Clustering refers to the grouping of two or machines (hardware) that externally presents itself as a single unit in order to achieve performance (scalability) and reliability (high availability) goals. For web applications, clustering refers to the grouping of two or more application servers or its components (software), whether running on a single machine or on multiple machines. Clustering is important in a RMI-based architecture to ensure that the failure of one component will not bring down the entire web application.
In designing a cluster, avoid or at least identify single points of failure. A single point of failure has an impact on reliability, which clustering is supposed to achieve. It also translates into varying levels of undesirable end-user experience. An example of a common single point of failure is the application's database. That is because many web applications may have a distributed application tier, but shares a single database.
There are many ways to cluster application servers. The following are some common strategies. Note that a distributed database or SAN (Storage Area Networking) storage can be used on all topologies for better availability.
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