Hi All,
I'm working on a project where we want to have batches of reports being scheduled to specific server groups. Currently when these batches are run, the reports use the "first available server" option in CMC. This is problematic as the reports are just being scheduled to whatever server has the least load at the time, so on demand reports just have to wait until the long batches are over before they can be scheduled.
In CMC, there are two options for setting up server groups:
"Give preference to servers belonging to the selected group"
"Only use servers belonging to the selected group"
Our fix was to schedule these batches to server groups so that some of the servers would be available for on demand reporting. Since our goal is to have distinct server groups to help with load balance, we went with the "Only use" option. The functionality of this is pretty clear: Even if the needed servers (AJS) are disabled, stopped, or busy, the reports will still be scheduled to this server group. However, the functionality regarding the "Give preference" option is unclear.
My question is: Under what conditions would BusinessObjects switch to using a server not included in the server group if the "Give preference" option were used?
As far as documentation goes, the best answer I found was that the server would switch when the needed servers are "not available". What exactly does this mean?
When the server is disabled? (Assuming yes, this would be good for us)
When the server is stopped? (Assuming yes, this would be good for us)
When the server is busy? (No idea..., if yes, this would be bad)
If the server switches when the specified server is busy, then we just run into the same issue we had before, so we wouldn't want to do that. Does anyone have any insight into how this works so we can figure out which option to go with?
Thanks everyone!
Valentin Lazar
