If you've performed the tasks described in "Before You Install" and you've successfully installed ClusterCATS, you're ready to begin creating your server clusters.
This section explains:
The ClusterCATS Explorer includes a Cluster Setup Wizard that makes creating and configuring clusters easy. The Wizard walks you through a series of online screens that let you define and configure required load balancing and high availability features for your server clusters.
Note | While you can create server clusters manually using the ClusterCATS Explorer menu options, it's easier and quicker to create and configure them completely using the Cluster Setup Wizard. If you use the Wizard initially, you can always modify the configuration of your server clusters at anytime after you have created them. To modify the settings you've configured using the Wizard, follow the procedures described in "Configuring Load Balancing & High Availability Features". |
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To create a server cluster using the Cluster Setup Wizard: |
The ClusterCATS Explorer opens.
The Create New Cluster dialog box appears.
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in the License Key field and click Next.
Tip | Make your cluster names logically consistent with their purpose. For example, Sales Web, Customer Support Web, and so on. Also, the License Key field is case-sensitive, so enter the key exactly as shown in step 3. |
The List of Web Servers dialog box appears.
The Add New Server dialog box appears.
Note | Offline maintenance support is only available on NT server clusters. You can only set the maintenance support option when creating a cluster or adding a cluster member to a cluster. You cannot configure or modify this option after you have created and added the cluster member to the cluster. |
If you need help configuring the maintenance IP address, see "Assigning a static IP address to each server's NIC".
The Load Management dialog box appears.
The Load Thresholds dialog box appears.
Be sure to keep your Peak threshold below 100% to accommodate ColdFusion's processing needs. Set your Gradual Redirection threshold to be 10% - 30% lower than your Peak threshold. Any larger differential will degrade overall performance.
The Alert Notification dialog box appears.
The Alarm Notification dialog box appears.
If you want the same person to receive the majority of alerts, click Propagate to automatically fill each event's Recipient column with the same e-mail address. You can then manually change the few recipients that are different. If there are multiple recipients for the same alert event, separate your e-mail address entries with commas. Click OK to return to the Alarm Notifications dialog box and then Click Next to proceed.
The Session State Management dialog box appears.
The Load Balancing Device dialog box appears.
ClusterCATS creates the cluster you just configured and displays it in the ClusterCATS Explorer's left pane.
Congratulations -- y ou've just created your cluster, added servers to it, and configured each server with load balancing and high availability capabilities using the Wizard. See "Configuring cluster administration security" to learn how to secure your cluster environment.
If you do not want to create your clusters using the Cluster Setup Wizard, you can create them manually.
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To create clusters manually using the ClusterCATS Explorer: |
The ClusterCATS Explorer opens.
The Create New Cluster dialog box appears.
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in the License Key field.
Tip | Make your cluster names logically consistent with their purpose. For example, Sales Web, Customer Support Web, and so on. Also, the License Key field is case-sensitive, so enter the key exactly as shown in step 3. |
Note | You cannot create an empty cluster; you must specify a Web server that will be part of the cluster. This first server that you add to the cluster is known as the Admin Manager. The remaining steps guide you in configuring the Admin Manager. |
Note | Offline maintenance support is only available on Windows NT server clusters. You can only set the maintenance support option when creating a cluster or adding a cluster member to a cluster. You cannot configure or modify this option after you have created and added the cluster member to the cluster. |
If you need help in configuring the maintenance IP address, see "Assigning a static IP address to each server's NIC".
Your cluster appears below the Cluster Manager icon in the ClusterCATS Explorer left pane.
To manually add additional cluster members to it, see "Adding and deleting cluster members".
You add servers to and delete servers from a cluster one at a time using the ClusterCATS Explorer.
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To add a cluster member to a cluster: |
The Add New Server to Cluster dialog box appears.
Note | You can only set the maintenance support option when creating a cluster or adding a cluster member to a cluster. You cannot configure or modify this option after you have created and added the cluster member to the cluster. |
If you need help in configuring the maintenance IP address, see "Assigning a static IP address to each server's NIC". Offline maintenance support is only available on Windows NT servers.
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To delete a member from a cluster: |
The selected server is deleted from the cluster you selected.
To delete an entire cluster, individually delete each member from the cluster using the procedure above. When the last cluster member has been removed, the cluster itself is deleted.
Note | You must delete the Admin Manager, which is the first server you added to the cluster, last to delete the cluster. You can determine which server is the Admin Manager by right clicking on the cluster icon and choosing Configure>Administration. The cluster's Properties dialog box appears displaying the Administration tab. The server designated as the Admin Manager will be the active entry in the drop-down list. |