ThinMan can be installed in 4 operation modes depending on goals and functionality needed:
- ThinMan single Server with Internal Database
- ThinMan single Server with External Database
- ThinMan Primary and Secondary Server with Single Shared Database (AKA HALF redundant configuration, External Database required)
- ThinMan Primary and Secondary Server with Dual Replicated Database (AKA FULL redundant configuration, External Database required)
¶ ThinMan single Server with Internal Database
This is the default installation mode. A single ThinMan server is installed with its internal database (HSQL).
It is the most used mode because of its simplicity and large spectrum of cases covered.
Use this mode when you do not need User Profiling in High Availability mode; in general, when you do not have any particular constraint of Business Continuity.
Refer to ThinMan: Prerequisites and technical specifications for a detailed information about requirements.
The installation is very simple, you can find a detailed description in ThinMan Single or Primary Server Software Installation Procedure.
¶ ThinMan single Server with External Database
Use this mode when you do not need User Profiling in High Availability mode or in general, when you do not have any particular constraint of Business Continuity but you need to save ThinMan data on another database model (Mysql server, Microsoft SQL server).
The ThinMan configuration with external Database adds complexity in terms of maintenance, installation and configuration.
ThinMan does not keep a backup of external database data, you will need to define your own backup/store/copy database policy or procedure.
Installation is however simple, install ThinMan as described in ThinMan Single or Primary Server Software Installation Procedure and then configure database access as described in ThinMan External Database Settings for MySQL.
The diagram shows a possible architecture. ThinMan and MySQL server can be installed in the same host or in different ones.
¶ ThinMan Primary and Secondary Server with Single Database
This mode is intended for customer who needs a Primary and a Secondary ThinMan Server.
Primary and Secondary Server are strongly recommended when using User Profiles depending on ThinMan Login. In this case it is necessary to provide a high availability architecture that allows always an answer to the device.
Unless the unique Database be implemented on a high availability architecture, there is still a risk of failure. For this reason we can define this configuration as ThinMan HALF redundant configuration.
ATTENTION!
This solution requires a service unavailability time when updating the ThinMan servers. When high availability is required, use the last installation mode described below.
¶ ThinMan Primary and Secondary Server with Dual Database
This mode is intended for customers who need a full business continuity.
Primary and Secondary Server are strongly recommended when using User Profiles depending on ThinMan Login and when it is necessary to provide a high availability architecture that always replies to devices requests.
In comparison to the previous mode, this also resolves also the risk of failure due to the database single point, i.e. a higher availability.
We suggest this mode for really large enterprises using business critical installation and requiring appropriate business continuity as well as disaster recovery architecture.
It is important to mention this is not a load balancing architecture. I.e. the secondary server will answer to devices request only in case of failure of the primary server.
This mode needs a particular installation and an upgrading procedure described in ThinMan Single or Primary Server Configuration with external Database and ThinMan Secondary Server Configuration with external Database.
FULL AVAILABILITY
ThinMan FULL redundant configuration assure users business continuity even when updating ThinMan server.
