Cluster scaling design
As you plan a Spotfire Statistics Services cluster deployment, consider whether use the vertical or horizontal scaling design.
The Spotfire Statistics Services cluster is no different, conceptually, than a standalone deployment. The standalone, a single computer, processes all incoming requests. The job database manages the job queue and holds information needed during the job lifecycle. The engines execute the jobs, and the local file system contains all of the required files, along with the configuration and any results generated during job execution.
Vertical Scaling
The simple design of Spotfire Statistics Services allows vertical scaling. That is, you can provide more capacity by upgrading hardware on the standalone computer. For example, adding processors, memory, or storage could increase overall computing power or allow the system to support more users.
In many cases, vertically scaling Spotfire Statistics Services is a reasonable choice and certainly has its benefits. For example, you need to maintain only a single computer. The drawback to this approach is that it usually requires careful initial planning to find a computer that will meet growth requirements. In addition, a single computer generally indicates a single point of failure.
Horizontal Scaling
To address issues of growth requirements and scalability, as well as those of single point of failure, Spotfire Statistics Services supports horizontal scaling. In other words, increasing capacity does not require modifications to a single computer. Rather, it only requires installing the software on additional computers that work together. This is the basis for the Spotfire Statistics Services cluster.