Multi-Server deployments occur when you have several AIRA servers, and you wish all AIRA Servers mimic one big server as much as possible. In other words, when users connect to a multi-server environment, it will not be immediately obvious that more than one physical server is being used. In multi-server deployments, servers can share the same user table and site map. Policies and other configuration will still be configured individually per server. Only the user table and site map will be shared between servers. Additionally, in multi-server environments, only the first server must be registered through AIRA Explorer, and other child servers will automatically be registered.
Configuring multiple AIRA Servers to share a single map
After both servers have been successfully installed, one of the servers will act as a "master" server. In other words, users will connect to the master AIRA Server and will automatically connect to other associated (child) servers, and all associated servers will share the same map.
Once AIRA Explorer connects to the first (or master) server, this server will notify AIRA Explorer which additional servers to automatically register by passing AIRA Explorer the IP addresses and listening web port for these additional server(s). To accomplish this, edit the aira.ini file manually of the master server or use the Multi-Server configuration pane.
Using the Multi-Server configuration pane:
Select a server to act as the master, and click Ctrl+Shift+C to open the Configuration dialog. Alternatively, select Server > Configuration from AIRA Explorer. Select the Multi-Server pane.
Enter the IP address of the AIRA Server you wish to bind to this server. Click Add.
If you wish to add other AIRA Servers, follow the step above. Otherwise, click OK to finish.
When users connect to the Master Server, they will now automatically connect to all associated servers as defined in the steps above. All these servers will share the same Map.
Manually modifying the aira.ini file:
In some situations, a client will connect to the same server using its internal IP address (such as 10.0.0.2) or its external IP address (such as 65.87.7.55), depending on whether the user is on the same LAN as the server or is coming from outside the network. Meaning remote users will connect on the external IP of the servers, but internally on the LAN users may wish to connect to all servers on the local IP address. For example, user A connects to 65.93.236.66 (for server A) and then will automatically connect to 65.93.236.67 (for server B). However, if a local user connects to Server A using 10.0.0.2, he will also want to connect to server B on its local IP address (10.0.0.3, for example). In order to accomplish this, edit the [main] section of the aira.ini file from the master server to include:
OtherServers=x.x.x.x
OtherServersLocal=y.y.y.y
Where x.x.x.x = the external IP address you wish to use for the second server, and y.y.y.y = the internal IP address you wish to use for the second server.
Configuring AIRA Servers to share centralized user table
After the servers have been associated using the steps above, the next step is to make sure all servers share the same user table. Note, the user table is not replicated, it is centralized. This means all Slave servers will use the users table located on the Master server.
Configure SQL Server to allow remote connections on the Master Aira server: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;914277
In all slave servers (as defined above), add the following line to the main section of the aira.ini file (replace 10.1.0.52 with the IP of the publisher installation): dbConnectionUsers=Provider=SQLOLEDB.1;Initial Catalog=aira;Data Source=10.1.0.52\aimetis;User ID=sa; Password=A!ra2005A!ra;
Restart all AIRA services including the web service (killall 9, killall 5). If unsure, restart the computer.
After restart, all user information will be referenced from the dbConnectionUsers table.
To test the connection string, do the following:
Rename the line above from ”dbConnectionUsers” to ”dbConnectionString” which will redirect ALL database access (not just user table).
Open the command prompt, and from aira\_bin folder type dbupdater select * from [user]and click ENTER.
This should show you the users in the redirected database (Master AIRA Server).
When you are satisfied this is working, rename dbConnectionString back to dbConnectionUsers in the aira.ini and restart all the AIRA services.
See Also