Clusters and load balancers

SFTPPlus MFT includes a cluster configuration management feature designed to support disaster recovery, high availability, and high performance deployments. It allows organizations to manage multiple SFTPPlus instances from a unified interface while maintaining reliable and consistent file transfer operations.

Centralized Configuration Management ​

In a clustered setup, administrators connect to the SFTPPlus cluster controller, which provides a single web interface to manage the configuration of all SFTPPlus installations within the cluster. The cluster controller distributes configuration updates to all connected nodes, keeping each instance synchronized.

Even when the controller is offline, cluster nodes continue to operate using the last known configuration. Nodes can be restarted or rebooted independently, ensuring uninterrupted service. Once the controller is back online, nodes automatically resynchronize their configurations.

This design avoids single points of failure and ensures stable operation across multiple instances.

The cluster controller can be configured to be dedicated to configuration management, but at the same time it can perform file transfer operations and you can have a hybrid mode with configuration management and file transfer operations.

You can check our cluster documentation pages for configuration and deployment details.

Example Deployment Scenarios ​

The cluster functionality can be used in various deployment models, such as:

  • Load-balanced setup: Two or more SFTPPlus virtual machines operating behind a load balancer to handle higher transfer volumes.
  • Kubernetes deployment: Multiple containerized SFTPPlus instances running within a Kubernetes cluster.
  • Disaster recovery setup: A hot/cold configuration where one node remains active and another stays idle, becoming active only if the primary node goes offline.

These deployment options allow flexibility in meeting operational and redundancy requirements. Check out the dedicated documentation page for a detailed description of all the available scenarios.

Logging and Event Handling in a Cluster ​

SFTPPlus supports both centralized and distributed logging and event handling within a cluster.

  • In a centralized setup, all SFTPPlus nodes can send their logs and events to the cluster controller for unified management.
  • In a distributed setup, each node can send data directly to external monitoring or security platforms such as Elastic Logs, Datadog, or Splunk.

This allows administrators to align log collection and alerting with existing monitoring infrastructures.

Continuous Operation and Maintenance ​

With multiple SFTPPlus instances in a cluster, individual nodes can be taken offline for maintenance or software updates without affecting service availability. Other nodes continue to process file transfers, ensuring consistent platform uptime and operational continuity.