Components of Adeptia Suite

This section describes the Adeptia Suite components – Kernel, WebRunner, Back-end database, Log database, and Repository.   

Kernel

Kernel is a run time environment of Adeptia Suite. It handles all the jobs that are executing. For example, execution of Process Flows, Scheduling of Events, Queue Processing, and Process flow Recoveries.

Kernel in Clustering mode (for information on Clustering, refer to Clustering Deployment Guide)

When you enable clustering, the execution of process flow is distributed among Kernels of each instance of Adeptia Suite server. All the requests first go to the Primary Node, which in turn, distributes the jobs among all other kernels. It is the Primary Node, which manages Scheduling of Events and Queue Processing. If any node goes down, the Primary Node identifies the process flow (running on that node), recovers them, and again distributes the execution among the available nodes. 

WebRunner

WebRunner handles all the user's requests such as creating, editing, and deleting of activities through GUI.

WebRunner in Clustering mode

When you enable clustering in Adeptia Suite, it is enabled only for Kernel, not for WebRunner. If you want to load balance the GUI requests, you can use an external load balancer for WebRunners. Make sure that WebRunner runs on all the nodes. Secure Bridge and Secure Engine users must always use an external load balancer. 

Databases

Adeptia Suite requires two types of databases, namely, Back-end database and Log database.

Back-end database

Back-end database is used to store the objects. All the activities (Process flows, activities, users, and more) created through GUI are stored in the back-end database. By default, Adeptia Suite uses HSQLDB (which is an embedded database) as a back-end database.

Back-end database in Clustering mode

While setting up a clustered environment:

• • All the nodes of the cluster must use same back-end database.

• • Adeptia Suite does not provide Clustering or Fail-over setup for the databases, however, you can set according to the database you use. For load sharing purposes, it is recommended to configure master/slave or replication (refer to the related database documentation).

Log Database:

Adeptia Suite maintain logs of the design time and run time activities that you run within Adeptia Suite. For example, Process flow log, event log, and more. Adeptia Suite writes all these logs to the log database.

Log database in Clustering mode

While setting up a clustered environment:

• • All the nodes of the cluster must use same log database.
  • In addition, for load sharing purposes, it is recommended to configure master/slave or replication (refer to the related database documentation).

Shared Location

Adeptia Suite stores intermediate data to be used throughout the process flow execution. This data can be accessed by all the nodes of a cluster. So, before enabling a cluster, you must set up a shared location that has both read and write permissions, and can be accessed by all the nodes of a cluster. Depending on your operating system, you may use any of the File Sharing services. Some of the popular options include NFS, Samba / CIFS, and SSHFS.

The intermediate data is stored in the following folders:

Repository Folder

When the process flow is executed, data from the source is converted to an intermediate form and then dispatched to the target. The intermediate data is stored in the repository folder. This must be a shared folder in the network and can be accessed by all the nodes of the cluster. There should not be any username/password required to connect this folder.

Recovery Folder

During execution of a process flow, its current state is stored in a recovery file. This recovery file is stored in a recovery folder. Whenever a process flow aborts due to Kernel shutdown, the Recovery feature handles it automatically with the help of the recovery files. These files, remains in the recovery folder unless the process flow execution is completed. This folder should be shared among all the nodes of the cluster.

Rerun Folder

The process flows may be aborted due to various reasons (for example, incorrect data mapping or schema definition). While execution, at every checkpoint, the Process Flow stores its current state in a rerun file. With the help of these files you can rerun the process flow. These files are stored in a rerun folder and should be shared among all the nodes of the cluster.

Others

When applicable, the following additional folders must also be shared amongst all the nodes of the cluster.