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Chapter 3 Server Protection
Common Administrative Tasks in vCenter Server Heartbeat
The Server: Summary page provides the following buttons that allow you to quickly perform common
administrative tasks:
 Make Active — Prompts to verify that you want to make the passive server in the pair active. Click Yes.
 Shutdown — Prompts you to select the server(s) to shut down. If you select the active server, additional
options to stop or not stop protected applications appear in the dialog. Click OK.
 Start Replication — Opens the Start Replication Options dialog. Select to start or not start the protected
applications and click OK. By default, all protection modes start when vCenter Server Heartbeat starts
and a manual start is not required unless the system stopped in response to an automated stop.
 Stop Replication — Opens the Stop Replication Options dialog. Use this method to stop replication,
such as to contain a virus infection or to upgrade a protected application. Select whether to stop or not
stop protected applications and click OK. Replication of data files stops and, if selected, protected
applications also stop.
 Start Applications — Click to start the protected applications on the active server.
 Stop Applications — Click to stop the protected applications on the active server.
 Configure — Click to open the Configure dialog. Select the radio button corresponding to whether you
want to stop or leave the protected applications running when vCenter Server Heartbeat is shut down.
You can select whether to leave protected applications running upon shutdown when a net stop
command is issued, and to start protected applications upon startup when a net start command is
issued. Type a number (seconds) or use the arrow buttons to select an alert threshold value for time
difference between servers, which is checked at handshake following startup. Click OK.
Forcing a Switchover
After configuring vCenter Server Heartbeat to protect all the required applications and data, the Secondary
server can take over from the Primary server in a managed and seamless manner called a managed switchover.
This is particularly useful when maintenance work performed on the Primary server requires rebooting the
server.
Since a managed switchover cannot be performed during synchronization, it is important to review the queue
information prior to attempting a managed switchover. If the queues are large, file operations on the active
server are high and for this reason it may be prudent to delay a managed switchover due to the length of time
required to completely clear the queue. Queue lengths can be viewed in the Data: Traffic/Queues page of the
vCenter Server Heartbeat Console.
Prior to performing work on the Primary server, a managed switchover can be triggered by selecting the
Secondary server and clicking Make Active on the Server: Summary page. This changes the server roles such
that the active server becomes passive and the passive server becomes active. This means users are able to
work continuously while the Primary server is off line.
When the Primary server is back up and running, the managed switchover can be triggered again so that the
Primary server becomes active and the previously active server becomes passive.
N
OTE The VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat service continues to run on the servers, providing
heartbeats and protecting the system and network facets of the active server.
IMPORTANT The managed switchover process may be performed at any time as long as the systems are fully
synchronized with respect to data files and registry replication. Switchovers cannot be performed if either server is
in an unsynchronized or unknown state.