vCD Architecture Scale-Out

[KFM]

Hi all,

I'm looking at deploying a vCD environment, initially starting with just a single cell and single RabbitMQ server to gauge actual demand/use of vCD functionality. I will be using the 9.7 appliance with an embedded PSQL database. An external NFS transfer server will also be deployed. No load-balancer required as yet since we only have one cell anyway.

My question is can we build out an environment at a later date when we actually need to expand? For instance, deploy a single cell now and expand to 2, 3, n-number cells with a load-balancer in front. Can we do the same with RabbitMQ too? I can't seem to find any information regarding cell/environment expansion. It appears that the vCD architecture is designed to support scaling-out but just wanted to confirm.

Thanks for your time!

Kam

[paluszekd]

Hi Kam,

Yes, this is possible with the appliances. However, there are a few caveats:

1. There's a known bug right now on the 9.7 appliance with SSL certs. There will be a patch available soon, but this limits the use of H5 client without a load balancer and single cell. Workaround is to utilize a load balancer, which is always used for production deployments.

2. RMQ is not included in the appliance, so I presume you are manually installing it post-deployment. If that's the case, carry on.

3. The single appliance OVA has different roles and you can always expand the cell and/or PgSQL role.

Hope this helps,

-Daniel

[KFM]

Hi Daniel,

It certainly does help, thank you! Sounds like we may have to deploy a LB in front of the cell. I guess it would have to be deployed anyway when we eventually deploy additional cells so no harm done doing it from the start.

[paluszekd]

You got it. Enjoy, let us know if you need anything else.

-Daniel