Scaling with compilers

1. The review of Puppet platform components so far assumes that all components are present on a single primary server. However, as the number of managed nodes increases, it becomes impractical for a single server to handle them. According to Puppet’s documentation, a primary server can manage up to 2,500 clients on default settings. To handle the growing number of nodes, Puppet uses horizontal scaling, which involves using Puppet compile servers. In Figure 10.4, a subset of primary services is shown to be moved onto compile servers. These servers can be configured in a round-robin selection in the client’s configuration file or placed behind a load balancer. This enables multiple nodes to work together to compile catalogs while still allowing certain services to run on the primary server. According to Puppet’s documentation, with the default compiler settings, up to 3,000 clients can be served per compiler:

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