The explosive expansion of e-commerce and the ever increasing dependency on computer services has created a global demand for server availability. This Sun BluePrints publication describes elements that affect availabilty, and introduces best practices that promote good work practices. The information contained in this publication can help increase availability at the datacenter level or at the single-server level.

The Sun Cluster 2.2 technology is explained in detail--the architecture, applications (including databases), low-end NFS servers, as well as maintenance requirements. This information can help customers apply specific product solutions to satisfy stringent high availability requirements.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Enrique Vargas brings 20 years of large systems experience to Sun Microsystems, where he currently specializes in high-end, highly available UNIX® platform solutions. Enrique joined the Sun Enterprise Engineering group in 1997 from Amdahl Corporation, where he focused on UTS (mainframe UNIX® platform) and high-end, highly available Solaris systems. Enrique holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering.

Joseph Bianco, PH.D., has been working for Sun Enterprise Services for over five years as a Senior Support Engineer and has been involved with the implementation of Sun Cluster products since their inception. Prior to working for Sun Microsystems, Dr. Bianco worked for several years as a database programmer on Wall Street. Dr. Bianco holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Information Systems.

David Deeths has been working for Sun's Enterprise Engineering group for over three years. David has worked extensively with existing and future Sun Cluster products. David holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a B.S. in Cognitive Science.