Configuring Server Farms in Cherwell Server Manager

There are several ways to configure a server farm, but you must configure the Cherwell Server Farm for each Cherwell Server. Use the Export and Import buttons to use the Server Farm Configuration across servers.

Some key points:

  • A server farm can only be used when the Cherwell Application Server is hosted in IIS. Http and Rest are required for the Application Server.
  • Members of a Cherwell Server Farm should not share a hypervisor. VMs should be distributed across several hypervisors.
  • A load balancer is required (CSM does not provide this). 
    The Microsoft Windows IIS Server module known as ARR (Application Request Routing) is not recommended.
  • Performance could be penalized by enabling a server farm because it brings overhead to the individual servers participating in the farm.
Important: Ensure the configuration is the same across servers.

To configure a Cherwell Server Farm:

  1. Click Start>All Programs>Cherwell Service Management>Tools>Server Manager.
  2. Click the Configure button located next to the Server farm mode label.

    An Alert window opens warning to stop the server farm before changing settings.

  3. Click Yes to continue.
  4. Define Website options:
    1. Select the Enable server farm mode check box.
  5. Define New Redis Server options:
    1. Provide the Host IP address for the Redis Server.
    2. Use the up and down arrows to select the Port.
    3. Click Add.

      The IP address and Port appear in the Connect to list. Repeat this step to add all Redis Servers.

  6. Provide the Password for the Redis Server.
    If there are multiple servers in a master/slave configuration, ensure all servers share the same password.
  7. Use the Connection Timeout to specify the number of seconds the system will wait for a connect operation to complete before returning a timeout message. On startup, the system evaluates the list of connections in the order they appear in the Connect to list, and then attempts to connect to the first available master. The Connection Timeout setting determines how long the system will wait for each Redis endpoint to connect before returning a timeout.
  8. Use the Sync Timeout setting to specify the number of seconds the system will wait for a Synchronous operation to complete before returning a timeout.
    If you have a master/slave with sentinel configuration and a slave becomes a master, the Sync Timeout setting determines how many seconds will elapse before your application switches to the new master.
  9. Use the Import/Export buttons to enter the Redis information in a server, export the information, and then import it in another server.
  10. Click OK.