Configure ArcGIS Object datastore in High Availability

[geography-matters]

Hi,

We are going to deploy an ArcGIS Enterprise v11.4 in high availability with a total of eight machines:-

1. Two portal machines

2. Two hosting server machines 

3. Two datastores (relational + object) machines

4. Two webadaptor machines

I have doubts about deploying an object datastore in a high availability configuration, which consists of two machines. Which mode do I need to select, SingleInstance or cluster? As per the documentation, I am pretty clear that the mode can't be the SingleInstance for cluster mode; the documentation says that -

For SingleInstance mode only one machine is required and for cluster mode at least three machines are required but if we have only two machines for object datastore then which mode I need to select. 

                                                             Or 

It is not possible to configure an object datastore with two machines.

Any response will be highly appreciated!

Thanks

Ayush

[DavidCrosby]

It's not possible to configure the Object Store on just two machines.  You will need cluster mode and three machines for a proper HA configuration.  While you could do a single instance mode and install on one of the Data Store servers I would not suggest it, as it would not be HA and the mode cannot be changed after the initial configuration.

[SimonSchütte_ct]

@DavidCrosby Thank you! This information should be highlighted (like in bold) in all relevant places in the documentation.
For example it is not mentioned here: Deprecation: ArcGIS Data Store Tile Cache Data Store Deprecation Notice I left some feedback on related documentation pages. Object Stores are also not represented in the HA diagrams shared here for example: Highly available ArcGIS Enterprise deployment scenarios—Portal for ArcGIS | Documentation for ArcGIS...

[DavidCrosby]

@SimonSchütte_ct You're welcome!  I don't know if it is helpful, but for reference this is documented in the Architecture Center.

[BillFox]

take a look at the similar setup for spatio-temporal data stores

[SimonSchütte_ct]

I am setting up the Object Stores on 3 machines now, but the documentation is somewhat meagre on the topic.

I installed and configured three object stores from cli at the same time:
configuredatastore gisserver.example.com admin %password% /datastore/object --stores object --mode cluster

The cluster is not finalized and when accessing :2443/arcgis/datastore I get "You have successfully configured 1 of the 3 minimum required machines..."

This is the describedatastore output:

Data store release 11.5.0.56755

Information for object store w1tiknx
==============================================================
Deployment mode.............cluster
Threshold for READONLY mode..........5120MB
Data store mode......................READWRITE
Registered machines.........MACHINE1.EXAMPLE.COM (Comment: Store2: MACHINE2.EXAMPLE.COM, Store3: MACHINE3.EXAMPLE.COM)
Owning system URL...........https://gisserver.example.com:6443/server/admin (Comment: same for all 3)
Portal for ArcGIS URL.......""
Is cluster finalized........false

All three Object Stores show up as registered in the Server Manager and the Admin endpoint (same for all 3 Data Stores: Role:CLUSTER_MEMBER, isDataNodeEnabled:true, managerNumber:1).

"If you script the creation of multiple spatiotemporal big data store machines, one spatiotemporal big data store machine must be manually configured with the GIS Server site before you can script the creation of additional spatiotemporal big data store machines. Include wait times in your script to be sure the additional spatiotemporal big data store machines are not added at the same time."
Does this also apply for Object Stores?

Should I have installed them one after the other?
How do I get the cluster up and running?
Should I unregister 2 of the three and register them one after the other again?

[DavidCrosby]

@SimonSchütte_ct It should be ok to install the software all at the same time.  However you would want to configure them sequentially.  I think what the message is saying is that you've created an Object Data Store in cluster mode successfully, but as 3 machines are required, it is saying you have only successfully configured 1.  I think you are safe to unregister machines 2 and 3, and then run the command to configure them using the same one on each machine.

configuredatastore myserver.example.com siteadmin T1n@sp c:\ftcacheds --stores object --mode cluster

[SimonSchütte_ct]

Thank you!  But how do I identify the one that is configured? All parameters look the same for all Object Stores I checked - or is it not important which one I unregister? (Because all three each think they are "the one")

[Ben_Lin]

You can unregister the object store from ArcGIS Server Admin API via https://gisserver.example.com:6443/arcgis/admin

Goto Home > data > items > cloudStores , copy the Child Items name, then go back to Home > data, unregisterItem, paste the item name and unregister item.

Once you have unregistered the object store from your ArcGIS Server site, you can stop all data store services, then delete or rename your data store content folder, start data store services again, this time configure cluster object store one machine at a time.  When you finish the 3rd machine, you shall see the following from describedatastore command.

Is cluster finalized........true

[SimonSchütte_ct]

Thanks, I assume all three Object Stores think they are the first. I would have preferred if they figured out that they are clustered by themselves.
I will try unregistering two of them first, then registering them again in sequence in the hopes that's it.
Don´t want to delete the data store content folder.