3.6.0 Matrix Server 3.6.0 Administration Guide (5697-7081, December 2007)

Chapter 3: Introduction to Matrix Server 13

After creating virtual hosts, you will need to configure your network

applications to recognize them. When clients want to access a network

application, they use the virtual host address instead of the address of the

server where the application is running.

Service and Device Monitors

A service is a network service such as HTTP or FTP that is installed and

configured on the servers in the matrix. Matrix Server can be configured

to watch specific services with service monitors.

A service monitor is created on a virtual host. The service being

monitored should be installed on all servers associated with that virtual

host. When a service monitor determines that a service has failed, Matrix

Server transfers the virtual host for that service to a backup server. For

example, if the HTTP service fails, Matrix Server will transfer the HTTP

traffic to a backup server that provides HTTP.

Matrix Server includes several built-in service monitors for monitoring

well-known network services. You can also configure custom monitors

for other services.

A device monitor is similar to a service monitor; however, it is assigned to

one or more servers. Matrix Server provides several built-in device

monitors. The

DISK device monitor can be used to watch local disk drives

or to check access to a partition on a SAN disk. The

GATEWAY device

monitor watches gateway devices. You can also define your own custom

device monitors.

By default, when a device monitor is assigned to a server, all virtual hosts

on that server are dependent on the device monitor. However, you can

select the virtual hosts that will be dependent on the device monitor. If a

device monitor indicates that a device is not functioning properly on the

primary server, Matrix Server transfers the dependent virtual host

addresses from the primary server to a backup server.