Deploying a stand-alone Sametime Community Mux for a single Sametime Community Server

There are performance advantages associated with deploying a stand-alone Sametime® Community Mux in front of an IBM® Sametime Community Server computer (or computers) that does not operate as part of a Community Server cluster.

During the Community Server installation, the Community Mux is installed. The installation provides an option to install only the Community Mux. Use this option if you want to install the Community Mux on a different computer than the Community Server.

When the Community Mux is installed on a different computer than the Community Server:

  • The Sametime Connect Clients connect to the Community Mux, not to the Community Server. This configuration frees the Community Server from the burden of managing the live client connections; the Community Mux is dedicated to this task.
  • The Community Mux maintains a single IP connection to the Community Server. The data from all clients is transmitted over this single IP connection to the Community Server.
  • You can optionally deploy the Community Mux in the DMZ to forward traffic to a Community Server installed on the intranet.

In this scenario, the Community Server does not need to employ system resources to maintain thousands of client connections. Removing the connection-handling load from the Community Server ensures these system resources can be dedicated to other Community Server processing tasks.

The Community Mux dedicates its system resources to handling client connections but does not perform other Community Server processing. Distributing the Community Server workload between multiple servers in this way enables the Community Server to handle a larger number of user connections and to function efficiently.

Performance improvements with a stand-alone Sametime Community Mux

A Sametime Community server can support up to approximately 33,000 connections and a single Community MUX can also support that capacity; however, best practices suggest using two Community Muxes per Community Server to reduce the load on the Community Server.

However, if the Community Server is not required to expend system resources to maintain client connections, the server can service approximately 100,000 connections. The Community Server is capable of processing the Community Server data from over 100,000 connections if it does not have to maintain the connections itself.

When a Community Mux is installed on a separate computer, the Community Mux can support approximately 60,000 live IP port connections. You can also deploy multiple Community Muxes in front of a Community Server.

To summarize the performance benefits of a stand-alone Community Mux deployment, consider the following example:

  • You can install three separate Community Muxes in front of a single Community Server. If each Community Mux handles 20,000 connections, as many as 60,000 users can be connected to a single Community Server at one time.
  • If the Community Server is capable of servicing 100,000 connections, the server performance will not degrade with the load produced by 60,000 connections.
  • If the Community Mux operates on the Community Server instead of being deployed separately, the Community Server can service a maximum of 10,000 users. By deploying three stand-alone Community Muxes in front of a single Community Server, you can service 50,000 more users (assuming one connection per user) than if the Community Mux operates on the same computer as the Community Server.
  • If you deploy stand-alone Community Muxes in the manner described previously, you can also implement a rotating DNS system, or IBM WebSphere® Edge Server, in front of the Community Muxes to load balance connections to the stand-alone Community Muxes.