IT Infrastructure
Mathdoc is supported by on-site infrastructure consisting of groups of servers, which are considered as single resource called a computer cluster, as well as dedicated backup servers. These clusters use the Proxmox operating system (OS) specialised in the virtualisation of operating systems (VMs) and the creation of computer clusters. Clustering with Proxmox enables the following:
- provisioning virtual machines (VMs)
- management of VMs’ access security using the Proxmox firewall
- high availability, with the replication of VMs across multiple servers
Mathdoc uses two computer clusters hosted in two separate data centres affiliated with GRICAD. The first computer cluster consists of four physical servers called nodes. It has 96 physical microprocessors and 40 TB of usable data storage. It is hosted at the IMAG data centre (DC-IMAG) and provides VMs for institutional websites and back-ends of work applications developed by Mathdoc.
The second computer cluster consists of three nodes for a total of 80 physical microprocessors and 38 TB of usable data storage. It is hosted by the data centre of UGA’s Shared Information Systems Department (DC-DSIM) and provides VMs for development, applications and testing.
Backup management
Mathdoc manages backups on three independent physical servers, which are separate from the computer clusters. Each server uses a specific software program, each with its own operating mode:
- the block mode is based on the properties of the Proxmox Backup Server operating system (OS),an OS designed for backup based on the Proxmox environment, and the ZFS file system,which enables backups and snapshots of the system status of virtual machines (VMs) and the servers hosting VMs (hypervisors).
- client / server mode via BackupPC software. The server initiates the backup of VMs and Mathdoc’s shared development data.
- Push mode via Borg software. The client initiates the backup of Mathdoc’s working data.
