Configure communication between core groups that are in different cells

Use this task to configure core group communication between core groups that are in different cells.

 

Before you begin

A core group is a statically defined component of the high availability manager. For more information about core groups, see Core groups. For this task, configure core groups that are in different cells. For more information about when and how to create multiple core groups, see Creating a new core group. Before you configure a core group to communicate outside a cell, enable core group communication between the core groups that are within each cell. For more information, see Configuring communication between core groups that are in the same cell.

 

Overview

Configure the core group bridge service between cells to share the availability status of the servers in each core group among all the configured core groups. Enable the core group bridge service to communicate between cells only when it is required by another WAS component.

The core group bridge service is a requirement when configuring an EJB backup cluster. Configure a backup EJB cluster in a different cell to continue servicing requests when the primary cluster fails. See Creating backup clusters for more information.

When you configure communication between core groups that are in different cells, configure an access point group that has the same name in each cell. Each access point group has exactly one core group access point and one or more peer access points. The peer access point corresponds to the core group access point that is in the other cell. Configure one access point group between the cells. Do not create multiple access point groups that allow communication between the same two cells.

Access point groups and access points are abstractions. Therefore, they are not considered a point of failure. An access point fails only if all of servers fail that are specified in the bridge interfaces for that access point. Create one or more bridge interfaces for each core group access point to prevent failure of access point groups. See Configuring communication between core groups that are in the same cell for more details about bridge interfaces.

Create separate access point groups for each unique network over which the core groups communicate.

 

Procedure

1. Configure an access point group that has peer access points for a core group in a different cell. We can select an access point group or create a new access point group. To create a new access point group perform the following steps:

   1. In the administrative console, click Servers > Core groups > Core group bridge settings > Access point groups > New.

   2. Type a Name for the access point group that is unique within both of the cells.

   3. Add one core group access point for the core group in the local cell. When configuring an access point group that communicates outside of the cell, always configure exactly one core group access point and one or more peer access points.

   4. Add an existing peer access point for the core group in the remote cell.

   5. Confirm the changes to save your new access point group.

   To add peer access points to an existing access point group, perform the following steps:

   1. In the administrative console, click Servers > Core groups > Core group bridge settings > Access point groups > access_point_group_name > Core group access points. Check that this access point group contains only one core group access point. We cannot configure an access point group that communicates both inside and outside of the cell. Any access point group for core group communication outside of the cell must contain one core group access point and one or more peer access points.

   2. Add existing peer access points or create a new peer access point. In the administrative console, click Servers > Core groups > Core group bridge settings > Access point groups > access_point_group_name > Peer access points. To add an existing peer access point, move the peer access point to your access point group. To create a new peer access point, click New. The name that you enter for the peer access point must be unique in the cell. To create new peer access points, have the following configuration information for the core group in the remote cell:

      • The name of the cell for the core group

      • The name of the core group

      • The core group access point for that core group

      • The host and port information for the core group

   When you save the new peer access point, it is automatically added to your access point group.

2. Configure peer ports for each peer access point. A peer port identifies the host name and port of an application server that is defined as a bridge interface in the other cell, so find the host name and port information before completing this step.

   1. In the administrative console, click Servers > Core groups > Core group communications > Access point groups > access_point_group_name > Peer access points. Select a peer access point that is in your access point group and click Show Detail.

   2. Enable this peer access point to use peer ports. Select Use peer ports.

   3. Configure the peer ports. Click Peer ports. You can select and remove exiting peer ports, or create new peer ports.

   Configure only one peer access point for each cell that we need to communicate with. Do not configure multiple peer access points in one cell that correspond to the same remote cell.

3. Repeat these steps for the core group in the other cell. The access point group that you create must have the same name as the access point group that you defined in the first cell. The peer access points that you create in this access point group correspond to the core group access point in the first access point group.

 

Result

When you configure core groups in different cells to communicate with each other, all the core groups in each cell receive information from the core groups in the other cells.

 

Example

Following is an example of a configuration between three core groups that are in three different cells. Each cell has one access point group for communication between core groups in the cell. Each cell also has a defined access point group, access_point_group_xyz, which contains one core group access point group for the core group that is in the cell, and one core group access point for each of the core groups in the other two cells.

The following sample shows the relationship between bridge interfaces and peer ports for the communication between cell_x and cell_z. In cell_x, there are two bridge interfaces defined. In cell_z, there is a peer access point for x_core_group_ap_2 that has peer ports defined that correspond to the bridge interface information that is defined in cell_x.

As a result, core_group_x , core_group_y and core_group_z can communicate with each other.

 

What to do next

Continue configuring core group communication and setting up the high availability environment. See Configuring the core group bridge service and Setting up a high availability environment for more information. To configure a backup EJB cluster, see Creating backup clusters.

 

See also

Peer access point settings
Peer access point collection
Peer port settings
Peer port collection

 

See Also

Core group communications using the core group bridge service

 

Related Tasks

Configuring the core group bridge service
Configuring communication between core groups that are in the same cell
Configuring core group communication using a proxy peer access point

 

See Also

Core group and core group bridge custom properties

 

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