Staging-server topology for Web Content Management
If you need to deliver large complex web sites with a large number of site users and content creator, implement a staging server configuration. Implementing a staging server provides an environment for checking for accuracy, issues with the design, and performance. With a staging server configuration authoring, staging and delivery are separated onto different servers. The staging environment can be used for testing or to allow changes from the authoring environment to accumulate prior to syndicating the changes to the delivery environment in a single batch.
The following diagram illustrates a staging server topology. There is a different server, or cluster of servers, for the delivery, staging, and authoring environments. The delivery, staging, authoring environment all access the same LDAP. If needed the LDAP and database servers can be clustered too. web site users access the delivery server through the web server. Authors access the authoring server and content is syndicated to the staging server for quality assurance verification before it is published to the delivery server.
On the authoring server the following activities occur:
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Create drafts
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Approve drafts
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Test changes
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Publish new and changed content
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Syndicate content to the staging server
On the staging server the following activities occur
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User assurance testing
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Performance testing
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Syndicate content to the delivery server
On the delivery server, the following activities occur:
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Host content for web site users
Hardware and resource considerations
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An authoring environment would normally be a clustered environment to cope with a large number of web site creators and web content authors.
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The staging environment can consist of:
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A web content delivery server or cluster that subscribes to the authoring environment. This would be used when you want to allow changes from the authoring environment to accumulate prior to syndicating changes to delivery environment in a single batch.
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A complete replica of the delivery environment. This type of environment would be used for system UAT to ensure that the web site being delivered is accurate, error-free and can perform under load.
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A web content delivery server or cluster that subscribes to the authoring environment. This would be used when you want to allow changes from the authoring environment to accumulate prior to syndicating changes to delivery environment in a single batch.
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The delivery environment can consist of:
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A web content delivery server or cluster that subscribes to the staging environment. Content can be delivered using either a web content viewer portlet, the web content servlet or a pre-rendered site.
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A local WebSphere Portal production environment that subscribes to the staging environment and delivers web content using a web content viewer.
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A remote WebSphere Portal production environment. In this scenario a web content delivery server subscribes from the staging environment, and the remote WebSphere Portal production environment uses WSRP and a JSR 286 web content viewer to display content from the web content delivery server.
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A web content delivery server or cluster that subscribes to the staging environment. Content can be delivered using either a web content viewer portlet, the web content servlet or a pre-rendered site.
Syndication options
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Automatic one-way syndication from the authoring environment to the staging environment.
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Manual one-way syndication from the staging environment to the delivery environment.
Parent: Server topologies
Related concepts
Single-server topology for Web Content Management
Dual-server configuration for Web Content Management
2011/12/15 documentation refresh