6.4
Table Of Contents
- Administrator Guide
- Contents
- About This Book
- Getting Started
- Introduction
- Configuring vCenter Server Heartbeat
- System Administration and Management
- Server Protection
- Network Protection
- Application Protection
- Application Protection Overview
- Applications: Applications Tab
- Reset the Application Health Status
- View Application Status
- Setting the Application Timeout Exception
- Remove an Application
- Manually Start and Stop Applications
- Configuring Applications
- Application Maintenance Mode
- Reviewing the State of an Application
- Reviewing the Applications Log
- Filtering Application Log Entries
- Applications: Services Tab
- Applications: Tasks Tab
- Applications: Plug-ins Tab
- Status and Control
- vCenter Server Heartbeat Console
- About vCenter Server Heartbeat Console
- Work with Groups and Pairs
- Add, Edit, Move, and Remove Pairs in VCenter Server Heartbeat Groups
- Review the Status of vCenter Server Heartbeat Groups and Pairs
- Exit vCenter Server Heartbeat Console
- Shut Down Windows Without Stopping vCenter Server Heartbeat
- Controlled Shutdown
- vSphere Client Plug-in
- Uninstall vCenter Server Heartbeat
- Performance Protection
- Data Protection
- Alerts and Events
- Troubleshooting
- Troubleshooting Unexpected Behaviors
- Two Active Servers
- Two Passive Servers
- Synchronization Failures
- Registry Status is Out of Sync
- Channel Drops
- Subnet or Routing Issues
- MaxDiskUsage Errors
- MaxDiskUsage Error Messages
- [L9]Exceeded the Maximum Disk Usage (VCChannelExceededMaxDiskUsageException)
- [L9]Exceeded the Maximum Disk Usage on the ACTIVE Server
- [L9]Exceeded the Maximum Disk Usage on the PASSIVE Server
- [L20]Out of Disk Space (VCChannelOutOfDiskSpaceException)
- Application Slowdown
- Poor Application Performance
- Both Servers Can Accommodate the Initial Load but the Load Has Increased
- One Server Can Provide Adequate Resource Support, but the Other Cannot
- Scheduled Resource Intensive Tasks
- Glossary
Installation Guide
12 VMware, Inc.
Managing the Primary and Secondary Servers
To allow management of vCenter Server Heartbeat server pairs using standard network, domain policy, and
domain management procedures, vCenter Server Heartbeat is deployed so that Primary and Secondary
servers use unique domain names. Each domain name must differ from the fully qualified domain name used
by the original vCenter or SQL Servers. A management IP address on each server ensures that the
Administrator can access the server even when it is passive. This allows monitoring with 3rd party monitoring
tools and maintenance operations such as updating anti-virus definition files, operating system hot-fixes and
updates.
Switchover/Failover in a LAN
When deployed in a LAN environment, the Principal (Public) IP address is moved between the Primary and
Secondary servers as the roles change from active to passive so that vCenter Server or SQL Server are available
to clients only when the server assumes the active role. vCenter Server Heartbeat does not require updates to
DNS during the switchover / failover, however the DNS server must be preconfigured with the management
IP addresses. Adjacent IP addresses should be reserved and used for the Principal (Public) IP address and the
Management IP addresses for the Primary and Secondary Servers when installing vCenter Server Heartbeat
on servers running Windows 2008. When vCenter Server Heartbeat is started, the Principal (Public) IP address
is added to the active server. When a switchover is requested the Principal (Public) IP address is removed from
the active server as it becomes passive and then added to the passive server which is being made active.
Switchover/ Failover in a WAN
vCenter Server Heartbeat can be deployed in a WAN using the same subnet in production and the disaster
recovery site, and like deployments in a LAN requires that each server uses the same Principal (Public) IP
address when active. This means that vCenter Server Heartbeat can be deployed without any changes to DNS
during a switchover or failover.
vCenter Server Heartbeat Protection Levels
vCenter Server Heartbeat provides the following protection levels:
Server Protection – vCenter Server Heartbeat provides continuous availability to end users through a
hardware failure scenario or operating system crash. Additionally, vCenter Server Heartbeat ensures
users are provided with a replica server should the production server fail.
Network Protection – vCenter Server Heartbeat proactively monitors the network by polling up to three
predefined nodes to ensure that the active server is visible on the network.
Application Protection – vCenter Server Heartbeat maintains the application environment ensuring that
applications and services stay alive and available on the network.
Performance Protection – vCenter Server Heartbeat proactively monitors system performance attributes
to ensure the system administrator is notified of problems. Additionally, it can be configured to take
pre-emptive action to prevent an outage.
Data Protection – vCenter Server Heartbeat intercepts all data written by users and applications, and
maintains a copy of the data on the passive server that can be used in the event of a failure.
vCenter Server Heartbeat provides all five protection levels continuously, ensuring all facets of the user
environment are maintained at all times, and that vCenter Server continues to operate through as many failure
scenarios as possible.
Server Protection
vCenter Server Heartbeat provides continuous availability to end users through a hardware failure scenario
or operating system crash and ensures users are provided with a replica server and its IP address on the failure
of the production server.