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Middle Tier Considerations

Kubernetes

Kubernetes will be installed and configured by installer tools and processes provided by IFS as a part of the required infrastructure to deploy IFS Cloud. The Kubernetes cluster will reside in the middle tier server which is a Linux server. No Linux knowledge is required as you never directly operate in this server. All operations such as install/configuration/maintenance/monitoring etc will be done using a collection of script that comes with the Remote solution. The remote solution consist of the middle tier server and a management server, the management server is a Windows server from where the middle tier server is managed.

Storage tier

When deploying IFS Cloud into a Kubernetes cluster you need to know the database connection information, such as host, service name, appowner and passwords to the internal users.
Make sure you use Oracle dedicated servers (as opposed to Oracle shared servers) for the Application Server database connections. Read more about how to Preparing Servers

Anti Virus Protection

Be sure to disable any Anti Virus Protection program running on the machine in question. A running Anti Virus scan can lock files and halt the IFS Mddleware Server installation process. It is recommended to always have the Anti Virus Protection disabled on the machine.

If Anti-Virus (active or “passive”) is required by company policy these recommendation apply.
Middle Tier:    No active http scanning is allowed - Also note these are Linux servers.
DB:
    Oracle_base
    Oracle datafile folders.
    RMAN backup areas

Network considerations

IFS servers should be connected with a high bandwidth and low latency network, preferably placed in the same server room. Note that high latencies between database and middle tier will have a significant negative performance impact. A suitable network link between database and middle tier should be minimum 100 Mbps and less than 1 ms latency.

This should be considered in global installations. Installing storage tier in one part of the world and middle tier in another part of the world will result in bad performance.

Network is also subject to Security Considerations.

Required Infrastructure

The docker containers that build up IFS Cloud middle tier are Linux based and therefore also the Kubernetes cluster need to be Linux based, see the IFS Cloud technical configuration guide (part of Supported Platforms Policy). The remote operation model requires VMware for deploying the midddle tier server. The following components require a Windows machine.

  • Management Server
  • IFS Print Agent. It uses a 3rd party library that can only run on Windows.
  • Demand Server
  • Crystal Websevices

Windows/Linux Update

Windows or Linux Update shall be disabled on the machine and never run automatically. Updates can be handled manually or with automated updates within specific maintenance hours only.

Document Printing Volumes

If you are using IFS Report Designer and the IFS Print Agent to print large volumes of operational reports such as order confirmations and invoices, you might consider increasing the Kubernetes replicas on the ifsapp-connect container. This is especially true if you are also planning for a high volumes of integration messages.