ClusterScale Launch, ClusterMirror. The First Database Appliance of its Type.

PRLog (Press Release) – Apr 21, 2008 – The ClusterMirror appliance comes pre-configured and optimised for MySQL, DRBD and HA-Linux. Companies with legacy dependences on expensive proprietary software and hardware are looking at how proven low-cost open source solutions such as MySQL and DRBD (Distributed Replicated Block Device) can help lower their costs without sacrificing availability, performance or scalability.

ClusterMirror uses a network-mirrored block device which employs synchronous data replication transparent to the file system. ClusterMirror leverages this technology with the open-source Linux Heartbeat package to provide businesses with the seamless redundancy of a database server and its applications; all data is synchronously written to both nodes, with automatic failover handled by Linux Heartbeat in a matter of seconds.

The underlying technology of the ClusterMirror appliance is database agnostic, so any Linux based application server can be mirrored easily. Typical installations are usually MySQL or Oracle but businesses could mirror any application server such as a CRM or Accounts system, etc.

Normal replication is asynchronous; this means data is copied from one machine to another in blocks, with a resultant delay in the actual copying likely to result in transaction loss on failure of the master. Often this delay is determined by networking bandwidth, resource availability and system load. With ClusterMirror, replication is synchronous so the secondary node’s data is committed at the same time as the primary. When using ClusterMirror, data consistency and integrity is guaranteed.

Key Business Advantages:

• Create an exact mirror of a database in real time
• No shared storage or specialist hardware required
• Ease of Implementation + Fast RoI
• No modifications to application or database required
• True synchronous replication with no performance impact
• Use commodity Gigabit Ethernet links
• Intuitive web interface
• Instant disaster recovery solution


Technical Specifications:

ClusterMirror Appliance; >1Gb throughput, Hot swap RAID, MySQL, Onsite Hardware support: RRP £14,995.00
ClusterMirror Custom Build; Unrestricted throughput, Hot swap RAID, MySQL/Oracle/DB2, Onsite Hardware support, RRP £TBA