6.5

Table Of Contents
The machines hosting vCenter Server Heartbeat must meet recommended hardware requirements and must
be powerful enough to support the load, the protected applications, and any other critical applications running
on the same server pair.
Poor Application Performance
When applications are competing for resources, one or more applications can perform poorly.
Problem
Neither server in the pair can accommodate the load placed upon it during normal operation.
Cause
The Primary server's resource usage in one or more areas reached close to the maximum before vCenter Server
Heartbeat was installed.
Solution
Heartbeat Diagnostics can report these conditions and issues warnings if CPU usage or memory usage
exceed a certain percentage of the available resource. Information provided by Heartbeat Diagnostics can
minimize the risk of application slowdown by identifying needed hardware upgrades on the Primary
server.
Both Servers Can Accommodate the Initial Load but the Load Has Increased
Any software installed on a server or workstation consumes a nite amount of system resources when it runs
and it must share the resources it uses with any other applications running at the same time. Increased demand
caused by additional user activity can have an impact on the server performance.
Problem
Increased user activity slows application response time.
Cause
The server pair operates normally when vCenter Server Heartbeat is rst installed, but performance decreases
due to increased user activity. For example, users on the SQL Server system increase or the typical usage pattern
becomes more intense. This can be a gradual and sustained increase over time, or transient if a specic event
triggers a temporary surge in user activity.
Solution
If the situation is sporadic, it can correct itself when the load decreases. If the increase is sustained and
permanent, upgrade the server hardware.
One Server Can Provide Adequate Resource Support, but the Other Cannot
If the total resource requirements of the applications exceed the available physical resources, the operating
system attempts to provide resources, but leaves some applications under-resourced. When this situation
occurs, an application cannot obtain enough memory to operate normally, or a process must wait before
accessing the hard disk.
Problem
Applications operate normally when the Primary server is active but operate slowly when the Secondary server
is active (or the reverse).
98 VMware, Inc.
Administrator Guide