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Cluster Mechanism

Cluster Types

HyWorks can be deployed in the following cluster configurations:

  • Standalone: A single HyWorks node can host the management role, access role and database role for the smallest deployment.

  • Active-Passive Cluster with 2 Nodes: A two-node cluster with all the roles - management role, session role & database in active-passive mode. Database synchronization response mechanism between the active node and the passive node is handled by Accops HyWorks and no database clustering is needed.

  • Active-Active Cluster with self-managed database: A two or more node cluster with management & database roles in Active-Passive. The Session node role works in the Active-Active mode. Database synchronization between the active and passive nodes are handled by Accops HyWorks and no database clustering is needed.

  • Active-Active Cluster with database clustering: A two or more node cluster with management & database roles in Active-Passive. The Session node role works in Active-Active mode. A clustered database is to be setup externally and used with the HyWorks cluster.

HyWorks Cluster Active-Passive 2 Node Cluster

Active-Passive 2 Nodes HyWorks Controller cluster has the following mechanism:

  1. Secondary HyWorks nodes will start syncing their databases with the Primary HyWorks Controller. Synchronization happens every 60 seconds so that the Secondary HyWorks Controller is always having latest details from the primary server.

  2. The Secondary HyWorks Controller will stop it's active services i.e. broadcasting, communication with the Session Providers and accepting user logon requests

  3. The Secondary HyWorks Controller will not accept the HyWorks Client's heartbeats and registration requests

  4. When the HyWorks client connects to the Primary Controller server, the Controller server shares the host address of both controllers in a cluster

The HyWorks client will keep the details of the HyWorks Controller cluster and use in the following order:

  1. Connect to the Primary HyWorks Controller -- All devices will eventually connect to the primary HyWorks Controller

  2. Connect to the Secondary HyWorks Controller, if the primary HyWorks Controller is unavailable

HyWorks Controller Active-Active Cluster

Active-Active HyWorks Controller cluster has the following mechanism:

  1. A minimum of 2 nodes are set up with the "Management Role". These two nodes will work like the Active-Passive cluster function.

  2. If using a non-clustered Microsoft SQL server setup, then the HyWorks primary and secondary will start synchronizing the database on their own. The secondary initiates synchronization from the primary.

  3. If using an external clustered database, then both the HyWorks nodes will start working with an external database without a synchronization function.

  4. A "Session Role" needs to be configured on at least 1 node. Please note, with one session node, it may become the single point of failure and hence, for production deployment minimum two session nodes should be deployed.

  5. If more than 1 Session Role nodes are configured, then an external load balancer is required to do load balancing for these nodes.

    1. It is possible to use both Layer 3 and Layer 4 load balancing.

    2. Load balancing functionality available in the Accops HySecure product can be used to load balance the HyWorks Session Nodes.

    3. If neither (external load balancer or HySecure) is available, use the Microsoft NLB (Network Load Balancing) feature.

  6. The Session Nodes are working on port 38866 and the same port needs to be load balanced at the load balancer level.

  7. Endpoint devices running HyWorks client connect to the virtual IP address assigned at the load balancer level to talk to the Session Nodes. Endpoint devices do not communicate with the management nodes.

  8. The SHD and DVM agents running on Shared Hosted Desktop VM and dedicated virtual desktops VM also communicate with the Session nodes via the virtual IP address provided by the load balancer.

  9. The load balancer must provide a high availability of the virtual IP address set for the Session nodes.


Diagram: Active-Active cluster with multiple nodes & HyWorks managed database


Diagram: Active-Active cluster with multiple nodes & external clustered database

Advance Configurations

Advance configurations are available on the HyWorks Controller Management Console and can be accessed from Settings > General > Advance Settings.

  • Clustering: All High Availability related configurations are available in the Clustering Group section.