Your Novell Vibe site depends on the Lucene Index Server for full functionality. Different Lucene configurations provide different levels of scalability and reliability.
You can install the Lucene Index Server on a different server from where Vibe is running so that both programs have access to more server memory, disk space, and CPU resources. However, the Vibe server and the Lucene Index Server must not have a firewall between them. The RMI protocol used for the Lucene Index Server port works only within a trusted local area network (LAN).
A Basic installation of Vibe places the Lucene Index Server on the same server where the Vibe software is installed.
To provide additional memory for the Lucene Index Server, you might already have configured it to run in its own memory space, as described in Section 9.5.3, Running the Lucene Index Server in Its Own JVM.
To provide additional disk space and memory for the Lucene Index Server, you might already have moved it to a different server, as described in Section 14.0, Installing the Lucene Index Server on a Remote Server.
These configurations provide additional resources for the Lucene Index Server, but it is still a single point of failure for your Vibe site. If the Lucene Index Server goes down, the Vibe site becomes inaccessible until access to the Lucene Index Server is restored.
Running multiple Lucene Index Servers provides high availability functionality, so that if one Lucene Index Server goes down, Vibe users can still access the Vibe site because other Lucene Index Servers are still available.
NOTE:This section assumes that you already have a Basic installation of Vibe up and running successfully. We highly recommend that you follow the instructions in Section II, Basic Installation before attempting a more complex Vibe and Lucene configuration.