Design Specs: Scalability

Objectives

To build a robust and scalable platform for hosting the next generation of the WormBase website.

Limitations of the Current System

As of Jan 2010, the WormBase website resides on a heterogeneous cluster of web and database servers. A single server running the squid reverse proxy software load balances across these servers.

Although this system scales easily and has served WormBase well for six years, it is not ideal for the following reasons.

1. Multiple single points of redundancy that require manual intervention to resolve

2. Difficulty of configuration and management of reverse proxy software

3. Lack of true fault tolerance in system

4. Heterogeneity complicates management, backups, production releases