IBM Aspera Shares Cluster Architecture

In this blog, we would learn about the Aspera shares and its clustering method in order to save the failover time and stabilize the server continuously.

Introduction of Aspera Shares:

• IBM Aspera shares enable companies to share files and directories of any size within the organization or with external partners.
• Centralized security management combines authorization, user management, and access control in a single interface.
• Web-based access allows users to view and manage shared content from standard web browsers.
• Powered by Aspera FASP, ensuring high-speed, reliable, and secure file transfers with advanced management capabilities.
• Supports high availability (HA) deployment using cluster manager (ACM) for an active/passive architecture.

Prerequisites for Aspera Shares High Availability Cluster: 

• Two servers are needed for HA; VMs can be used if properly resourced. 
• HA cluster supports only the latest Linux (RedHat) & centos versions.
• System clocks must be synchronized using ntpd or another time-sync tool. 
• Latest IBM Aspera shares, High-Speed Transfer Server, and Cluster Manager (ACM Package). 
• Recommended shared storage like NFS and others like quantum stornext, omneon mediaGrid, oracle cluster file system.
• A load balancer with a VIP is essential for traffic management.

Explanation of Aspera Shares HA Cluster:

• Two active/passive architectures ensure high availability. 
• The load balancer monitors nodes and distributes traffic to healthy nodes. 
• If a node fails, traffic is routed to another node automatically.
• The load balancer assigns a virtual IP (VIP) for handling web and FASP transfers. 
• Clients access Shares using an FQDN pointing to the VIP. 
• Only the VIP requires a public IP, Shares nodes use private IPs. 
• The load balancer must support high bandwidth for FASP transfers. 
• The active node runs critical services like crond, stats-collector, and shares-background. 
• The passive node remains on standby, taking over when needed. 
• This HA architecture ensures continuous availability and seamless failover for IBM Aspera shares.