Environment Options

Environment refers to the way Archer is configured. Configurations refer to the arrangement of hardware and software to support a specific environment.

Single Server Environment

A single server environment represents the simplest type of configuration to deploy and maintain. With a single server environment, all of the components exist on 1 server. It is recommended that you use a single server environment for quickly deploying a basic configuration for demonstration, training, development, or testing purposes.

Multiple Server Environment

Multiple server environments offer a wide range of options for combining or isolating the various Archer server components, thus providing numerous possibilities for flexibly scaling Archer.

This section provides some examples of configurations. Due to the highly configurable nature of Archer, it is unusual to see the same configuration more than once.

Before you start designing your configuration, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

  • For enhanced security, review the available options within a multiple server configuration.
  • For production environments, host the Instance Database component separately on a dedicated server.
  • All Web Servers require the Archer Configuration service to be installed and enabled.
  • The Archer Advanced Workflow service runs on a Web Server.

Example 1: Simple configuration

The following table shows an example of a multiple server configuration with 2 servers. All of the components, except for the database components, are on the same Web Server.

Web Server

Database Server

Web Application

Instance Database

Archer Configuration service

Configuration Database

Archer Advanced Workflow service

 

Remaining services

 

Example 2: Advanced Workflow configuration

The following table shows an example of a multiple server configuration with 4 servers. The configuration has 2 Web Servers, 1 dedicated to Archer Advanced Workflow service, a Services Server for the remaining services, and a Database Server for the database components.

Web Server

Web Server

Services Server

Database Server

Web Application

Archer Advanced Workflow service

Remaining services

Instance Database

Archer Configuration service

Archer Configuration service

 

Configuration Database

Example 3: Alternative Advanced Workflow configuration

The following table shows an example of a multiple server configuration with 3 servers. This configuration has 1 of each type of server: Services Server, Web Server, and Database Server. The Services Server hosts the services components. The Web Server hosts the Web Application, and Archer Advanced Workflow. The Database Server hosts the database components.

Web Server

Services Server

Database Server

Web Application

Remaining services

Instance Database

Archer Configuration service

 

Configuration Database

Archer Advanced Workflow service

 

 

High Availability Multiple Server Environment

High Availability systems provide consistent continuous operation for long periods of time. Accomplish this with Archer by providing redundant servers that take over main operations when another server fails.

For high availability environments, it is recommended that you set up the following minimum number of servers:

  • 2 Web Servers
  • 2 Services Servers
  • 2 Database Servers
  • Cache Server

The Archer Advanced Workflow service can utilize its own dedicated server or be installed on both the Web Servers or the Services Servers. The final component in a high availability environment is a load balancer to act as a reverse proxy and distribute network or application traffic across a number of servers.

The following table shows an example of a high availability multiple server configuration. Each of the servers described here are duplicated to allow for high availability.

Web Server

Services Server

Database Server

Cache Server

Web Application

Remaining services

Instance Database

 

Archer Configuration service

 

Configuration Database

 

Archer Advanced Workflow service

 

 

 

For third-party caching applications, do the following:

  • If ScaleOut StateServer is selected, the ScaleOut StateServer client is required.
  • If Redis is selected, no client is required.

 

 

Third-party caching application

To improve availability in the event of a database failure, Archer supports a number of high availability options, such as failover clustering, availability groups, database mirroring, log shipping, and replication. For more information on high availability options, see the following article from MSDN: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms190202.aspx.