WebLogic Server Instances on Multi-CPU Machines Check Host Machines Socket Reader Implementation Setting Up a Cluster on a Disconnected Windows Machine

10-2 Using Clusters for Oracle WebLogic Server

10.1.3 Consider Your Network and Security Topologies

Your security requirements form the basis for designing the appropriate security topology. For a discussion of several alternative architectures that provide varying levels of application security, see Section 9.5, Security Options for Cluster Architectures.

10.1.4 Choose Machines for the Cluster Installation

Identify the machine or machines where you plan to install WebLogic Server—throughout this section we refer to such machines as hosts—and ensure that they have the resources required. WebLogic Server allows you to set up a cluster on a single, non-multihomed machine. This new capability is useful for demonstration or development environments.

10.1.4.1 WebLogic Server Instances on Multi-CPU Machines

WebLogic Server has no built-in limit for the number of server instances that can reside in a cluster. Large, multi-processor servers such as Sun Microsystems, Inc. Sun Enterprise 10000 can host very large clusters or multiple clusters. Oracle recommends that you start with one server per CPU and then scale up based on the expected behavior. However, as with all capacity planning, you should test the actual deployment with your target Web applications to determine the optimal number and distribution of server instances. See Running Multiple Server Instances on Multi-Core Machines in Performance and Tuning for Oracle WebLogic Server for additional information.

10.1.4.2 Check Host Machines Socket Reader Implementation

For best socket performance, configure the WebLogic Server host machine to use the native socket reader implementation for your operating system, rather than the pure-Java implementation. To understand why, and for instructions for configuring native sockets or optimizing pure-Java socket communications, see Section 3.1.3, Peer-to-Peer Communication Using IP Sockets.

10.1.4.3 Setting Up a Cluster on a Disconnected Windows Machine

If you want to demonstrate a WebLogic Server cluster on a single, disconnected Windows machine, you must force Windows to load the TCPIP stack. By default, Windows does not load the TCPIP stack if it does not detect a physical network connection. To force Windows to load the TCPIP stack, disable the Windows media sensing feature using the instructions in How to Disable Media Sense for TCPIP in Windows Note: Some network topologies can interfere with multicast communication. If you are deploying a cluster across a WAN, see Section 3.1.1.1.1, If Your Cluster Spans Multiple Subnets In a WAN. Avoid deploying server instances in a cluster across a firewall. For a discussion of the impact of tunneling multicast traffic through a firewall, see Section 3.1.1.1.2, Firewalls Can Break Multicast Communication. Note: Do not install WebLogic Server on machines that have dynamically assigned IP addresses. Setting up WebLogic Clusters 10-3 at http:support.microsoft.comdefault.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;239924 .

10.1.5 Identify Names and Addresses