Cluster plugin implementations

In the base configuration, Guidewire provides the following plugin interfaces to support cluster communication:
  • ClusterBroadcastTransportFactory
  • ClusterFastBroadcastTransportFactory
  • ClusterUnicastTransportFactory
Guidewire provides internal Java classes for these cluster-related plugin implementations. It is not possible to modify these Java classes. To see the plugin definitions, open Guidewire Studio and navigate to the following location in the Studio Project window:
  • configuration > config > Plugins > registry

ClusterBroadcastTransportFactory

The ClusterBroadcastTransportFactory interface provides a single factory method for creating a cluster transport for reliable broadcast of messages, with no replies. PolicyCenter stores broadcast messages in the database and then periodically loads any new broadcast messages onto each node in the cluster. This type of cluster transport guarantees the delivery order and the reliable delivery of the broadcast message.

PolicyCenter uses this mechanism for default message broadcast if you do not enable the ClusterFastBroadcastTransportFactory plugin implementation.

Note: Guidewire provides two versions of this plugin implementation, one that uses the database as the default mechanism, and, an optional implementation that uses Redis. See Redis integration for details.

ClusterFastBroadcastTransportFactory

The ClusterFastBroadcastTransportFactory interface provides a single factory method for creating a cluster transport for fast broadcast of messages, with no replies. This type of transport:
  • Uses UDP multicast protocol
  • Does not guarantee the delivery order or even the actual delivery of the broadcast message
PolicyCenter typically uses this type of cluster transport for broadcasting cache eviction notifications to cluster members.The use of this transport type is optional. In the base configuration, Guidewire disables the ClusterFastBroadcastTransportFactory plugin implementation due to its use of the UDP protocol. If you do not enable the plugin implementation, PolicyCenter uses the ClusterBroadcastTransportFactory cluster transport for broadcast messages instead.
Note: This type of cluster communication uses the UDP multicast protocol. Most (but, not all) cloud environments disable multicast communication with no option to reenable it. Because of this fact, Guidewire does not recommend the use of a ClusterFastBroadcastTransportFactory implementation in a cloud environment. Only use this plugin type in an environment that supports multicast communication.

ClusterUnicastTransportFactory

The ClusterUnicastTransportFactory interface provides a single factory method for creating a cluster transport for point-to-point unicast messages between specific servers in the cluster. The default plugin implementation uses TCP for the transport protocol.