Standard Microsoft Failover Cluster

Installing two data tier nodes in a Microsoft Failover Cluster ensures that the system can continue to operate if the active data tier node fails. Adding this capability to the load-balancing cluster for SAP Mobile Server nodes ensures there is no single point of failure in the system.

Summary of standard Microsoft Failover Cluster architecture:

Consists of two data tiers installed in a Microsoft Failover Cluster support the SAP Mobile Server nodes. If the active data tier node fails, the passive data tier node becomes active and database support continues uninterrupted.
Each SAP Mobile Server node and the two data tier nodes are installed on separate servers.
A proxy server farm provides enhanced load balancing for distributing requests to the different SAP Mobile Server nodes.
A hardware load balancer optimizes the performance of the proxy server farm.

Design Characteristics and Use Cases
Consideration	Details
Recommended for	Multiuser development and test environments of larger scale. High-volume production environments that require some combination of scalability, high availability, and high performance.
Degree of collocation	None, full distribution.
Not recommended for	Small-scale environments, or organizations with budget concerns/restrictions.
Worksheet to complete	Install MS Failover Cluster worksheet. See Completing Installation Worksheets.
Installation procedure used	Installing SAP Mobile Platform with a Standard Microsoft Failover Cluster in Installation Guide for Runtime.
Limitations	Disk resources must be adequate to support all databases managed by the data tier servers. Increased complexity of managing and monitoring the server hardware and its associated software. Most expensive due to added infrastructure costs associated with complete distribution. Increased response times due to the increased load on the secondary server or the need to synchronize state information on or from multiple servers.
Benefits	Improved performance. No single point of failure. Easily accommodates routine maintenance and upgrading. Because data tier is a failover cluster, this design allows for system downtime without affecting availability.