Choosing a Hosting Topology
How you host CMP itself (POC vs production vs HA) is separate from the logical CMP architecture. Use this page for capacity planning before you provision VMs.
CloudStack’s own guide for cloud infrastructure scale is Choosing a Deployment Architecture — that document is about zones/pods, not CMP VMs.
| Topology | Typical use | Footprint |
|---|---|---|
| Single server | POC, staging | 1 VM — all roles co-located |
| Multi-server | Standard production | Separate frontend, backend, database |
| HA multi-tier | Large production | 18 servers — redundant web, proxy, app, cache, database |
Validate on single server, go live on multi-server, adopt HA when you need redundant load balancers and database failover.
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Single-server deployment
One host runs NGINX, frontend, backend, PostgreSQL, Redis, and the scheduler.
| Topic | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Complexity | Lowest |
| Availability | Single point of failure |
| Specs | Staging / Single VM — full requirements |
Do not keep a busy production cloud on single-server long term.
Multi-server deployment
Standard production split:
| VM | Role |
|---|---|
| Frontend | NGINX + Customer Portal |
| Backend | CMP API, workers, scheduler |
| Database | PostgreSQL (Redis often on backend or dedicated cache) |
See Production — three-VM requirements.
HA multi-tier deployment
Redundant edge, web, proxy, application, Redis, DB proxy, and database tiers. A full HA layout requires 18 servers in total.
Per-role sizing and the exact server breakdown are confirmed with the StackConsole team. See HA — Server Requirements.
img/architecture/cmp-ha-multi-server.png
| Tier | Notes |
|---|---|
| Edge | Cloudflare / Akamai-style global LB |
| Web | Multiple NGINX + portal nodes (public subnet) |
| Proxy | HAProxy / Keepalived pairs |
| Application | Multiple API / worker nodes (private subnet), shared filesystem |
| Cache | Redis cluster |
| Database | Primary + replicas behind HA DB proxies |
HA requires ownership of TLS, health checks, shared storage, Redis topology, PostgreSQL failover, and backup drills. Engage StackConsole when designing this layout for the first time.
How to choose
| Question | Prefer |
|---|---|
| First install / training? | Single server |
| Live customers, moderate load? | Multi-server |
| Strict uptime / high traffic? | HA multi-tier |
For the logical CMP runtime view (load balancer, API, providers), see CMP Deployment Architecture.
Next steps
- Prerequisites & System Requirements — VM sizing for your chosen topology
- Architecture Overview — product layers and request flow