Load balanced servers

[Mickey]

I read in the main page that BODHost offers fail-over dedicated servers, ordering which we will get two (instead of one as offered by other web hosts) servers. The first will be the primary server while the other will serve as backup for the first, also as a temporary server in case of failure of the primary server (in my understanding).

Is the second server has the same specification and capability as the main server?

[carl owen]

Originally Posted by Mickey

I read in the main page that BODHost offers fail-over dedicated servers, ordering which we will get two (instead of one as offered by other web hosts) servers. The first will be the primary server while the other will serve as backup for the first, also as a temporary server in case of failure of the primary server (in my understanding).

Is the second server has the same specification and capability as the main server?

Yes, the second server is of the same configuration and has the same capacity as the first one. If the first i.e. primary server is down due to some reason, the second server will take it's place which guarantees 100% uptime for the hosted websites and applications

Please feel free to post if you have any further questions.

[Neveah]

All the servers in the cluster or the load balancing have the same capability. They share the load equally amongst them selves and hence give an improved performance and throughput

[carl owen]

Originally Posted by Neveah

All the servers in the cluster or the load balancing have the same capability. They share the load equally amongst them selves and hence give an improved performance and throughput

When it comes to fail-over or mirrored dedicated servers, the configuration and capacity of the servers is the same, however, this is not necessary when it comes to Cluster or Load Balancing servers as the servers in the Cluster can be different as per the requirements.

[Roy Mills]

Originally Posted by carl owen

When it comes to fail-over or mirrored dedicated servers, the configuration and capacity of the servers is the same, however, this is not necessary when it comes to Cluster or Load Balancing servers as the servers in the Cluster can be different as per the requirements.

But which is better hosting platform Load balancing or clustered computing or mirrored dedicated server

[carl owen]

Originally Posted by Roy Mills

But which is better hosting platform Load balancing or clustered computing or mirrored dedicated server

This basically depends on your requirements.

If you have a limited amount of data and visitors visiting your websites but the data is critical and you do not want to loose it, fail-over or mirroring is the best option to choose.

If you have multiple websites with a high amount of traffic, load balancing is the option you should choose

[Martin]

Originally Posted by carl owen

This basically depends on your requirements.

If you have a limited amount of data and visitors visiting your websites but the data is critical and you do not want to loose it, fail-over or mirroring is the best option to choose.

If you have multiple websites with a high amount of traffic, load balancing is the option you should choose

Nice explanation, Carl. Keep it up!

Just for information, could you please let us know if we can consider RAID as an option for Server Mirroring?

[Mickey]

Originally Posted by carl owen

If you have a limited amount of data and visitors visiting your websites but the data is critical and you do not want to loose it, fail-over or mirroring is the best option to choose.

If you have multiple websites with a high amount of traffic, load balancing is the option you should choose

Great explanation, Thanx . Do you mean to say when it comes to security and keeping yourself from of losing data, fail-over or mirroring is better than load balancing?

[carl owen]

Originally Posted by Martin

Nice explanation, Carl. Keep it up!

Just for information, could you please let us know if we can consider RAID as an option for Server Mirroring?

Thank you for your gratitude Martin

RAID configuration is basically the mirroring of the Hard disk of the server. Hence, if you have RAID on the dedicated server and if 1 hard disk fails due to some reason, the other will take it's place (RAID 1).

However, if the server is down due to some other reason except from hard disk failure, the websites and applications on the server won't work as the whole server is not mirrored.

Hence, you can consider RAID as an option, however, server mirroring is a better if compared

Originally Posted by Mickey

Great explanation, Thanx . Do you mean to say when it comes to security and keeping yourself from of losing data, fail-over or mirroring is better than load balancing?

You're Welcome.

Nope, we cannot say that as Load balancing involves a number of servers and the data is available on those servers. If one of the servers fail due to some reason, the other servers can manage the load and the data is available on all those servers (Note:- this also depends on the type of configuration you choose ;)).

It is also possible to have RAID configuration or server mirroring along with load balancing and therefore load balancing is also reliable enough when considering data security

Hope this helps..