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
VMware, Inc. 27
3
This chapter includes the following topics:
“Server Protection Overview” on page 27
“Checking the Server Pair Status” on page 27
“Monitoring the Status of Servers” on page 29
“Configuring Heartbeat Settings” on page 29
“Configure Pings” on page 29
“Configure Failover” on page 29
“Configuring Response Times” on page 30
“Configuring Split-Brain Avoidance” on page 30
“Forcing a Switchover” on page 31
“Recovering From a Failover” on page 32
“Applying Patches with vCenter Server Heartbeat Installed” on page 33
“Configuring Split-Brain Avoidance” on page 30
Server Protection Overview
Protection against operating system or hardware failure affecting the active server is facilitated by two
instances of the vCenter Server Heartbeat that monitor one another by sending “I’m alive” messages and
reciprocating with acknowledgments over the VMware Channel. If the passive server detects that this process
(the heartbeat) has failed, an automatic switchover is initiated.
Additionally, vCenter Server Heartbeat proactively monitors the capability of the active server to
communicate with the rest of the network by polling defined nodes around the network, including by default,
the primary DNS server, default gateway, and the Global Catalog server at regular intervals. If all three nodes
fail to respond, for example, due to a network card or local switch failure, vCenter Server Heartbeat can initiate
an automatic switchover, allowing the passive server to assume the role of the active server.
Checking the Server Pair Status
The Server: Summary page is the default page that opens when administering a pair of servers. The Server:
Summary page allows you to view the roles that the servers are performing (active or passive), the actions that
the servers are currently performing, and summary information on the status of communications and data
replication between servers. The lower pane displays status information for each server in the pair.
Server Protection
3
NOTE To change the currently displayed server, click the server graphical representation in the upper pane,
or select the server Identity tab (Primary or Secondary Server) in the bottom pane.