6.6

3 Modify the existing target IP addresses for each node to ping.
Note If IP address values are added to the Network Monitoring > Ping Configuration > Ping Routing
dialog, the new values added will replace the default ping targets of the Global catalog, Primary DNS
server, and Default Gateway.
In a WAN environment, the target addresses for Public network monitoring on the Secondary node may
be different to those automatically selected on the Primary. Again, the ability to override automatically
discovered selections is provided by manually specifying a new target address.
Public Network Monitoring is carried out by the active node effectively pinging the target addresses at
regular time intervals. The time interval is set by default to every 10 seconds but the frequency may be
increased or decreased as required. Each target is allowed 5 seconds (default) to respond. On slower
networks where latency and network collisions are high, increase this interval by changing the Ping echo
timeout value.
The failure of all three targets to respond is allowed up to the Auto-switchover if client network is lost for
threshold value. If the failure count of all three targets exceeds this value, vCenter Server Heartbeat initiates
a failover.
4 Click OK.
Managing Failover and Active Node Isolation
vCenter Server Heartbeat continuously monitors nodes in the pair and network to ensure availability and uses
native logic combining elapsed time, administrator configured rules, current node network status, and configured
ping routing to determine if failover or isolation of the active node is warranted should the nodes experience
missed heartbeats.
vCenter Server Heartbeat can be configured to failover automatically if the active node becomes unavailable
for more than the Failover timeout. It can also be configured to failover automatically if there is a failure of the
Public network or one of the application monitoring rules.
Using this dialog, the automatic failover behavior can be overridden so that the user is instead alerted and has
the opportunity to check the system before deciding to make the passive node active.
To configure failover:
Note For information on configuring ping routing, see “Configuring Pings,” on page 48 and “Managing Public
Network Connection Checks,” on page 48.
Procedure
1 Navigate to Server: Monitoring > Configure Failover to open the Server Monitoring: Failover Configuration
dialog.
2 Failover timeout can be customized by changing the default value (60 seconds) to a custom value. Enter
a new value (seconds) in the Failover timeout field or use the arrow buttons to configure how long vCenter
Server Heartbeat waits for a missed heartbeat before it takes a pre-configured action to failover or isolate
the active node from the network.
VMware, Inc. 49
Chapter 3 Managing vCenter Server Heartbeat