6.3

QuickStart Guide
8 VMware, Inc.
When a failure occurs or condition is reached that falls outside of established parameters, vCenter Server
Heartbeat can take a variety of actions in response. For example, in the event of a server failure, the passive
(standby) server will detect that the active server has failed and will immediately assume the role of the active
server. This is referred to as a “failover” event. Additionally, vCenter Server Heartbeat can be configured to
gracefully switch roles (switchover) in the event of manual action by the administrator, network failure,
application failure, or when application performance metrics fall outside of preconfigured parameters.
The vCenter Server Heartbeat architecture also allows the passive server to be easily accessed for maintenance
purposes such as hardware component replacement, updating anti-virus definition files, receiving operating
system hot fixes, updates and patches from third-party management software, and additionally allows use of
third-party monitoring tools.
Server Protection
The servers that make up the vCenter Server Heartbeat Pair communicate regularly by sending “I’m alive”
messages and message acknowledgments to each other. Through this mechanism, hardware failure scenarios
or operating system crashed can be detected. This allows, vCenter Server Heartbeat to provide continuous
availability to vCenter Server ensuring users are provided with a replica server in the event of failure of the
production server.
Network Protection
vCenter Server Heartbeat continuously monitors the network by periodically polling up to three defined
nodes. If all three nodes fail to respond, for example in the case of a network card failure or a local switch
failure, vCenter Server Heartbeat can automatically migrate all operations to the Secondary server to prevent
interruption of service.
Application Protection
Running on the active server, vCenter Server Heartbeat locally monitors vCenter Server and its services. If the
protected application fails, vCenter Server Heartbeat first tries to restart the application on the active server.
If restarting the application fails, then vCenter Server Heartbeat can be configured to migrate operations to the
Secondary server to prevent service interruption.
Performance Protection
vCenter Server Heartbeat continuously monitors system performance attributes to ensure that the system
administrator is notified of problems and can take preemptive action to prevent an outage. Additionally,
vCenter Server Heartbeat can monitor specific application attributes to ensure that they remain within normal
operating ranges. Various rules can be configured to trigger specific corrective actions whenever these
attributes fall outside of their respective ranges.