Considerations for installing the business rules manager

If you are planning to use the business rules manager in a distributed environment, you must understand the concepts of cells, nodes, and clusters and how to set up the business rules manager for best performance during run time.

The application server is organized on the concept of cells, nodes and servers. In a stand-alone server configuration, a cell contains one node, and each node contains one server. System administration applications and user applications all run in the same server. In a stand-alone server configuration, you can install the business rules manager in the same application server, and it can be accessed by the default URL.

In a distributed server configuration, you can configure a cell to contain multiple nodes, and each node can contain multiple application servers. Each cell constitutes a single administrative domain. With this configuration, you can use central administration, workload management, and failover configuration for the entire domain.

For more information about establishing a clustered environment in IBM® WebSphere® Process Server, refer to Creating a clustered environment.

For best performance in a distributed server configuration, install the business rules manager on the administrative deployment target, an application server in the cell where business administration services are centrally hosted. This server is typically the same server that hosts the Common Event Infrastructure service.

Within a cell, the business rules database is used and shared between all servers in the same cell. The business rules database is a centrally governed storage for business rules information. When you access the business rules database, you can access all dynamic business rule artifact definitions regardless of the exact location where the business application is installed.

Because of this central storage for all business rules in the cell at run time, you can deploy the business rules manager to any application servers in the cell, and the business rules manager gives a consistent view of all business rules within the cell. However, because of high-availability considerations, it is recommended that system administrators deploy the business rules manager into the administrative deployment target, a dedicated application server in the cell where business administration services are centrally hosted. The administrative deployment target server is the same server where the Common Event Infrastructure service and other business administrative applications are installed. With this configuration, when you require high availability, you can cluster the administrative deployment target server to provide a scalable solution to the application users.

Related tasks
Configuring server security for the business rules manager
Configuring a Web browser for the business rules manager

Last updated: Wed 06 Dec 2006 07:08:08

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