Configuring Core Application database for high-availability

The core application database supports the following: Microsoft SQL, Oracle, Postgres, and MySQL.

All of the database information here assumes that you have successfully deployed your database system of choice in an HA configuration, ensuring that the database server itself is not a single point of failure.

Note: You may choose to configure redundant databases and replicate data between them. Jive does not provide database replication configuration or support. Your data center or DBA team, or both, must provide database support for you and your configuration. We have seen customers successfully deploy Oracle RAC and SQL server HA configurations with Jive.

Location of web application database configuration information

The web application database configuration information is stored on the web application nodes in an XML file that lives in Jive home (usually /usr/local/jive/applications/[name of your application]/home/jive_startup.xml). For more information on how to set up the core application database string on the web application nodes, see Configuring Web Application servers for high-availability. For more information on what must be persisted in the core application database during disaster recovery, see Restoring database with persistent properties.

Supported Core Application databases

Microsoft SQL Server

Jive supports the JTDS database driver for communication between the Jive instance and Microsoft SQL Server. While Jive does not specifically perform load or functional tests against Microsoft SQL Server in a cluster or failover configuration, the JTDS driver does appear to support SQL Server clustering.

Jive does not currently support the Microsoft JDBC driver. Jive is aware of and is actively working with customers who have deployed Jive in an HA configuration using Microsoft SQL Server.

Oracle
Jive supports the OCI database driver for both the core web application and the Activity Engine application, which is supported by Oracle with their Oracle RAC database system deployments. While Jive does not specifically perform load or functional tests against an Oracle in a RAC cluster or failover configuration, the OCI driver does appear to support Oracle RAC. Jive is aware of and is actively working with customers who have deployed Jive in an HA configuration using Oracle RAC.
Postgres
Jive supports several version of Postgres, as listed in Supported database engines. The Postgres 9 supports two different types of high availability: hot standby, streaming replication and warm standby, and log shipping which, in theory, would allow for transparent and automatic failover, assuming there is a way to automatically redirect all traffic from the live production database server to the hot standby backup server. Jive is not aware of any customers who have deployed against a Postgres instance configured in this manner. If a mechanism exists for failing over a database server from one node to another, or from one data center to another, without disrupting the web application nodes, Jive supports the configuration.
MySQL
Similar to Postgres, there are multiple ways of deploying a highly available MySQL database system. Also similar to Postgres, Jive is not aware of any customers who have deployed against a MySQL instance configured in this manner. If a mechanism exists for failing over a database server from one node to another, or from one data center to another, without disrupting the web application nodes, Jive will support the configuration.