Cluster Administration Guide: Introduction Pro/Ent only

This guide explains how to deploy and manage the CipherMail Gateway Enterprise in a high-availability (HA) cluster so that mail processing continues even if a node fails.

By default, the gateway uses a local MariaDB database. In this configuration, MariaDB is set up with Galera, a multi-master clustering technology that allows all nodes to read and write simultaneously. Galera requires a minimum of three nodes to maintain quorum and avoid split-brain; an odd number of nodes is recommended for stable voting.

If you use an external database instead of the local one, the external platform is responsible for database availability. In that case, the gateway configures its local IMAP service to replicate mail data between two nodes

Requirements

  • For deployments that use a local MariaDB database, you must run at least three nodes. For deployments that use an external database, at least two nodes are required.

  • SSH console access to the gateway.