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javajakarta-eeweb-applicationsglassfishapplication-server

Application server architecture: access clustered server application through single address

I have been reading countless oracle documents, blogs, etc. but I cannot wrap my mind around this concept.

I have successfully deployed an application to a GlassFish server cluster. See screenshot: Application Instances

I would like to have load balancing and fail over by using a single url address to access my application.

For example currently to get to my application I must use http://<server-name>:28080/AppName but I would like to use http://cluster:28080/AppName and have an available load balancing service automatically select it.

Currently I have 3 GlassFish 3.1 servers with a basic default setup and GMS. Is GlassFish capable of doing the automatic load balancing and fail over or do I need a web server (like Apache or Oracle IPlanet) in front of my GlassFish cluster to distribute connections?

Solution

  • As Olivier states you need to put a load balancer in front of your cluster. You can use a hardware device or you can use software.

    I've used both and each works great. You should read Configuring Web Servers for HTTP Load Balancing for a better understanding.