VCEM Profile Failover and Profile Moves

Executive summary
VCEM Profile Failover provides a way to quickly move a VC Profile from one system to
another. Profile Failover may be triggered using the VCEM UI or via the VCEM Failover
command line. The Failover command line may also be used in conjunction with Event
monitoring to automatically trigger a Failover if a particular event is received for a specific
system. VCEM Profile Failover is not Disaster Recovery but rather a fast-recovery tool that
can help administrators minimize unplanned downtime.
The basic usage steps of VCEM Failover are:
1. User designates spares via the UI.
2. User invokes the VCEM Profile Failover via the CLI or the UI.
3. VCEM Profile Failover moves the VC Profile from the source system to a designated spare
system that is the same blade model type. The following occurs:
1. Source system is powered down.
2. An appropriate spare is chosen from the designated spares within the same
Virtual Connect Domain Group as the source system.
3. The spare system is assigned the VC Profile.
4. The spare system is powered up.
4. The final state will be that the failed system is powered off and the OS and Application
stack is now running on the spare blade.
VCEM Failover may be invoked:
• Via the CLI – The CLI may be invoked using:
o
The failed system’s hostname.
o
The failed system’s ip address.
o
The failed system’s enclosure and bay number.
•
Via the UI – The UI has Failover buttons on:
o The Profiles Tab.
o The Bays Tab.
This Whitepaper describes how an administrator may utilize VCEM Failover. It contains
explanations of usage and limitations. The usage explained covers preparation, invocation,
and expected results. The limitations covered include constraints and dependencies. The
most important limitation is that the boot LUN associated with the VC Profile must be
portable enough to correctly run on more than the original system. Pre-testing a boot LUN
across possible spares is the best way to mitigate the risk associated with this limitation.
This Failover functionality is meant to help administrators in their day-to-day administration
tasks and in particular, the fast recovery of problematic systems. It is built to be flexible and
robust to adapt to different needs and environments.