Clustered server deployments
Large companies often opt for clustered server deployments, where several Spotfire Servers share a database and work together to carry out the server tasks.
Clustering is not enabled by default in Spotfire Server.
Usually a load balancer is added to the deployment to help distribute the workload, but this is not required. A cluster may also contain multiple Spotfire Servers that can be accessed individually through their URLs, but share the same set of node managers. Companies must supply their own load balancer.
There are many configuration options for clustered server deployments; a typical installation features a single load balancer between the Spotfire Servers and the users (on Spotfire Analyst or web client) to optimize the distribution of requests from the clients to the servers.
It is generally recommended that you have a working basic installation of a single Spotfire Server before setting up the rest of the cluster; to begin installation, see Basic installation process for Spotfire.
- Setting up a cluster of Spotfire Servers
Some deployments that include clustered Spotfire Servers are very complex, and their installation and configuration are best left to a Spotfire consultant. However, if you plan to do it yourself, follow these guidelines. - Using Hazelcast for clustering
By default, clustered implementations of Spotfire Server use the Hazelcast distributed data grid product to support data clustering. - Using ActiveSpaces for clustering
To enable secure TCP/TLS transport for the exchange of data between clustered Spotfire Servers, install ActiveSpaces and configure the servers to use it as the underlying data grid. - Using Apache Ignite for clustering
Apache Ignite clustering requires no manual configuration. - Configuring NTLM for a cluster of Spotfire Servers
To configure NTLM for clustered servers, first set the options common to all the servers and then set the server-specific options. - Enabling health check URL for load balanced servers
When using a load balancer in front of a cluster of Spotfire Servers, a health check URL can be set up to show the status of the servers. - Kerberos authentication for clustered servers with load balancer
In a clustered environment where Kerberos authentication is used to authenticate users, the load balancer forwards all Kerberos authentication information to the Spotfire Servers. No configuration on the load balancer is needed, but there are certain considerations to take into account when Kerberos authentication is set up. - X.509 client certificates for clustered servers with load balancer
When using X.509 client certificate authentication in a clustered environment, the clients see the load balancer as the server. The load balancer must therefore be provided and configured with a server certificate and its private key. - Configuring shared import and export folders for clustered deployments
From the Library Administration tool in Spotfire Analyst, you can import and export library content. The import and export files are stored in a folder specified in the Spotfire Server configuration. In a clustered environment, where the client could be communicating with any of the servers, steps must be taken to ensure that the import and export files are always stored in the same folder.