Load balancing iRODS iCAT

How to load balance iRODS

Every iRODS Zone requires an iCAT Enabled Resource Server (iCAT) server, so the Zone becomes inaccessible if the iCAT goes down. The Loadbalancer.org appliance will distribute network traffic across multiple iCAT servers, guaranteeing uptime and scalable performance for critical, high load iRODS environments. The Load balancer is deployed at Layer 7. This mode requires no changes to the load balanced iRODS iCAT servers.

The Integrated Rule-Oriented Data System (iRODS) is an open source data management software used by research organizations and government agencies worldwide. iRODS is released as a production-level distribution aimed at deployment in mission-critical environments. It virtualizes data storage resources, so users can take control of their data, regardless of where and on what device the data is stored. As data volumes grow and data services become more complex, iRODS is serving an increasingly important role in data management.

Timeouts

For iRODS iCAT, the layer 7 client and server timeouts are set to 1 minute.

Requirements

The following table shows the port(s) that are load balanced:

Health Checks

By default, a simple ‘Connect to port’ health check is used by the Virtual Service described in this guide. If required, a more comprehensive negotiate check can be configured to provide a more robust check.