3.6.1 HP PolyServe Matrix Server Administration Guide (T5392-96018, August 2008)

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.
Event Notifier Services
Matrix Server provides event notifier services that can be configured to
respond when certain matrix events occur. The services can send an
SNMP trap to an SNMP trap forwarding target, send email to certain