Clustering - Novell ACCESS MANAGER 3.1 SP1 - IDENTITY SERVER Manual

Statistic
Data Location External
Service

11.6.9 Clustering

An authoritative server is the cluster member that holds the authentication information for a given
user session. For a request associated with a given session to be processed, it must be routed
("proxied") to the authoritative cluster member. If an L4 switch causes a request to go to a non-
authoritative cluster member, that cluster member proxies that request to the authoritative cluster
member.
When a request is received, a cluster member uses multiple means to determine which cluster
member is the authoritative server for the request. It looks for a parameter on the query string of the
URL indicating the authoritative server. It looks for an HTTP cookie, indicating the authoritative
server. If these do not exist, the cluster member examines the payload of the HTTP request to
determine the authoritative server. Payload examinations result in immediate identification of the
authoritative server or a user session ID or user identity ID that can be used to locate the
authoritative server.
If a user session ID or user identity ID is found, the ID is broadcast to all cluster members asking
which member is the authoritative server for the given ID. The authoritative server receives the
broadcast message, determines that it indeed holds the given session or user, and responds
accordingly.
The higher the number of proxied requests, the lower the performance of the entire system.
Furthermore, the higher the number of payload examinations and ID broadcasts, the lower the
performance of the entire system.
Statistic
Currently Active Proxied
Requests
Total Proxied Requests
Total Non-Proxied Requests The total number of non-proxied requests that have been processed since
Authoritative Server
Obtained from URL
Parameter
Authoritative Server
Obtained from Cookie
Payload Examinations
268 Novell Access Manager 3.1 SP1 Identity Server Guide
Description
The number of attempts to use an External Service as a remote data
location for a query or modify of any Web Service since the Identity Server
was started. An External Service is where the same Web Service exists on
an external Service Provider and a call can be made to request data from
the service.
Description
The number of currently active proxied requests HTTP requests.
The total number of proxied requests that have been processed since the
Identity Server was started. This is the case where the request hits a non-
authoritative (wrong) box.
the Identity Server was started. This is the case where the request hits the
authoritative (correct) box.
The total number of authoritative servers identified using the parameter
from the URL query string since the Identity Server was started.
The total number of authoritative servers identified using the HTTP cookie
since the Identity Server was started.
The total number of attempted payload examinations to identify the
authoritative server since the Identity Server was started.