---
title: "High Availability Architectures: Mirror, Farm, and Advanced Software Clustering"
description: "High Availability Architectures: Mirror, Farm, and Advanced Software Clustering What are the different high availability architectures and the different software clusters with SafeKit?"
canonical: "https://safekit.eviden.com/architectures/"
topics: "What are the different high availability architectures and the different software clusters with SafeKit?, How to build high availability clusters with SafeKit?, 🔍 SafeKit High Availability Navigation Hub"
category: "architectures"
lang: "en"
---

<h1 id="high-availability-architectures-mirror-farm-and-advanced-software-clustering">High Availability Architectures: Mirror, Farm, and Advanced Software Clustering</h1>
<h2 id="what-are-the-different-high-availability-architectures-and-the-different-software-clusters-with-safekit">What are the different high availability architectures and the different software clusters with SafeKit?</h2>
<h3 id="mirror-cluster">Mirror cluster</h3>
<img src="/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/safekit-prim-second-300.png" width="300" alt="SafeKit mirror cluster">
<p><a href="/architectures/file-replication-byte-level-with-failover-mirror-cluster/">More information</a></p>
<h3 id="farm-cluster">Farm cluster</h3>
<img src="/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/safekit-up-up-up-300.png" width="300" alt="SafeKit farm cluster">
<p><a href="/architectures/network-load-balancing-cluster/">More information</a></p>
<h3 id="farmmirror-cluster">Farm+mirror cluster</h3>
<img src="/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/safekit-farm-mirror-300-4.png" width="300" alt="SafeKit farm + mirror cluster">
<p><a href="/architectures/clustering-software-load-balancing-mirroring/">More information</a></p>
<h3 id="activeactive-cluster">Active/active cluster</h3>
<img src="/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/safekit-mirror-mirror-300-1.png" width="300" alt="SafeKit active active cluster with real-time replication">
<p><a href="/architectures/active-active-cluster-real-time-replication/">More information</a></p>
<h3 id="n-1-cluster">N-1 cluster</h3>
<img src="/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/safekit-n-1-300-3.png" width="300" alt="SafeKit N-1 redundancy cluster">
<p><a href="/architectures/n-1-redundancy/">More information</a></p>
<h2 id="how-to-build-high-availability-clusters-with-safekit">How to build high availability clusters with SafeKit?</h2>
<h3 id="use-high-availability-modules">Use high availability modules</h3>
<p>A high availability module is a customization of SafeKit for an application. There are two types of modules: the mirror module with real-time data replication and failover and the farm module with load balancing and failover.</p>
<p>If you deploy a mirror module on 2 servers, then you create a mirror cluster and if you deploy a farm module on N servers, then you create a farm cluster.</p>
<p>Several application modules can be deployed on the same servers. Thus, advanced clustering architectures can be implemented like those presented previously (farm+mirror, active/active, N-1).</p>
<h3 id="what-is-an-application-module">What is an application module?</h3>
<p>In practice, an application module is a “.Safe” file (zip type) including:</p>
<p>1 - the configuration file userconfig.xml which contains:</p>
<ul>
<li>names or physical IP addresses of the servers,</li>
<li>name or virtual IP address of the cluster,</li>
<li>file directories to replicate in real time (for a mirror module),</li>
<li>network load balancing criteria (for a farm module),</li>
<li>configuration of software and hardware failures detectors</li>
</ul>
<p>2 - the scripts to start and stop the application.</p>
<h3 id="plug-and-play-deployment-of-high-availability-modules">Plug and play deployment of high availability modules</h3>
<p>Once an application module is configured and tested with an application, deployment requires no specific IT skills:</p>
<ol>
<li>install application on 2 standard servers (physical or virtual),</li>
<li>install the SafeKit software on both servers,</li>
<li>install the application module on both servers.</li>
</ol>
<h2 id="hub">🔍 SafeKit High Availability Navigation Hub</h2>
<p><strong>Explore SafeKit: Features, technical videos, documentation, and free trial</strong></p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Resource Type</th>
<th>Description</th>
<th>Direct Link</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>Key Features</strong></td>
<td>Why Choose SafeKit for Simple and Cost-Effective High Availability?</td>
<td><a href="/#why-choose-safekit-for-ha" title="Discover SafeKit features for simple and cost-effective high availability">See Why Choose SafeKit for High Availability</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Use Cases</strong></td>
<td>Explore How SafeKit Ensures the High Availability of Critical Infrastructure</td>
<td><a href="/#safekit-use-cases" title="Explore SafeKit high availability use cases">See All Use Cases (OEM Software, Edge Servers, SCADA, and more)</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Deployment Model</strong></td>
<td>All-in-One SANless HA: Shared-Nothing Software Clustering</td>
<td><a href="/#all-in-one-sanless-ha" title="Learn about all-in-one SANless high availability with shared-nothing software clustering">See SafeKit All-in-One SANless HA</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>HA Strategies</strong></td>
<td>SafeKit: Infrastructure (VM) vs. Application-Level High Availability</td>
<td><a href="/#safekit-ha-redundancy-choices" title="Compare VM-level redundancy with SafeKit application-level high availability strategies">See SafeKit HA &amp; Redundancy: VM vs. Application Level</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Technical Specifications</strong></td>
<td>Technical Limitations for SafeKit Clustering</td>
<td><a href="/#safekit-ha-limitations" title="Technical requirements and limitations for SafeKit application clustering">See SafeKit High Availability Limitations</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Proof of Concept</strong></td>
<td>SafeKit: High Availability Configuration &amp; Failover Demos</td>
<td><a href="/#safekit-failover-tutorials" title="Step-by-step videos on SafeKit high availability, from installation to automated failover">See SafeKit Failover Tutorials</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Architecture</strong></td>
<td>How the SafeKit Mirror Cluster works (Real-Time Replication &amp; Failover)</td>
<td><a href="/#safekit-mirror-cluster" title="See technical architecture and failover mechanism of SafeKit Mirror Cluster">See SafeKit Mirror Cluster: Real-Time Replication &amp; Failover</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Architecture</strong></td>
<td>How the SafeKit Farm Cluster works (Network Load Balancing &amp; Failover)</td>
<td><a href="/#safekit-farm-cluster" title="Technical overview of SafeKit Farm Cluster architecture with network load balancing">See SafeKit Farm Cluster: Network Load Balancing &amp; Failover</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Competitive Advantages</strong></td>
<td>Comparison: SafeKit vs. Traditional High Availability (HA) Clusters</td>
<td><a href="/#safekit-ha-comparison" title="Detailed comparison of SafeKit software vs traditional hardware-based HA clusters">See SafeKit vs. Traditional HA Cluster Comparison</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Technical Resources</strong></td>
<td>SafeKit High Availability: Documentation, Downloads &amp; Trial</td>
<td><a href="/#safekit-ha-technical-resources" title="Access SafeKit free trial, technical documentation, and high availability white papers">See SafeKit HA Free Trial &amp; Technical Documentation</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Pre-configured Solutions</strong></td>
<td>SafeKit Application Module Library: Ready-to-Use HA Solutions</td>
<td><a href="/#safekit-ha-application-modules" title="Browse the library of pre-configured SafeKit modules for automated application failover">See SafeKit High Availability Application Modules</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
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