Design a Tableau Infrastructure22% of the exam
Process counts, node roles and external services
Size a Tableau Server topology: how process counts are set and what a Backgrounder instance buys, how node count drives the Coordination Service ensemble, which Backgrounder node roles isolate which jobs, how to retire a File Store node, which colocations shorten backups, and when an external repository or External File Store fits.
1.4 Design an appropriate process topology: 1.4.1 Specify process counts (sizing); 1.4.2 Specify node count; 1.4.3 Specify service-to-node relationships (node roles), including service isolation and service colocation; 1.4.4 Specify when to use external services.
~6 min read · 10 practice questions
What the exam expects
- Specify process counts with
tsm topology set-processand size Backgrounder capacity from what one instance can run. - Specify node count and the matching Coordination Service ensemble size and failure tolerance.
- Specify service-to-node relationships: Backgrounder node roles for isolation, File Store retirement, and colocations that shorten backups.
- Decide when an external repository or External File Store fits, and what responsibility it moves to your team.
Key terms:
- Backgrounder: the process that runs extract refreshes, subscriptions, flows and other server jobs.
- Node role: a node-level setting that limits which Backgrounder jobs, or which extract queries, a node prefers.
- Coordination Service ensemble: the 1, 3 or 5 Coordination Service instances that keep a quorum on topology, configuration and state.
- External services: the repository on external PostgreSQL, or File Store on a network share, both requiring Advanced Management.
Key facts
set-process scope
- Detail
- One process and one node per command
Backgrounder concurrency
- Detail
- One job at a time per instance
Backgrounder ceiling
- Detail
- Pages disagree: half the cores, or half to all cores on a separate node
Ensemble sizes
- Detail
- 1, 3 or 5; maximum 5
Five-member ensemble
- Detail
- Tolerates two member failures
Roles per node
- Detail
- One; all Backgrounder nodes together cover all jobs
no-flows
- Detail
- All jobs except flows
Node-role change
- Detail
- Requires a restart
File Store decommission
- Detail
- Read-only, no unique content left
Backup colocation
- Detail
- File Store with Administration Controller helps most
External repository HA
- Detail
- Not set up or managed by Tableau Server
2024.2 external PostgreSQL
- Detail
- 15.6 minimum through 2024.2.8
External File Store access
- Detail
- Data Engine reads extracts over the network
Sources for this section (8)
- tsm topologyhelp.tableau.com (opens in a new tab)
- Backgrounder Processhelp.tableau.com (opens in a new tab)
- Optimize for Extractshelp.tableau.com (opens in a new tab)
- Coordination Service Ensemblehelp.tableau.com (opens in a new tab)
- Node Roleshelp.tableau.com (opens in a new tab)
- Backup and Restorehelp.tableau.com (opens in a new tab)
- External Repositoryhelp.tableau.com (opens in a new tab)
- External File Storehelp.tableau.com (opens in a new tab)
- How many Coordination Service instances does Tableau recommend for a four-node cluster?
- Why place the Coordination Service on nodes running few other services?
- When is
--overrideneeded withtsm topology filestore decommission? - Why do jobs from a crashed Backgrounder usually still run?
The questions are free to read. Answers with their sources and self-grading are included with the pack.
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