Thread: Running 3.2 and 4.0 cluster concurrently on same host

We would like to test our 3.2 binaries on a 3.2 and 4.0 cluster where the master will reside on the same machine. Any potential issues with this?

The reason for this question, is we have a client who wants to upgrade to 4.0, but are heavily using their 3.2 cluster for some long running tests. They don't want to get any downtime from the 4.0 upgrade. So we'd like to get both clusters running concurrently, and switch them over once the 4.0 cluster is operational. Most importantly, they don't want their long running tests to fail because of the upgrade.

What O/S is the master running on? There shouldn't be any technical problems other than the potential of using up host computer resources. You have to make sure that all the ports in the 4.0 cluster don't conflict with 3.2. The parallel install upgrade is an option provided by the Symphony Support team. They can provide detailed instructions.

If you install 4.0 when 3.2 is active, the installer should warn you if you select a port that's already in use. Make sure you install 4.0 in a different directory than 3.2.

Generally we don't recommend sharing master hosts due to the extra load put on the hardware and O/S.

- Ajith

Originally Posted by esilverst

We would like to test our 3.2 binaries on a 3.2 and 4.0 cluster where the master will reside on the same machine. Any potential issues with this?

The reason for this question, is we have a client who wants to upgrade to 4.0, but are heavily using their 3.2 cluster for some long running tests. They don't want to get any downtime from the 4.0 upgrade. So we'd like to get both clusters running concurrently, and switch them over once the 4.0 cluster is operational. Most importantly, they don't want their long running tests to fail because of the upgrade.

The clusters will be running on a Windows XP box

Thanks for the reply. We'll watch out for the load. Just wanted to make sure the 2 clusters don't interfere with each other.

There may be an issue on Windows relating to running the master LIM service. I believe we put its setting in the registry and don't rely on EGO_TOP in the environment to specify the Symphony root directory. I haven't tried this for a while so I don't recall if this works. The installer creates cmd prompts in the program groups for each version. Ensure you have the correct env before using the command line.

Originally Posted by esilverst

The clusters will be running on a Windows XP box

Thanks for the reply. We'll watch out for the load. Just wanted to make sure the 2 clusters don't interfere with each other.

We're currently running and testing our application with Symphony 4.0 DE with a view to deploying the service to Symphony 3.2 (with EGO) on a linux cluster for our production runs. We prefer to develop/test on 4.0 DE because of the superior toolset in 4.0, but our firm-managed compute grid is still at 3.2.

A Sym 4.0 application may not run correctly on Sym 3.2. You may get an O/S loader error if the 4.0 app uses new interface functions. If this happens, make sure that you build your application using Sym 3.2 DE before deploying it into the 3.2 cluster.

- Ajith

Originally Posted by esilverst

We're currently running and testing our application with Symphony 4.0 DE with a view to deploying the service to Symphony 3.2 (with EGO) on a linux cluster for our production runs. We prefer to develop/test on 4.0 DE because of the superior toolset in 4.0, but our firm-managed compute grid is still at 3.2.

Originally Posted by Ajith

A Sym 4.0 application may not run correctly on Sym 3.2. You may get an O/S loader error if the 4.0 app uses new interface functions. If this happens, make sure that you build your application using Sym 3.2 DE before deploying it into the 3.2 cluster.

- Ajith

Of course, we are aware of that. We are compiling against 3.2 binaries, but testing and running applications using a 4.0 DE cluster for ease of administration (and hopefully resolve some instability issues we've been seeing - I'll start another thread on that issue).

I only mentioned this because your concern about the EGO_TOP setting may not apply to our situation. Is that var used by Symphony DE ?

Sorry for stating the obvious. I was guessing at your question. There's no issue with running Sym DE 4 on the same machine as Sym 3.2 except a possible port conflict with the SD, RS or GUI.

- Ajith

Originally Posted by esilverst

Of course, we are aware of that. We are compiling against 3.2 binaries, but testing and running applications using a 4.0 DE cluster for ease of administration (and hopefully resolve some instability issues we've been seeing - I'll start another thread on that issue).

I only mentioned this because your concern about the EGO_TOP setting may not apply to our situation. Is that var used by Symphony DE ?