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BlackboardLearningSystemResilientArchitecture

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BlackboardLearningSystemResilient
Architecture
SzymonMachajewskiApr22,2009|Comments(0)

bySzymonMachajewski

Documentationofprocessesandsolutionsrelevantto
Blackbaord,PeopleSoft,Oracle,RedHatLinux,MySQL
andhighereducation.
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Standardresilientarchitecture:
Benefits:
Thisarchitectureleverageshardwareandsystemdesignwhichhasbeenprovento
workonGRCC
campus.ItalsofollowscloselytherecommendationfromBlackboardintheir
hardwaresizingdocuments
tousehardwaresystemsforbothapplicationserversandthedatabase.Blackboard
suggestspowerful

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databaseservers:Werecommend16GBto32GBofmemorypersystem(BBDell
hardwaresizingdoc).
TheIBM3650has48GBofRAMtoallowforfuturegrowthandnohardwareupdate
for13years.
InorderforOracletouseanyamountofmemoryabove4GforSGAoperationa
64bitsystemisrequired.
Thefailoverapproachtothedatabasebusinesscontinuityrepresentsabalance
betweensimplicityofthe
databaseoperationsandtheneedforrunningadatabaseintwolocations.Incase
ofafailureinlocation
A,thedatabasecanbestartedinlocationBwithin15minutes.Theproduction
databasesystemwould
runat100%ofcapacityinlocationBincaseoflocationAfailure.
Thehardwareusedinthissolutionisgenericandcanberedeployedtoother
networkservicesor
applications.
Thecomplexityofapplicationmaintenanceandtheirdesignisidenticalto
implementationinvirtualized
environment.Thehardwaremaintenanceofstandalongsystemsimpactsone
systematatimeandis
lessvisibletotheapplicationoverall.Mirroredharddrivesandreliable,matureIntel
hardwarelendsitself
welltoloweffortoperations.
Thisarchitecturecanbedeployedspeedilyandwillprovideresilientapproachfor
thenext13years
withoutmodifications.Thecostsofkeepingthisarchitectureunderwarrantycanbe
gradual.
Considerations:
1Uor2Uservers(Ustandsforunitofheightinarackfurniture)cantakeupmore
physicalspaceand
consumemoreelectricitythanvirtualizationtechnology.Maintenanceofthe

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5/17/2015

BlackboardLearningSystemResilientArchitecture
hardwareinstandalone
serversmayrequiremoreeffort,especiallyonserverswhichareoutofwarranty.
Runningthedatabaseinnonclusteredenvironmentrequireshumaninterventionin
caseofaserious
failureinlocationA.
Resilientarchitecturewithvirtualization:
Benefits:
Usinghardwarebladesprovidesconsiderablegainsinphysicalandenvironmental
propertiesofthedata
center.Moreserverscanbeinstalledinsmallerspaceswithblades.Thereare
considerableenergyuse
gainswhenimplementingbladeserverswhichsharecertainhardwareresources.
Conceivably,when
thereisfewerhardwarepiecesthehardwaremaintenancemaybedecreased.If
mostofthestandalone
hardwarecanbereplacedwithbladeservers,thiswouldstandardizethedatacenter
operations.
Considerations:
Existinghardwarecannotbeleveraged.
Bladeserverscomeinchassisorgroupswhichcannotbeeasilysplittoathird
location.Alsothe
hardwaremaynotbeasflexibleinredeploymentasstandaloneservers.
Whenthebladeserverscomeoutofwarrantythereplacementcostswillnotbe
gradualorstaged.
Solutionsummary:
Thestandardresilientarchitectureleveragesexistinghardwarefortheapplication
serversandallowsfor
gradualreplacementoftheIBMx346familyofservers.Itrequiresaduplicate64bit
databaseserverto
providebusinessfailoverandcontinuityplan.Thearchitectureisastandard
Blackboardarchitecturewith
provenperformance,supportstructures,andtroubleshootingmethods.
Thevirtualizationarchitectureallowsmorecompactandefficientphysicalserver
propertiesaswellas
moreenvironmentfriendlyoperations.Thehardwarechoicesmaybelimitingforre
deploymenttoother
applicationsincomparisonwithmoregenericstandaloneserverhardware.Costsof
keepingblades
underwarrantycannotbestaged.RACimplementationhelpstostandardizeand
shareOracleresources
acrossotherthenBlackboarddatabases.
PreparedbySzymonMachajewski,SeniorBlackboardSolutionsEngineer

References:
BlackboardInc,Blackboard_Dell_Hardware_Sizing_Guide,downloadedfrom
behind.blackboard.comon
Apr8,2008.
BlackboardInc,Blackboard_Sun_Hardware_Sizing_Guide,downloadedfrom
behind.blackboard.comon
Apr8,2008.
OracleCorp,OracleRACBestPracticesonLinux,WhitePaper,downloadedfrom
oracle.comonApr8,
2008
BladeNetworkTechnologies,10GbEiSCSIPerformancewithBladeservers,
downloadedform
media.netapp.comonApr8,2008.

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KeywordTags:BlackboardresilientarchitecturedatabaseOracle
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