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Table Of Contents
Chapter 2
Understanding the SQLFire Distributed
System
A SQLFire deployment consists of distributed member processes that connect to each other to form a peer-to-peer
network, also known as a distributed system or SQLFire cluster.
The sections that follow explain the interactions of main system components and processes. Tutorials on page 37 help
you get started conguring and using a SQLFire distributed system.
vFabric SQLFire Members
Member processes form a single, logical system, and each member has single-hop access to any other member,
with single-hop or no-hop access to data.
A SQLFire member is an instance of the SQLFire code that runs in a JVM. A SQLFire member can optionally
host data, provide network server functionality for client connections, and provide location services for the
distributed system.
A SQLFire distributed system is dynamic, and members can be added or removed at any time. The SQLFire
implementation guarantees a consistent view of the distributed system to ensure that data consistency and data
integrity are not compromised.
Most SQLFire members are congured to host data, and are referred to as data stores. Members that are congured
to not host data are referred to as accessors. Both data stores and accessors can execute the DDL and DML
commands that SQLFire supports. Data stores provide single-hop or no-hop access to data stored that is stored
on members of the distributed system. Accessors provide single-hop access to data stores in the distributed
system. Data stores and accessors are licensed separately.
A third type of member, the standalone locator, does not host data and does not support DDL and DML statements
on user-dened tables. You use locators to discover members of the SQLFire cluster.
A SQLFire agent is an optional distributed system member that provides access to JMX MBeans for monitoring
and managing SQLFire.
For more information, see:
Starting and Conguring SQLFire Servers on page 227
Using Locators on page 223
Start a SQLFire Peer with the Peer Client JDBC Driver on page 120
Using a vFabric SQLFire JMX Agent on page 298
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