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Comparison of manually and dynamically allocated tiers

The following table shows a detailed set of features and functions available in Cassatt Active Response, depending on the type of implementation you choose.

  Manually allocated tiers Dynamically allocated tiers
Cassatt Active Response functions
Adding servers to Cassatt Active Response A manual process; even if only one tier in your Cassatt Active Response environment is manually allocated, all servers must be added to Cassatt Active Response manually. Cassatt Active Response provides automatic node discovery and hardware inventory.
IP address assignment IP addresses are assigned by you (statically or from your existing DHCP server). Assigned by Cassatt Active Response; you can reserve IP addresses for greater control.
DNS You provide. Cassatt Active Response–provided.
Tier-related functions
Server assignment to applications Assigned permanently and statically: just as they are in your data center today. Assigned temporarily; assets belong to a global resource pool.
Network assignment to applications Static or manipulated manually. Automatic (see Understanding the Network Virtualization Service).
Application image storage On server's local disk; implies risk of version skew. In Cassatt Active Response image matrix; no risk of version skew.
Application image update Manual or via a tool external to Cassatt Active Response. Cassatt Active Response rolling update versions software on each node, one at a time, so application operations are not interrupted. See Tier and Image Management.
Node failure management

When a node fails, Cassatt Active Response can:

  • Reboot the failed node
  • Replace the failed node only if another node with the same application on its local disk is available for use in the tier

When a node fails, Cassatt Active Response can:

  • Reboot the failed node
  • Move the failed node to the maintenance pool and run diagnostics
  • Replace the failed node with a server that meets tier hardware requirements from the free pool
  • Replace the failed node with a server that meets tier hardware requirements from a lower priority tier
VM management None. Similar to physical node management; see Understanding Cassatt Active Response Virtualization Manager.
Supported operating systems Any. Limited; contact support@cassatt.com.

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