Hi Mike
Welcome! And nice to hear about your using Shoal.
Mike Wannamaker wrote:
>
> *Hi,*
>
> * *
>
> *I was wondering a few things about shoal. I am researching whether
> we can put shoal into our system as the clustering framework. We
> currently have our own api for cluster messages and we used JGROUPs
> for communication layer. *
>
> * *
>
> *1) **In a multi-homed machine, more than 1 nic, can I specify the
> main IP address I want a specific instance to communicate on?*
>
Yes. This was a recent addition. Please look in
ServiceProviderConfigurationKeys.java
<
https://shoal.dev.java.net/source/browse/shoal/gms/src/java/com/sun/enterprise/ee/cms/core/ServiceProviderConfigurationKeys.java?rev=1.7&view=markup>
: the key to use is BIND_INTERFACE_ADDRESS, and the demo
ApplicationServer.java
<
https://shoal.dev.java.net/source/browse/shoal/gms/tests/com/sun/enterprise/ee/cms/tests/ApplicationServer.java?rev=1.12&view=markup>
to see how to pass through the value for this to Shoal. You will need to
pick up the latest bits from downloads page
<
https://shoal.dev.java.net/servlets/ProjectDocumentList>.
>
> **
>
> *2) **Is there any performance data for shoal? IE: What the
> message threshold is before you start saturating the network?*
>
We have not done that yet. But given that it uses Jxta under the covers
which supports NIO on tcp channels, you should see very good peer to
peer performance.
We have been focusing on getting the membership ecosystem correct under
different failure conditions and loads that consuming applications are
under. If you have a performance test, it would be very helpful to know
where we stand and where we can improve based on OS and machine config,
JDK version and the size of message payloads.
> **
>
> *3) **Is there a way to get the InetAddress of a machine through
> it's messages? IE: When I get a JoinedAndReady notification or a
> Failure notification can I get the InetAddress of the machine joined
> or failed?*
>
We could expose that if that is of value to you. Could you please file
an RFE in the Shoal Issue Tracker <
https://shoal.dev.java.net/issues/>?
The idea behind Shoal APIs though was to avoid the need for apps to know
the underlying locational details of the members and use only logical
names for apps consuming it. This frees the app developer from having to
worry about locational or address change of members. It would help us to
hear about your use case on this.
> **
>
> *4) **Is there a way to set the time detection of a suspected
> failed node? IE: Right now I think it takes around 20 seconds or so?
> Is this configurable and at what cost?*
>
Yes, it is configurable. Look in ServiceProviderConfigurationKeys.java
again and refer to the keys related to Failure. Also look in the demo
ApplicationServer.java on how it be passed through a Properties object.
Let us know how it goes.
Cheers
Shreedhar
>
> **
>
> * *
>
> *Thanks*
>
> *Mike*
>