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Table Of Contents
If vCenter Server should fail, vCenter Server Heartbeat rst tries to restart the application on the active server
(1) in Figure 1-2.
If the application does not successfully restart, vCenter Server Heartbeat initiates a switchover (2) in Figure
1-2. Refer to “vCenter Server Heartbeat Switchover and Failover Processes,” on page 15 for further information
about the switchover process.
Figure 1- 2. Switchover
A switchover gracefully closes vCenter Server running on the active server and restarts it on the passive server,
including the component or service that caused the failure. For example, if the Primary server is active and
the Secondary server is passive, the Primary server is demoted to a passive role and is hidden from the network
when the Secondary server is promoted to an active role and is made visible to the network. The mechanics
of switchovers are discussed in more detail later in this guide.
Performance Protection
Ensuring that vCenter Server is operational and providing service at an adequate level of performance to meet
user demands is important. The vCenter Server Heartbeat plug-in provides these monitoring and pre-emptive
repair capabilities.
vCenter Server Heartbeat proactively monitors system performance attributes and can notify the system
administrator in the event of a problem. Additionally, it can be congured to take pre-emptive action to prevent
an outage.
In addition to monitoring vCenter Server services, vCenter Server Heartbeat can monitor specic attributes to
ensure that they remain within normal operating ranges. Similar to application monitoring, various rules can
be congured to trigger specic corrective actions whenever these attributes fall outside of their respective
ranges.
vCenter Server Heartbeat provides the same level of exibility to dene and perform multiple corrective actions
in the event of problems on a service by service or even attribute by attribute basis.
Data Protection
You can congure vCenter Server Heartbeat to protect the application environment. All data les that users
or the vCenter Server requires in the application environment are made available should a failure occur. After
installation, vCenter Server Heartbeat congures itself to protect les, folders, and registry settings for vCenter
Server on the active server by mirroring them in real time to the passive server. If a failover occurs, all les
protected on the failed server are available to users after the failover, hosted on the Secondary server.
12 VMware, Inc.
Administrator Guide