6.3

Table Of Contents
Installation Guide
12 VMware, Inc.
filteronthecurrentlyactiveserverisenabledpreventingcommunicationsonthePublicnetworkwhilethe
packetfilteronthecurrentlypassiveserverisdisabledtherebyallowingthetwoserverstoswitchroles.From
thispointon,thepreviouslypassiveserverisnowactiveandservicingtheclients.Thepreviouslyactive
server
isnowpassiveandhiddenfromthePublicnetwork.
Intheeventofafailover,thepreviouslyactiveserverisdeemedtohavefailedandnofurtheractionsare
necessary.Thepacketfilteronthepreviouslypassiveserverisdisabledallowingtheservertobecomevisible
onthePublic
networkandserviceclientsasthenewactiveserver.
Advantages of Identical Nodes Configuration
IdenticalnodeconfigurationprovidesforasimplifiedinstallationandsupportsVirtualtoVirtual,Virtualto
Physical,andPhysicaltoPhysicalarchitectures.Additionally,identicalnodeconfigurationsupportsuseof
boththePrecloneandInstallclone,installationtechniques.Whenconfiguredwithidenticalnodes,
vCenter
ServerHeartbeatprovidestwoidenticalserversthatcanfunctionastheactiveserverservicingclients.
Additionally,withidenticalnodes,organizationscandeployvCenterServerHeartbeatinWANenvironments
therebyextendingprotectionoverwidegeographicdistances.
Non-Identical Nodes Configuration
NonidenticalnodeconfigurationprovidesenhancedmanagementcapabilitiestothevCenterHeartbeat
Serverclusterbyprovidingcontinuousaccesstothepassiveserversimultaneouslywhiletheactiveserver
continuestoserviceclients.Whenconfiguredwithnonidenticalnodes,vCenterServerHeartbeatusesunique
servernamesforeachserverandenhancedIPaddress
managementcapabilitiestoaccommodateMicrosoft
(updatable)DNSserversandLockedDownmodeornonMicrosoftDNSserverswhileprovidingthesame
levelsofprotectionaswhenconfiguredwithidenticalnodes.
TheSecondaryserverhasadifferentFullyQualifiedDomainName(FQDN)thanthePrimaryserverbutuses
thesamefile
anddatastructure,samePrincipal(Public)networkaddress,andcanrunallthesame
applicationsandservicesasthePrimaryserver.WithvCenterServerHeartbeatsoftwaresymmetricalin
almostallrespects,eitherthePrimaryserverortheSecondaryservercanassumetheactiveroleandprovide
protectedapplicationstotheuser.
Additionally,thisconfigurationallowsthepassiveservertobeeasilyaccessedformaintenancepurposes,
updatingantivirusdefinitionfiles,receivingoperatingsystemhotfixes,updatesandpatchesfrom
thirdpartymanagementsoftware,andallowsuseofthirdpartymonitoringtools.
Switchover/Failover Without Updating DNS Servers
SelecttheNonIdenticaloptionwhenyouwanttodeployvCenter
ServerHeartbeatwithnonidenticalnodes
inanenvironmentthatdoesnotpermitupdatingDNS(anonupdatableMicrosoftDNSserver(orLocked
DownMode)oranonMicrosoftDNSserver).ThisconfigurationrequiresvCenterServervCenterServer4.0
Update1orlater,ifSQLServerisdeployed,itmust
beremote,andsinceDNSwillnotbeupdated
automatically,youmustprepopulatetheDNSserverwithentriesforthenewmanagementnamesandIP
addressesofthePrimaryandSecondaryservers.vCenterServerHeartbeatusespermanentlyassignedunique
ManagementIPaddressesonboththePrimaryandSecondaryservers.AdjacentIP
addressesshouldbe
reservedandusedforthePrincipal(Public)IPaddressandtheManagementIPaddressesforthePrimaryand
SecondaryServerswheninstallingvCenterServerHeartbeatonnonidenticalnodesonserversrunning
Windows2008.WhenvCenterServerHeartbeatisstarted,thesharedPrincipal(Public)IPaddressis
provided
totheactiveserver.Whenaswitchoveroccurs,thesharedPrincipal(Public)IPaddressisremovedfromthe
previouslyactiveserver(makingitpassive)andprovidedtothepreviouslypassiveserver(makingitactive)
allowingtheserverstoswitchrolesandthenewactiveservertobeginservicingclients.
Microsoft DNS Server Updated During Switchover/Failover
Select
theNonidentical(UpdatesMSDNS)optionwhenyouwanttodeployvCenterServerHeartbeatwith
nonidenticalnodesinanenvironmentwherevCenterServer4.0Update1orlaterisinstalled,ifSQLServer
isdeployeditmustberemote,aMicrosoftDNSserverthatpermitsupdatesisused,
andyouwanttotake
advantageoftheenhancedpassiveservermanagementcapabilities.vCenterServerHeartbeatinteractswith
theDNSserverandfollowingaswitchover,willensurethatserversarecorrectlyidentifiedonthenetworkby
updatingDNSinformation.vCenterServerHeartbeatusesuniqueservernamesandManagementIP