Reasons for Stand Alone Web Server

[Derek]

I'm supporting a new client with roughly 40 users. Currently, one box is hosting the gateway and 8.3 dispatcher and content manager. The content store has it's own Oracle box. There is potential that we could be taking on a lot of new users in the near future. I'm looking for some documentation to justify distributing the gateway to it's own box. If anyone could point me in the right direction it would save me a lot of eye strain...thanks!

[sashafay]

Hope this link gives you if not everything, but most of general benefit for having gateway seating on its own box: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/c8bi/v8r4m0/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.swg.im.cognos.crn_arch.8.4.0.doc/crn_arch_id208arch_TheMulti-tierArchitecture.html

BTW: I didn't which version you're using, but you can apply to any of Cognos 8 or even Cognos 10 requirements.

Good luck!

[Derek]

Hi Sashafay,

Thanks for the suggestion. The Architecture and Deployment guide is actually what I've been flipping through, but I haven't been able to find any real tangible reasoning for hosting the gateway on a separate web server. It's always been a frustration for me that Cognos doesn't release any benchmark testing. Below are the only inklings of logic from the Architecture and Deployment documentation as to why you should distribute the gateway to it's own box.

"Install all components on one computer only for proof of concept or in demonstration environments where the user load is small."

"Using multiple Web servers to manage incoming requests provides a better level of service."

Ideally, I'd like to have some numbers to make a business case, ie. if you have n users and x server specs you should consider scaling out the gateway. I mean, this cost is ultimately going to be passed to the client. Best practices needs to be supported by something :\

Thanks,

Derek

[Rutulian]

Hi Derek,

Much like a database system, it's notoriously difficult to give general recommendations on sizing a Cognos system because so much depends on what you're doing with it - complex reports put a much heavier load on the system than simple ones!

Cognos doesn't place an enormous load on the gateway as everything's passed through to the dispatchers - the main reason I've come across for separating it is security, so that firewalls can block access to the dispatchers from anything other than gateway boxes (and FM clients, and some of the other products on the platform but that's a whole other story :) )

If performance is your main concern and 2 boxes is the resource you have to play with, I'd look more to be running a pair of full app tier dispatchers, one Gateway/Dispatcher and the other Dispatcher/CM and maybe shifting the load balancing ratios so that the one not running your content store takes 2/3 of the work.

Kind Regards,
Alexis

[Derek]

Thanks Alexis,

The security implications certainly make sense. However, the Deployment Guide seems to make it sound like there are performance considerations to account for with the web server. I would just like to know the thresholds before hitting that point. I'd rather be able to present the client with proactive solutions as opposed to trying to explain why we didn't anticipate the bandwidth issues. I know that gauging the distribution of the system can be tricky, but there should at least be some guidelines, white papers, case studies or something out there.

Thanks again,

Derek