3.5.1 Matrix Server Administration Guide

Chapter 17: Advanced Monitor Topics 275

Matrix Server does not set any other variables. If a script requires a

variable such as a pathname, the script will need to set it.

The Effect of Monitors on Virtual Host

Failover

Typically a virtual host has a primary network interface and one or more

backup network interfaces. On the servers supplying the interfaces, the

state of the virtual host is either active or inactive.

When Matrix Server needs to fail over a virtual host, it looks for the

healthiest backup server. To make this determination, Matrix Server

considers the state of any service or device monitors associated with the

virtual host.

Service Monitors

Service monitors are configured on a virtual host. The service to be

monitored is expected to be running simultaneously on the primary

server and on the backup servers associated with the virtual host. The

monitor uses a probe mechanism to determine whether the service is up.

The probe mechanism is in one of the following states on each server: Up,

Down, Unknown, Timeout.

A service monitor also has an activity status on each server. The status

can be one of the following: Starting, Active, Suspended, Stopping,

Inactive, Failure.

The following examples show state transitions for a service monitor that

uses the default values for autorecovery, priority, and serial script

ordering. Start and Stop scripts are also defined for the monitor. The

virtual host associated with the monitor has a primary interface and two

backup interfaces.