KB376: Failover and High Availability Configuration for DataStack

To enable high availability for DataStack, configure two server instances and use a load balancer to manage client traffic and failover. The setup can use either Active/Active or Active/Passive mode, depending on your organization’s preference. 

Steps and Requirements 

1. Set up DataStack instances

Deploy two DataStack instances, each with a unique static IP address. Then choose one of the following SSL configurations: 

a.  SSL Termination at the Load Balancer (Recommended) 

  • -  Load balancer handles HTTPS termination; DataStack instances are HTTP endpoints: 
                               Client (HTTPS) --> Load Balancer (terminates SSL) --> HTTP --> DataStack 

  • -  Simplifies certificate management — only the load balancer requires a public SSL certificate. 

  • -  Nginx configured for HTTP 

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b.  End-to-End Encryption with SSL Passthrough 

  • -  Load balancer passes HTTPS traffic directly to the DataStack instances: 
                               Client (HTTPS) --> Load Balancer (passthrough) --> HTTPS --> DataStack 

  • -  Requires CA-signed certificates on each DataStack instance. 

  • -  Nginx configured for HTTPS 

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Note: Certificates must be publicly trusted; self-signed certificates are generally insufficient if working with system-on-chop (SoC) devices. 

2. Configure the load balancer 

Depending on your SSL choice: 

a.  Load Balancer Terminates SSL (for 1a) 

  • -  Deploy the load balancer in front of both DataStack instances. 

  • -  Configure the load balancer with FQDN and static IP address. 

  • -  Install the public SSL certificate on the load balancer. 

  • -  Configure traffic forwarding to DataStack HTTP endpoints. 

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b.  SSL Passthrough (for 1b) 

  • -  Deploy the load balancer in front of both DataStack instances. 

  • -  Configure the load balancer with FQDN and static IP address. 

  • -  Configure traffic to be passed directly to the DataStack HTTPS endpoints without terminating SSL. 

  • -  Ensure each DataStack has a valid CA-signed certificate. 

3. Choose the load balancing mode 

Configure the load balancer in one of the following modes: 

a.  Active/Passive 

  • -  One DataStack instance handles all traffic. 

  • -  The load balancer automatically redirects traffic to the secondary instance if the primary becomes unavailable. 

b.  Active/Active 

  • Both DataStack instances handle traffic concurrently, sharing the load. 

4. Configure data sources 

Ensure all data sources feed both DataStack instances independently, so failover does not cause data gaps or loss. 

5. Configure Ink clients to connect via the load balancer FQDN 

When configuring DataStack in Ink, use the load balancer’s FQDN as the connection endpoint for clients. 

Additional Notes 

Your networking team may use any load balancer or configuration that achieves seamless failover between servers.  Verify that health checks or probes are configured so the load balancer can detect when a server becomes unavailable. 

 

 

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