6.5

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 dier from the fully qualied 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-malware denition les, operating system hot-xes 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 precongured 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 Server 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.
Additionally, vCenter Server Heartbeat can be deployed in a stretched VLAN using the same subnet for the
production and the disaster recovery site. Similar to a LAN installation, this conguration requires that both
the Primary and Secondary servers share the Principal (Public) IP address with the active server revealing the
Principal (Public) IP address while the passive server is hidden from the network. This means that vCenter
Server Heartbeat can be deployed without any changes to DNS during switchover or failover operations.
Switchover/ Failover in a WAN
vCenter Server Heartbeat can be deployed in a WAN where each site uses dierent subnets. When deployed
in this manner, each site will have a dierent Principal (Public) IP address. When a switchover or failover
occurs, vCenter Server Heartbeat will update the DNS server with the Principal (Public) IP address of the new
site thereby allowing clients to connect to the new site.
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
predened 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 are available on the network.
■
Performance Protection — vCenter Server Heartbeat proactively monitors system performance attributes
to ensure the system administrator is notied of problems. Additionally, it can be congured 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.
10 VMware, Inc.
Administrator Guide