection capabilities. The following table summarizes the attributes of various application server configurations. Failover time is based on the optimum cluster configuration and varies with the products that are used:

Configuration type Availability type Failover time Feature Process automation Additional Cost
WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment load-balanced clustering Active-active load balanced Instant failover Protection from software failure, storage failure, server failure, and site failure: Load balancing If the application server fails, you must restart it manually. If the failed server node is not restarted, the live servers handle the user requests. None
WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment clustering with automatic restart Active-active load balanced Instant failover Protection from software failure, storage failure, server failure, and site failure: Load balancing Application server and node agent are started automatically by a cluster manager. IBM® Tivoli® System Automation for Multiplatforms license
WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment with shared disk Warm standby Failover is more than 30 seconds. Protection from software failure, storage failure, server failure, and site failure. Application server and node agent are started automatically on a backup node. IBM Tivoli System Automation for Multiplatforms license

You can implement System Automation for Multiplatforms with WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment to automatically restart failed nodes. This solution is represented in the table by WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment clustering with automatic restart.

You can also use System Automation for Multiplatforms to configure clusters for WebSphere Application Server. You can set up a primary production node and a secondary standby node, both featuring an HTTP server, WebSphere Application Server, and access to highly available shared storage. The solution represented in the table by WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment with shared disk can be used to configure shared disk clusters.



Feedback