MACROMEDIA COLDFUSION 5-ADVANCED ADMINISTRATION, Manual, Page: 264 / 372

246 Chapter 12 Configuring ColdFusion Clusters
Introduction to ClusterCATS Administration
ClusterCATS consists of three components:
•
ClusterCATS Server
•
ClusterCATS Explorer and ClusterCATS Web Explorer
•
ClusterCATS Server Administrator and btadmin
The components are described in the sections that follow.
All of the components are installed on a machine when you run the ClusterCATS for
ColdFusion installation program.
You must run the installation program on each server that will be part of your cluster
as well as on the Windows machine (NT, 98, or 95) from which you will use the
ClusterCATS Explorer to administer the cluster. Even if your clusters run on Solaris or
Linux platforms, you can use a Windows machine for running the ClusterCATS
Explorer (recommended). You can also use the Web-based Explorer in conjunction
with included server utilities to administer your clusters.
Note
Read the description of each component that is relevant to your installation in the
sections that follow. These sections contain important configuration information.
ClusterCATS Server
The ClusterCATS Server is the heart of the clustering and load balancing of
ClusterCATS. It must be installed on each server in your cluster. The server monitors
the status of all other Web servers in a cluster and tracks application and transaction
resource availability. ClusterCATS Server runs on Windows NT, Sun Solaris, and
Linux platforms. To administer the ClusterCATS Server, use the ClusterCATS Server
Administrator (Windows) or the btadmin utility (UNIX).
Each ClusterCATS Server component performs the following functions:
•
Intelligently manages HTTP load across Web servers
•
Proactively manages ColdFusion server load
•
Provides failover support for every server in your cluster
•
Proactively monitors ColdFusion servers and ColdFusion Web applications
ClusterCATS Explorer (Windows only)
ClusterCATS Explorer is a Windows-based administration utility that you use to
create and manage clusters from a single machine. Using a Windows Explorer-like
graphical interface, you perform management tasks, such as:
•
Creating and removing clusters
•
Adding and removing servers from a cluster
•
Configuring load balancing and high availability features
•
Enabling administrator authentication privileges