| If you do not use a Server Cluster for your Website, | | | | operational. |
| your customers may experience poor performance | | | | Even though server cluster with a load balancer is a |
| resulting in reduced sales and loss of revenue for | | | | preferred configuration, there are alternative clusters |
| your company. This is especially true once your site | | | | which are simple to implement and will provide |
| outgrows a single server solution. By using a Server | | | | immediate performance gains. Moving your database |
| Cluster, you can greatly increase your capacity of | | | | to a different server allows your site handling the |
| your website as your business grows. | | | | user requests to operate in parallel. This results in |
| Often, Websites are not planned for growth and | | | | speed transactions and will enable more concurrent |
| owners will place the site on a shared hosting | | | | users since you will have more memory that was |
| account. This is usually good until the site grows to | | | | used by the database. |
| several thousand users per day. While the website | | | | Further performance gains are attainable by adding a |
| performance can be enhanced by upgrading the | | | | server that will act as a cache. Repeated database |
| account to a Virtual or Dedicated Server, this too can | | | | queries are stored in RAM on a different server than |
| be limiting especially if your customers are spending a | | | | the database or website server. This three-way |
| significant amount of time on your site causing | | | | cluster can yield significant gains as long as the |
| internet connections to remain open. | | | | software generating the queries cache the results for |
| Once your site exceeds the capabilities of a | | | | future use. For this cluster configuration, lower priced |
| Dedicated Server, you will have to look at other | | | | Virtual Servers could be used simply due to lower |
| options in expanding capacity. The most common | | | | processing power is required for the cache and |
| architecture is to deploy two or more servers that | | | | database. |
| are clustered together to behave as a single site. | | | | There are many Server Cluster configurations which |
| Typical deployment is to have a load balancer in front | | | | you can architect to improve your website |
| of two or more servers which have the | | | | performance. Ultimately, you want to deploy a |
| configurations and data duplicated across each server. | | | | system which will provide your customers the best |
| The load balancer directs traffic between the multiple | | | | experience and fastest response time so they will |
| servers to even the load so that no single server is | | | | continue to use your site and help your business |
| saturated. Another advantage to this configuration is | | | | grow. |
| that if one server fails, your site still remains | | | | |