combine servers in grid architecture

[woo]

Hello, is it good idea to combined two servers (for example, metadata server and grid control server, gsub and mid-tier) when we are planning to bring in new physical servers? Plan is to minimize the cost.

I am assuming it should be fine since we won't be running jobs either on metadata/grid control server or mid-tier/gsub server (just executing batch job from gsub, job still will be running on worker nodes). what are the implications in terms of performance? Thank you.

[JuanS_OCS]

Hello @woo,

technically speaking, it should be fine, but there are some topics to consider. Let me share what comes to m mind at this moment:

- of course, if you mix services, the calculation for the sizing towards performance is a bit more complex, but it is only a sizing exercise. Not big deal.

- If you have grid, you probably would like to have HA and performance. Create a load balancing configuration when you mix several components is much harder. In middle tier you create a cluster, in metadata a quorum and in GRID compute you configure EGO and the load balancing. Probably as I say this you can see the additional efforts and possible risks. So, not saying a no-no. Just bringing in the fact that you need effort and expertise.

- Same goes for failover and DR, increasing the times for recovery.

- for a DTA environment, it is probably fine to assume a few risks or additional maintenance / times,  but in production it seems sensible to me to increase a bit the costs, in pro of reducing risks and increasing availability/performance.

[woo]

Thank you Juan for your inputs, it makes sense. Appreciate it.