[Gluster-users] AFR Question

[Serdar Sahin]

Hi,

I am in the process of installing a new system, so I have been constantly
reading documents, looking for alternatives for two days, but still could
not come up with the best idea yet.

I guess Gluster is the best choice for me, however I am still not sure about
certain things. I guess, I should tell our case to better express myself.

We have 5 servers that are related with this case. Web + Static File Server
1 + Static File Server 2 + File Processing Server 1 +  File Processing
Server 2

Web Server gets a file from user and copies it to Static File Servers for
further processing. File Processing Servers get the files, process and
generate some files and copies them to the Static File Servers again. Static
File Servers will have a webserver on top of them and they will be accessed
from storage1.domain.com storage2.domain.com. (so they will be mirrored in
short) The files should be available in the static file servers as soon as
the files copied in one of them. (so it should be synchronously) We will be
using round robin method on them later.

In this case, if storage1 goes down, storage2 should be operative  (or vice
verse), file processing servers should work with storage2 and as soon as the
storage1 comes back, it should synchronize its files and be working again.
(so it should heal itself)

Which AFR method is the best suitable for this case, Server Side or Client
Side? (or is gluster suitable at all?)

Do I have to use the storage servers as client too? Is it possible to use
their hard disk directly, instead of using glusterfs on the storage servers?
So it may remove its overhead. I guess it's not possible, because the
servers need to check each other when the file accessed. Is it possible to
configure it to heal itself automatically somehow? This system will be read
heavy, but it will also have millions of files between 20kb-100mb (%95 of
the requests for reading)

What would you suggest me for me? What is the best way for this case? If you
have any additional info please let me know, as I am still in process of
learning gluster etc.

Thanks in advance,