How many PGP Encryption Management Servers are supported in a cluster (Symantec Encryption Management Server)?
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How many PGP Encryption Management Servers are supported in a cluster (Symantec Encryption Management Server)?

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Article ID: 153476

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Issue/Introduction

This article describes how many PGP Management  Encryption Servers can be used in a cluster (Symantec Encryption Management Server).

 

Resolution


When you have two or more PGP Servers operating in your organization, you can configure them to synchronize with each other; this arrangement is called a Cluster.  

A PGP Server cluster operates in a ring topology and as a result we limit the number of cluster nodes to avoid the higher risk of more nodes causing a cluster not to perform. 


While it is possible to create an unlimited number of servers in a cluster, Symantec supports only six nodes.

With the current PGP Server clustering architecture, this allows servers to work optimally and perform replication of data between the servers.


 

Note: In order for a cluster to work, all members of a cluster use the same version of the PGP Server software. If you need to update from a previous version, see the PGP Server Upgrade Guide.

If you are updating to any later version, it is good practice to remove your PGP Servers from email and port traffic.  Do not break the cluster, this can cause unexpected problems.  If you can't get the servers to cluster properly, first reach out to Symantec Encryption Support. The cluster members are temporarily running different versions of the software, but they continue to share cluster data.

 

For licensing purposes, if you do need to use a cluster, then purchasing a separate SKU is needed to cover the redundancy scenario. For example, if you have a license for the PGP Encryption Server Gateway, and you manage 10,000 users on the server, you purchase a single SKU for that first PGP Encryption Server.  For the next cluster nodes, you would purchase an additional block of seats to cover the 10,000 users on the other cluster member.  In other words, each cluster member needs another license to be purchased. 


 For more information on Best Practices for PGP Encryption Management Server see the following article:

154069 - Best Practices: Environmental Requirements for Symantec Encryption Management Server clustering (AKA PGP Server)

 

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