Many occasions we have been requested to implement help for centralized database (DB) and file storage. Which is comprehensible as a result of these two options open up many handy hosting-building eventualities that have been beforehand unavailable or could possibly be created solely at your individual danger. And likewise as a result of the less single factors of failure (SPOF) you’ve gotten, the extra resistant you’re to faulting the answer. Nevertheless, because the launch of Plesk Obsidian 18.0.49, utilizing centralized DB (as Beta) and Community File System (NFS) has turn out to be potential. Let’s discover out what you are able to do with every of those options.

Shared or Centralized Database

Beforehand, it was a requirement to have a regionally working database as a result of Plesk makes use of it for storing its personal database (known as “psa”). Even in the event you join an exterior database for the shoppers’ web sites, you need to have an area database service for Plesk. Which means it’s important to preserve that database like set up safety updates, make backups, watch logs, enhance disk and different assets to the server if required, and so forth. And when you’ve got numerous Plesk servers, it generates numerous extra work. This imposes one other severe limitation: you possibly can solely use the database that may be put in on the working system you’re utilizing.

However what has modified since Plesk Obsidian 18.0.49? Let’s dive a bit deeper to seek out out a couple of new eventualities:

• You need to use a lot much less databases for a fleet of Plesk servers, it reduces the quantity of upkeep work with the database(s).
• You may transfer a database from Plesk to a different server in a personal community, it’s going to enhance safety.
• Separating net and database providers means that you can optimize every server for required duties, e.g. including extra reminiscence to database servers and permitting them to make the most of all obtainable reminiscence, with out aggressive use with different providers.
• It permits using MySQL-compatible databases that beforehand was not supported by Plesk as a result of they may not be put in on the identical server along with Plesk. An instance of a potential answer is the Galera Cluster for MySQL, which gives a real multi-master and active-active cluster.
• In the event you choose a SaaS database from cloud suppliers, you don’t even must have a server for the database. And upkeep work could be achieved by way of the web-interface. Nevertheless, this database have to be suitable with one of many databases supported by Plesk.

There’s additionally a couple of cons:

• In the event you use a single database for all Plesk servers, the database turns into a single level of failure for all these Plesk servers.
• A community velocity and connectivity between database server and Plesk ought to be adequate and steady.

New Servers Deployment

Let’s begin. It’s not potential to transform an present Plesk set up to Plesk with a distant ‘psa’ database; it ought to be for brand spanking new Plesk installations solely. I made a decision to make use of Oracle Cloud due to ARM servers and their enticing circumstances of free tier for these servers.

First, I create a personal community (“native”, 10.0.0.0/24) in order that the visitors between Plesk and the database server goes inside this community. To make community setup simpler, I enable all visitors contained in the personal community. As you possibly can see within the picture beneath, I even have a community with public entry (“web”).