torwin
11th June 2003, 14:10
Hello,

I have a question regarding server/infrastructure. We may be using one of the generic configurations below for our Baan service in the future.

I would like your opinions on the the 'pros' and 'cons' of the following configurations :

1. Physical Three Tier - Database server, Multiple Baan Application Server, Clients running on independent hardware.

2. Logical Three Tier- Database and Multiple Baan App running on the same hardware with logical partitioning. Client still on seperate hardware.

3. Physical Two Tier - Database and App running on the same server ( no partitioning ). Client still on seperate server.

The application build is :

Oracle 8.1.7
Baan IVc
AIX 5.1

It may be that some of you out there have experience to share on these configurations ( and maybe others ! ), any information will be appreciated. I suppose I am looking for any 'icebergs' that may sink one ( or more ) of the options.

Just to kick things off, briefly, here are my thoughts ( doesn't take long ! )

1.
Pro's
- hardware resilience, if an app server fails then switch to next app server.
- software isolated ( Baan app will not directly impact Oracle app and vice-versa ).
- maintenence on individual app servers no problem while still meeting service level.
Cons's
- cost ( multiple servers ).
- performance not as good as option two and three.
- additional maintainance cost.

2.
Pro's
- logical resilience in terms of partitioning ( app and database still seperate ).
- lower cost in hardware terms than first option.
- performance improvement on first option.
Con's
- service at risk due to single point of failure.
- performance may not be as good as option three.

3.
Pro's
- performance probably best of the three.
- cost likely be the cheapest and simplest to implement.
- maintainance likely to be simplest.
Con's
- single point of failure possible.
- Oracle app and Baan app having adverse affect on each other.

Any thoughts would be welcome...

Dikkie Dik
12th June 2003, 14:07
I think you mentioned the most important issues. Now you have to prioritize and find some budget....

Oh, I found some other things to worry about:
- Growfor the coming future. It is (maybe) easier to extend a client, but is the server still able to handle the workload?
- Needs the failover system to be capable to handle the whole workload during a failure?