VMware vCenter vCenter Server Heartbeat 6.3 User guide

Administrator Guide

VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat 6.3 Update 1

This document supports the version of each product listed and

supports all subsequent versions until the document is replaced

by a new edition. To check for more recent editions of this

document, see http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.

EN-000562-01

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Administrator Guide

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Contents

AboutThisBook 7

GettingStarted

1 Introduction 11

Overview 11

vCenterServerHeartbeatConcepts 11

Architecture 11

ProtectionLevels 13

Communications 16

vCenterServerHeartbeatSwitchoverandFailoverProcesses 17

2 ConfiguringvCenterServerHeartbeat 21

ServerConfigurationWizard 22

ConfiguringtheMachineIdentity 22

ConfiguringtheServerRole 23

ConfiguringtheClientConnectionPort 23

ConfiguringChannelRouting 23

ConfiguringtheDefaultChannelPort 24

ConfiguringLowBandwidthModule 24

ConfiguringPublicIPAddressing 24

ConfiguringforIdenticalNodes 25

ConfiguringforNon‐IdenticalNodes 25

ManagingvCenterServerHeartbeatLicenseKeys 26

ConfiguringMessageQueueLogs 27

ConfiguringtheMaximumDiskUsage 27

SystemAdministrationandManagement

3 ServerProtection 31

ServerProtectionOverview 31

CheckingtheServerPairStatus 31

MonitoringtheStatusofServers 33

ConfiguringHeartbeatSettings 33

ConfigurePings 33

ConfigureFailover 33

ConfiguringResponseTimes 34

CommonAdministrativeTasksinvCenterServerHeartbeat 34

ForcingaSwitchover 34

RecoveringFromaFailover 35

ConfiguringSplit‐BrainAvoidance 36

4 NetworkProtection 39

CommunicationStatus 39

ReviewingtheVMwareChannelStatus 39

Reference Guide

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ConfiguringPublicNetworkConnectionChecks 39

SettingMaxServerTimeDifference 40

5 ApplicationProtection 41

ApplicationProtectionOverview 41

ApplicationsTab 41

ResettheApplicationHealthStatus 41

ViewApplicationStatus 42

EditingIndividualApplications 42

RemoveanApplication 42

ManuallyStartandStopApplications 42

ConfiguringApplications 42

ApplicationMaintenanceMode 42

ReviewingtheStateofanApplication 43

ReviewingtheApplicationsLog 43

FilteringApplicationLogEntries 43

ServicesTab 43

AddingaService 43

EditingaService 44

CheckingtheStatusofServices 44

UnprotectingUserDefined

ServicesandStoppingMonitoring 44

ChangetheOrderofServices 44

RemovingaService 44

Applications:Tasks 45

AddingaTask 45

EditingaTask 45

RemoveaTask 45

ChangetheOrderofTasks 46

StartingaTaskManually 46

View,Add,andRemoveUserAccounts 46

Applications:Plugins 46

InstallaPlug‐In 46

EditingaPlug‐in 46

UninstallingaPlug‐in 47

6 StatusandControl 49

vCenterServerHeartbeatConsole 49

AboutvCenterServerHeartbeatConsole 49

NavigatevCenterServerHeartbeatConsole 50

ChangetheFontforvCenterServerHeartbeatConsole 50

WorkwithGroupsandPairs 50

AddorRemoveavCenterServerGroup 50

RemoveavCenterServerHeartbeatGroup 51

Add,Edit,Move,andRemovePairsinVCenterServerHeartbeatGroups 51

AddaNewConnection 51

EditaConnection 51

MoveaConnection 52

RemoveaConnection 52

EditUsernameandPasswordSettings 52

ReviewtheStatusofvCenterServerHeartbeatGroupsandPairs 52

ExitvCenterServerHeartbeatConsole 53

ShutDownWindowsWithoutStoppingvCenterServerHeartbeat 53

7 PerformanceProtection 55

Applications:Rules 55

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Contents

Rules 55

CheckingaRuleCondition 55

EditaRule 55

RulesInstalledbyvCenterServerHeartbeatPlug‐Ins 55

8 DataProtection 57

DataProtectionOverview 58

Replication 58

RegistryandFileSynchronizationStatus 58

InitiateaFullRegistryCheck 58

InitiateaFullSystemCheck 58

InitiateFileSynchronizationManually 59

InitiateVerifyandSynchronizeManually 59

FileFilters 59

DetermineEffectiveFilters 59

AddaUser‐DefinedInclusionFilter 60

AddaUser‐DefinedExclusionFilter 60

EditUserDefinedInclusion/ExclusionFilters 60

RemoveUser‐DefinedFilters 60

AutomaticFilterDiscovery 60

9 OtherAdministrativeTasks 61

ConfigureAlerts 61

ConfigureAlertReporting 61

TestAlertReporting 62

ConfigureEventLogFiles 62

ConfigureLogFileEmailRecipients 62

ReviewEventLogs 63

EventLogFilters 63

10 Troubleshooting 65

TroubleshootingUnexpectedBehaviors 65

TwoActiveServers 65

Symptoms 65

Causes 66

Resolution 66

TwoPassiveServers 67

Symptom 67

Causes 67

Resolution 67

SynchronizationFailures 68

ServicesRunningonthePassiveServer 68

VMwareChannelIncorrectlyConfigured 68

IncorrectorMismatchedDiskConfiguration 69

PassiveServerHasLessAvailableSpacethanActiveServer 69

RegistryStatusisOutofSync 70

ResourceIssues 70

RegistrySecurityIssues 70

ChannelDrops 70

PerformanceIssues 70

PassiveServerDoesNotMeet

MinimumHardwareRequirements 71

HardwareorDriverIssuesonVMwareChannelNICs 71

FirewallConnection 72

IncorrectVMwareChannelConfiguration 72

VMwarevCenterServerHeartbeatPacketFilterIsEnabledontheChannelNIC(s) 73

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SubnetorRoutingIssues 74

LANDeployment 74

WANDeployment 74

MaxDiskUsageErrors 74

SendQueue 75

ReceiveQueue 75

MaxDiskUsageErrorMessages 75

[L9]ExceededtheMaximumDiskUsage(VCChannelExceededMaxDiskUsageException) 75

[L9]ExceededtheMaximumDiskUsageontheACTIVEServer 76

[L9]ExceededtheMaximumDiskUsageonthePASSIVEServer 76

[L20]OutofDiskSpace(VCChannelOutOfDiskSpaceException) 77

ApplicationSlowdown 78

PoorApplicationPerformance 78

Both

ServersCanAccommodatetheInitialLoadbuttheLoadHasIncreased 78

OneServerCanProvideAdequateResourceSupport,buttheOtherCannot 78

ScheduledResourceIntensiveTasks 79

Glossary 81

VMware, Inc. 7

TheAdministratorGuideprovidesinformationconfiguringVMwarevCenterServerHeartbeatnetwork

protection,applicationprotection,dataprotection,Split‐brainAvoidance,andmore.Tohelpyouprotectyour

VMwarevCenterServer,thebookprovidesanoverviewofprotectionofferedbyvCenterServerHeartbeat

andtheactionsthatvCenterServerHeartbeatcantakein

theeventofanetwork,hardware,orapplication

failure.

Intended Audience

ThisguideassumesthereaderhasworkingknowledgeofnetworksincludingtheconfigurationofTCP/IP

protocolsanddomainadministrationontheWindows™2003and2008platforms,notablyinActiveDirectory

andDNS.

VMware Technical Publications Glossary

VMwareTechnicalPublicationsprovidesaglossaryoftermsthatmightbeunfamiliartoyou.Fordefinitions

oftermsastheyareusedinVMwaretechnicaldocumentationgotohttp://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.

Overview of Content

ThisguideisdesignedtogiveguidanceontheconfigurationandadministrationofvCenterServerHeartbeat,

andisorganizedintothefollowingsections:

 Preface—AboutThisBook(thischapter)providesanoverviewofthisguideandtheconventionsused

throughout.

 Chapter1—IntroductionpresentsanoverviewofvCenterServerHeartbeatconceptsincludingthe

SwitchoverandFailoverprocesses.

 Chapter2—ConfiguringvCenterServerHeartbeatshowsyouhowtousetheServerConfigurationWizard

toconfigureyournewinstallationofvCenterServerHeartbeat.

 Chapter3—ServerProtectiongivesanoverviewofhowvCenterServerHeartbeatprovidesprotection

againstserversystemcrashorserverhardwarefailure,showsyouhowtochecktheserverpairstatus,and

explainshowtoconfiguresettings,shutdownoptions,andSplit‐BrainAvoidance.

 Chapter4—NetworkProtectiondescribeshowvCenterServerHeartbeatprotectsagainstnetworkfailure

andprovidesawaytomonitorcommunicationstatus.Italsoexplainshowtoconfigurepublicnetwork

connectionchecksandmaximumservertimedifference.

 Chapter5—ApplicationProtectiondiscusseshowvCenterServerHeartbeatmaintainstheprotected

applicationenvironmentensuringthatapplicationsandservicesstayaliveonthenetwork.

 Chapter6—StatusandControlintroducesyoutothevCenterServerHeartbeatConsoleandshowsyou

howtoconfigureitslookandfeel.

About This Book

Administrator Guide

8 VMware, Inc.

 Chapter7—PerformanceProtectiondescribeshowvCenterServerHeartbeatmonitorssystemand

applicationattributestopreventanunexpectedsystemorapplicationfailure.

 Chapter8—DataProtectiondiscusseshowvCenterServerHeartbeatinterceptsalldatawrittenbyusers

andprotectedapplicationsandmaintainsacopyofthisdataforuseincaseoffailure.

 Chapter9—OtherAdministrativeTasksdiscussesadditionaltasksfortheadministratortoconfigure

systemloggingandalertingfunctions.

 Chapter10—Troubleshootingprovidestechniquestotroubleshootcommonissuesandunexpected

behaviors.

Document Feedback

VMwarewelcomesyoursuggestionsforimprovingourdocumentationandinvitesyoutosendyourfeedback

to[email protected].

Abbreviations Used in Figures

ThefiguresinthisbookusetheabbreviationslistedinTable 1.

Technical Support and Education Resources

Thefollowingsectionsdescribethetechnicalsupportresourcesavailabletoyou.Toaccessthecurrentversion

ofthisbookandotherbooks,gotowww.vmware.com/support/pubs.

Online and Telephone Support

Gotowww.vmware.com/supporttouseonlinesupporttosubmittechnicalsupportrequests,viewyour

productandcontractinformation,andregisteryourproducts.

Gotowww.vmware.com/support/phone_support.htmltofindouthowtousetelephonesupportforthe

fastestresponseonpriority1issues(appliestocustomerswithappropriatesupportcontracts).

Support Offerings

Gotowww.vmware.com/support/servicestofindouthowVMwaresupportofferingscanhelpmeetyour

businessneeds.

VMware Professional Services

Gotowww.vmware.com/servicestoaccessinformationabouteducationclasses,certificationprograms,and

consultingservices.VMwareEducationServicescoursesofferextensivehands‐onlabs,casestudyexamples,

andcoursematerialsdesignedforuseason‐the‐jobreferencetools.Coursesareavailableonsite,inthe

classroom,andliveonline.Foronsitepilot

programsandimplementationbestpractices,VMwareConsulting

Servicesprovidesofferingstohelpyouassess,plan,build,andmanageyourvirtualenvironment.

Table 1. Abbreviations

Abbreviation Description

Channel VMwareChannel

NIC NetworkInterfaceCard

P2P PhysicaltoPhysical

P2V PhysicaltoVirtual

V2V VirtualtoVirtual

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Getting Started

Reference Guide

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VMware, Inc. 11

1

Thischapterincludesthefollowingtopics:

 “vCenterServerHeartbeatConcepts”onpage 11

 “vCenterServerHeartbeatSwitchoverandFailoverProcesses”onpage 17

Overview

vCenterServerHeartbeatisaWindowsbasedservicespecificallydesignedtoprovidehighavailability

protectionforvCenterServerconfigurationswithoutrequiringanyspecializedhardware.

vCenter Server Heartbeat Concepts

Architecture

vCenterServerHeartbeatsoftwareisinstalledonaPrimary(production)serverandaSecondary

(ready‐standby)server.Thesenamesrefertothephysicalhardware(identity)oftheservers.

Dependingonthenetworkenvironment,vCenterServerHeartbeatcanbedeployedinaLocalAreaNetwork

(LAN)orWideAreaNetwork(WAN).Additionally,

vCenterServerHeartbeatallowsforinstallationusing

identicalnodes(LANandWAN )ornon‐identicalnodes(LANonly).Thesefeaturesprovideflexibility

necessarytoaddressmostnetworkenvironments.

Dependingonthenetworkenvironmentandarchitectureselected,vCenterServerHeartbeatcanbe

configuredwherethePrimaryandSecondaryserverhavethesame

domainnameandPrincipal(Public)IP

address(identicalnodes)orwherethePrimaryandSecondaryservershavedifferentdomainnamesbutshare

thePrincipal(Public)IPaddress(non‐identicalnodes).Ineitherarchitecture,theSecondaryserverinthewill

havethesamefileanddatastructureandcanrunallof

thesameapplicationsandservicesasthePrimary

server.ThevCenterServerHeartbeatsoftwareissymmetricalinalmostallrespects,andeitherthePrimary

serverortheSecondaryservercantaketheactiveroleandprovideprotectedapplicationstotheuser.

Whendeployed,vCenterServerHeartbeatusestwoserv erswith

eitheridenticalPrincipal(Public)IP

addressesforidenticalnodesorasharedPrincipal(Public)IPaddressfornon‐identicalnodes.Oneofthe

serversperformstheroleoftheactiveserverthatisvisibleonthePublicnetworkwhiletheotheristhepassive

serverthatishiddenfromthePublic

networkbutremainsasaready‐standbyserver.Onlyoneservercan

displaythePrincipal(Public)IPaddressandbevisibleonthePublicnetworkatanygiventime.

Identical Nodes Configuration

Whenconfiguredforidenticalnodes,vCenterServerHeartbeatusestwoserverswiththesamedomainname,

Principal(Public)networkIPaddress,

fileanddatastructure,applications,andservicestoensurethatvCenter

Serverisrunning andavailable.WithapacketfilterinstalledonbothserversPrincipal(Public)NICs,vCenter

ServerHeartbeatappliesthepacketfiltertothePrincipal(Public)NIConthepassiveservertherebyblocking

communicationsandhidingthepassiveserver

fromthePublicnetwork.Whenaswitchoveroccurs,thepacket

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12 VMware, Inc.

filteronthecurrentlyactiveserverisenabledpreventingcommunicationsonthePublicnetworkwhilethe

packetfilteronthecurrentlypassiveserverisdisabledtherebyallowingthetwoserverstoswitchroles.From

thispointon,thepreviouslypassiveserverisnowactiveandservicingtheclients.Thepreviouslyactive

server

isnowpassiveandhiddenfromthePublicnetwork.

Intheeventofafailover,thepreviouslyactiveserverisdeemedtohavefailedandnofurtheractionsare

necessary.Thepacketfilteronthepreviouslypassiveserverisdisabledallowingtheservertobecomevisible

onthePublic

networkandserviceclientsasthenewactiveserver.

Advantages of Identical Nodes Configuration

IdenticalnodeconfigurationprovidesforasimplifiedinstallationandsupportsVirtualtoVirtual,Virtualto

Physical,andPhysicaltoPhysicalarchitectures.Additionally,identicalnodeconfigurationsupportsuseof

boththePre‐cloneandInstallclone,installationtechniques.Whenconfiguredwithidenticalnodes,

vCenter

ServerHeartbeatprovidestwoidenticalserversthatcanfunctionastheactiveserverservicingclients.

Additionally,withidenticalnodes,organizationscandeployvCenterServerHeartbeatinWANenvironments

therebyextendingprotectionoverwidegeographicdistances.

Non-Identical Nodes Configuration

Non‐identicalnodeconfigurationprovidesenhancedmanagementcapabilitiestothevCenterHeartbeat

Serverclusterbyprovidingcontinuousaccesstothepassiveserversimultaneouslywhiletheactiveserver

continuestoserviceclients.Whenconfiguredwithnon‐identicalnodes,vCenterServerHeartbeatusesunique

servernamesforeachserverandenhancedIPaddress

managementcapabilitiestoaccommodateMicrosoft

(updatable)DNSserversandLockedDownmodeornon‐MicrosoftDNSserverswhileprovidingthesame

levelsofprotectionaswhenconfiguredwithidenticalnodes.

TheSecondaryserverhasadifferentFullyQualifiedDomainName(FQDN)thanthePrimaryserverbutuses

thesamefile

anddatastructure,samePrincipal(Public)networkaddress,andcanrunallthesame

applicationsandservicesasthePrimaryserver.WithvCenterServerHeartbeatsoftwaresymmetricalin

almostallrespects,eitherthePrimaryserverortheSecondaryservercanassumetheactiveroleandprovide

protectedapplicationstotheuser.

Additionally,thisconfigurationallowsthepassiveservertobeeasilyaccessedformaintenancepurposes,

updatinganti‐virusdefinitionfiles,receivingoperatingsystemhot‐fixes,updatesandpatchesfrom

third‐partymanagementsoftware,andallowsuseofthird‐partymonitoringtools.

Switchover/Failover Without Updating DNS Servers

SelecttheNon‐IdenticaloptionwhenyouwanttodeployvCenter

ServerHeartbeatwithnon‐identicalnodes

inanenvironmentthatdoesnotpermitupdatingDNS(anon‐updatableMicrosoftDNSserver(orLocked

DownMode)oranon‐MicrosoftDNSserver).ThisconfigurationrequiresvCenterServervCenterServer4.0

Update1orlater,ifSQLServerisdeployed,itmust

beremote,andsinceDNSwillnotbeupdated

automatically,youmustprepopulatetheDNSserverwithentriesforthenewmanagementnamesandIP

addressesofthePrimaryandSecondaryservers.vCenterServerHeartbeatusespermanentlyassignedunique

ManagementIPaddressesonboththePrimaryandSecondaryservers.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non‐identicalnodesonserversrunning

Windows2008.WhenvCenterServerHeartbeatisstarted,thesharedPrincipal(Public)IPaddressis

provided

totheactiveserver.Whenaswitchoveroccurs,thesharedPrincipal(Public)IPaddressisremovedfromthe

previouslyactiveserver(makingitpassive)andprovidedtothepreviouslypassiveserver(makingitactive)

allowingtheserverstoswitchrolesandthenewactiveservertobeginservicingclients.

Microsoft DNS Server Updated During Switchover/Failover

Select

theNon‐identical(UpdatesMSDNS)optionwhenyouwanttodeployvCenterServerHeartbeatwith

non‐identicalnodesinanenvironmentwherevCenterServer4.0Update1orlaterisinstalled,ifSQLServer

isdeployeditmustberemote,aMicrosoftDNSserverthatpermitsupdatesisused,

andyouwanttotake

advantageoftheenhancedpassiveservermanagementcapabilities.vCenterServerHeartbeatinteractswith

theDNSserverandfollowingaswitchover,willensurethatserversarecorrectlyidentifiedonthenetworkby

updatingDNSinformation.vCenterServerHeartbeatusesuniqueservernamesandManagementIP

VMware, Inc. 13

Chapter 1 Introduction

addressesforthePrimaryandSecondaryserversseparatefromthesharedPublic(Principal)IPaddress.

ClientsconnecttovCenterServerusingauniquevirtualservicenameconfiguredinvCenterServerHeartbeat

thatresolvestothePublic(Principal)IPaddress.Whenstarted,vCenterServerHeartbeatprovidesthepassive

serveritsuniqueManagement

IPaddressandprovidestheactiveserverwiththesharedPrincipal(Public)IP

address.

Whenaswitchoveroccurs,vCenterServerHeartbeatremovesthesharedPrincipal(Public)IPaddressfrom

thecurrentlyactiveserverandreplacesitwithitsuniqueManagementIPaddress.Onthecurrentlypassive

server,vCenterServerHeartbeatremoves

theManagementIPaddressandreplacesitwiththeshared

Principal(Public)IPaddresstherebyallowingtheserverstoswitchroles.

Advantages of Non-Identical Nodes Configuration

Deploymentofnon‐identicalnodesallowsforeasyaccesstothepassive(hidden/readystandby)serveratany

timeregardlessofwhichserverisactiveandservicingclients.Additionally,this

configurationallowsthe

passiveservertobeeasilyaccessedformaintenancepurposes,updatinganti‐virusdefinitionfiles,receiving

operatingsystemhot‐fixes,updatesandpatchesfromthird‐partymanagementsoftware,andallowsuseof

third‐partymonitoringtools.

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protectsthe

networkidentityoftheproductionserver,ensuringusersareprovidedwithareplicaserveronthefailure

oftheproductionserver.

 NetworkProtection–vCenterServerHeartbeatproactivelymonitorsthenetworkbypollinguptothree

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onthenetwork.

 PerformanceProtection–vCenterServerHeartbeatproactivelymonitorssystemperformanceattributes

toensurethatthesystemadministratorisnotifiedofproblemsandcan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thisdataonthepassiveserverthatcanbeusedintheeventofafailure.

vCenterServerHeartbeatprovidesallfiveprotectionlev elscontinuously,ensuringallfacetsoftheuser

environment

aremaintainedatalltimes,andthatthenetwork(Principal(Public)network)continuesto

operatethroughasmanyfailurescenariosaspossible.

Server Protection

vCenterServerHeartbeatprovidescontinuousavailabilitytoendusersthroughahardwarefailurescenario

oroperatingsystemcrash.Additionally,vCenterServerHeartbeatprotectsthenetworkidentityofthe

productionserver,ensuringusersareprovidedwithareplicaserverincludingservername(singleidentity

only),IPaddressonthefailureofthe

productionserver.

TwoinstancesofvCenterServerHeartbeatregularlysend“I’malive”messagesandmessage

acknowledgmentstooneanotheroveranetworkconnectionreferredtoastheVMwareChanneltodetect

interruptionsinresponsiveness.Ifthepassiveserverdetectsthatthismonitoringprocess(referredtoasthe

heartbeat)hasfailed,it

initiatesafailoverasillustratedinFigure 1‐1.

Installation Guide

14 VMware, Inc.

Figure 1-1. Failover

Afailoverissimilartoaswitchoverbutisusedinmoreurgentsituations,suchaswhenthepassiveserver

detectsthattheactiveserverisnolongerresponding.Thiscanoccurwhentheactiveserverhardwarefails,

losesitsnetworkconnections,orotherwisebecomesunavailable.Ratherthantheactive

servergracefully

closing,thepassiveserverdeterminesthattheactiveserverhasfailedandrequiresnofurtheroperations.Ina

failover,thepassiveserverimmediatelyassumestheactiveserverrole.Thefailoverprocessisdiscussedlater

inthisguide.

Network Protection

vCenterServerHeartbeatproactivelymonitorsthenetworkbypollinguptothreenodestoensurethatthe

activeserverisvisibleonthenetwork.vCenterServerHeartbeatpollsdefinednodesaroundthenetwork,

includingthedefaultgateway,theprimaryDNSserver,andtheglobalcatalogserveratregularintervals.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initiateaswitchover,allowingtheSecondaryservertoassumeanidentical

networkidentityasthePrimaryserver.

Application Protection

vCenterServerHeartbeatrunningontheactiveserverlocallymonitorstheapplicationsandservicesithas

beenconfiguredtoprotect(throughtheuseofplug‐ins)toverifythatprotectedapplicationsareoperational

andnotinanunresponsiveorstoppedstate.Thislevelofmonitoringisfundamentalinensuringthat

applications

remainavailabletousers.

Ifaprotectedapplicationfails,vCenterServerHeartbeatfirst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 17forfurther

informationabouttheswitchoverprocess.

VMware, Inc. 15

Chapter 1 Introduction

Figure 1-2. Switchover

Aswitchovergracefullyclosesanyprotectedapplicationsthatarerunningontheactiveserverandrestarts

themonthepassiveserver,includingtheapplicationorservicethatcausedthefailure.Intheexamplewhere

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yourprotectedapplicationsareoperationalandprovidingserviceatalevelofperformance

adequateforuserstoremainproductiveisimportant.ThevCenterServerHeartbeatplug‐inprovidesthese

monitoringandpre‐emptiverepaircapabilities.

vCenterServerHeartbeatproactivelymonitorssystemperformanceattributestoensurethatthesystem

administrator

isnotifiedofproblemsandcantakepre‐emptiveactiontopreventanoutage.

Inadditiontomonitoringapplicationservices,vCenterServerHeartbeatcanmonitorspecificapplication

attributestoensurethattheyremainwithinnormaloperatingranges.Similartoapplicationmonitoring,

variousrulescanbeconfiguredtotriggerspecificcorrectiveactions

whenevertheseattributesfalloutsideof

theirrespectiveranges.

vCenterServerHeartbeatprovidesthesamelevelofflexibilitytodefine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configurevCenterServerHeartbeattoprotecttheapplicationenvironment.Alldatafilesthatusersor

theapplicationsrequireintheapplicationenvironmentaremadeavailableshouldafailureoccur.After

installation,vCenterServerHeartbeatconfiguresitselftoprotectfiles,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

filesprotectedonthefailedserverareavailabletousersafterthefailover,hostedontheSecondaryserver.

vCenterServerHeartbeatinterceptsallfilesystemI/Ooperationsontheactiveserver.Iftheinterceptedwrite



andupdateoperationsarewithintheprotectedset,theseareplacedinaqueueontheactiveserverreferredto

astheactiveserver’ssendqueue,pendingtransmissiontothepassiveserver.Eachrequestisnumberedto

maintainitsorderinthequeue.

Withtherequestintheactiveserver’ssend

queue,vCenterServerHeartbeatallowsthediskI/Otocontinue

withtherequesteddiskoperation.

Ifthechannelisconnected,theactiveserver’ssendqueueistransferredtothepassiveserver,whichplacesall

therequestsinthepassiveserver’sreceivequeue.Thepassiveserverconfirmsthechangeswereloggedby



sendingtheactiveserveranacknowledgement.Theactiveserverclearsthedatafromitsqueue.

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16 VMware, Inc.

Figure 1-3. Apply Process

Theapplyprocessrunningonthepassiveserver’sreceivequeueappliesallupdatesinstrictsequence,

duplicatinganidenticalsetoffileoperationsonthepassiveserverasillustratedinFigure 1‐3.

Communications

TheVMwareChannelisacrucialcomponentofthesetupandcanbeconfiguredinanumberofways.

BoththePrimaryandSecondaryserversmusthavetwoormorenetworkinterfaceconnections(NICs).

ThePrincipal(Public)networkrequiresoneNIC.TheVMwareChannelusesaseparateNICfortheprivate

connection

betweentheserversusedforcontrolanddatatransferbetweenthepairofservers.

AsecondpairofNICscanbeusedtoprovideadegreeofredundancyfortheVMwareChannel.Inthis

configuration,theVMwareChannelhasadualchannelifmorethanonededicatedNICisprovidedfor

the

VMwareChanneloneachserver.Toprovideaddedresilience,thecommunicationsforthesecondchannel

mustbecompletelyindependentfromthefirstchannel.Theymustnotshareanyswitches,virtualswitches,

routersorthesameWANconnection.

Figure 1-4. Communication Between Primary and Secondary Servers

TheIPaddressaclientusestoconnecttotheactiveserver

(thePrincipal(Public)IPaddress)mustbe

configuredasastaticIPaddress,thatis,notDHCP(DynamicHostConfigurationProtocol)enabled.Inthe

figureabove,theIPaddressisconfiguredas192.168.1.127.

NOTEObtaintheIPaddress:typeipconfigatthepromptinaDOSshell.Foradditionalinformationabout

theIPconfiguration,addtheswitch/All totheipconfigcommand.

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Chapter 1 Introduction

Whendeployedwithidenticalnodes,thePrincipal(Public)NICsonthepassiveserverareconfiguredtouse

thesameIPaddressasthatoftheactiveserverbutarepreventedfromcommunicatingwiththelivenetwork

throughanIPpacketfilteringsysteminstalledwithvCenterServerHeartbeat.Thispacketfilterprevents



trafficusingthePrincipal(Public)addressfrombeingcommittedtothewire.ItalsopreventsNetBIOStraffic

utilizingotherIPaddressesontheNICfrombeingsenttopreventNetBIOSnameresolutionconflicts.

TheNICsontheactiveandpassiveserversusedfortheVMwareChannelareconfiguredsothattheir

IP

addressesareoutsideofthesubnetrangeofthePrincipal(Public)network.Theseaddressesare referredtoas

VMwareChanneladdresses.

Duringinstallation,setupwillswitchoffNetBIOSfortheVMwareChannel(s)ontheactiveandpassive

serversasthisconnectionremainsliveandboththepassiveandactivemachines

havethesameNetBIOS

name.FollowingrestoreandafterthevCenterServerHeartbeatinstallationcompletes(runtime),NetBIOSis

disabledacrossthechannel(s).Thisoccursduringinstallationtopreventanameconflict,whichoccurswhen

bothservershavethesamename.

TheNICsthatsupportconnectivityacrosstheVMwareChannelcanbe

standard100BaseTEthernetcards

providingathroughputof100MbitspersecondacrossstandardCat‐5cabling.Initsmostbasicform,a

dedicatedchannelrequiresnohubsorrouters,butthedirectconnectionrequirescrossovercabling.

WhenconfiguredforaWANdeployment,configuretheVMwareChanneltousestaticroutes

overswitches

androuterstomaintaincontinuouscommunicationsindependentfromcorporateorpublictraffic.

vCenter Server Heartbeat Switchover and Failover Processes

vCenterServerHeartbeatusesfourdifferentprocedures—managedswitchover,automaticswitchover,

automaticfailover,andmanagedfailover—tochangetheroleoftheactiveandpassiveserversdependingon

thestatusoftheactiveserver.

Managed Switchover

YoucanclickMakeActiveonthevCenterServerHeartbeatConsoleServer:Summarypagetomanually

initiateamanagedswitchover.Whenamanagedswitchoveristriggered,therunningofprotected

applicationsistransferredfromtheactivemachinetothepassivemachineintheserverpair.Theserverroles

arereversed.

Figure 1-5.

Switchover

Amanagedswitchoverperformsthefollowingsteps:

1Stoptheprotectedapplicationsontheactiveserver.Aftertheprotectedapplicationsstop,nomoredisk

updatesaregenerated.

2Sendallupdatesthatarestillqueuedontheactiveservertothepassiveserver.Afterthisstep,allupdates

areavailableonthepassive

server.

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18 VMware, Inc.

3Re‐designatetheSecondaryserverasthenewactiveserver.Afterthisstep,vCenterServerHeartbeat:

 Hidesthepreviouslyactiveserverfromthenetwork.

 Makesthenewlyactiveservervisibleonthenetwork.Thenewlyactiveserverhasthesameidentity

asthepreviouslyactiveserver,andbeginstointerceptandqueuediskI/Ooperationsforthenewly

passiveserver.

4vCenterServerHeartbeatcausesthenewlypassiveservertobeginacceptingupdatesfromtheactive

server.

5vCenterServerHeartbeatstartsthesameprotectedapplicationsonthenewactiveserver.Theprotected

applicationsbecomeaccessibletousers.Themanagedswitchoveriscomplete

Automatic Switchover

Automaticswitchover(auto‐switchover)issimilartofailover(discussedinthenextsection)butistriggered

automaticallywhensystemmonitoringdetectsfailureofaprotectedapplication.

Likemanagedswitchover,auto‐switchoverchangestheserverrolesbutthenstopsvCenterServerHeartbeat

onthepreviouslyactiveservertoallowtheadministratorto

investigatethecauseoftheauto‐switchoverand

verifytheintegrityofthedata.

Afterthecausefortheauto‐switchoverisdeterminedandcorrected,theadministratorcanusevCenterServer

HeartbeatConsoletoreturntheserverrolestotheiroriginalstate.

Automatic Failover

Automaticfailoverissimilartoautomaticswitchover(discussedabove)butistriggeredwhenthepassive

serverdetectsthattheactiveserverisnolongerrunningproperlyandassumestheroleoftheactiveserver.

Figure 1-6. Failover

Duringtheautomaticfailover,thepassiveserverperformsthefollowingsteps:

1 Applyanyinterceptedupdatescurrentlyin

thepassiveserver’sreceivequeueasidentifiedbythelogof

updaterecordsthataresavedonthepassiveserverbutnotyetappliedtothereplicatedfiles.

Theamountofdatainthepassiveserver’sreceivequeueaffectsthetimerequiredtocompletethefailover

process.Ifthepassiveserver’s

receivequeueislong,thesystemmustwaitforallupdatestothepassive

servertocompletebeforetherestoftheprocesscantakeplace.Anupdaterecordcanbeappliedonlyif

allearlierupdaterecordsareapplied,andthecompletionstatusfortheupdateisinthe

passiveserver’s

receivequeue.Whennomoreupdaterecordscanbeapplied,anyupdaterecordsthatcannotbeapplied

arediscarded.

2Switchmodeofoperationfrompassivetoactive.

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Chapter 1 Introduction

Thisenablesthepublicidentityoftheserver.Theactiveandpassiveserversbothusethesamesystem

nameandsamePrincipal(Public)IPaddress.ThisPrincipal(Public)IPaddresscanbeenabledonlyon

onesystematanytime.Whenthepublicidentityisenabled,anyclientspreviouslyconnectedtothe

server

beforetheautomaticfailoverareabletoreconnect.

3Startinterceptingupdatestoprotecteddata.Anyupdatestotheprotecteddataaresavedinthesend

queueonthelocalserver.

4Startallprotectedapplications.Theapplicationsusethereplicatedapplicationdatatorecover,andthen

acceptre‐connectionsfromany

clients.Anyupdatesthattheapplicationsmaketotheprotecteddataare

interceptedandlogged.

Atthispoint,theoriginallyactiveserverisofflineandtheoriginallypassiveserverisfillingtheactiverole

andisrunningtheprotectedapplications.Anyupdatesthatcompletedbeforethefailoverareretained.

Applicationclients

canreconnecttotheapplicationandcontinuerunningasbefore.

Managed Failover

Managedfailoverissimilartoautomaticfailoverinthatthepassiveserverautomaticallydeterminesthatthe

activeserverhasfailedandcanwarnthesystemadministratoraboutthefailure;butnofailoveractuallyoccurs

untilthesystemadministratormanuallytriggersthisoperation.

Automatic Switchover and Failover in a WAN Environment

AutomaticswitchoverandfailoverinaWANenvironmentdifferfromaautomaticswitchoverandfailoverin

aLANenvironmentduetothenatureoftheWANconnection.InaWANenvironment,automaticswitchover

andfailoveraredisabledbydefaultintheeventthattheWANconnectionislost.

Shouldacondition

arisethatwouldnormallytriggeranautomaticswitchoverorfailover,theadministrator

willreceivevCenterServerHeartbeatalerts.TheadministratormustmanuallyclicktheMakeActivebutton

ontheServer:SummarypageofthevCenterServerHeartbeatConsoletoallowtherolesoftheserversto

switchovertheWAN.

To enable Automatic Switchover in a WAN

1In

thevCenterServerHeartbeatConsole,clicktheNetworktabtodisplaytheNetworkMonitoringpage.

2ClickConfigureAuto‐switchover.

3 SelecttheAuto‐switchoverifclientnetworkconnectivitylostforcheckbox.

4Configurethenumberofpingstowaitbeforeperformingtheauto‐switchover.

5ClickOK.

Recovery from a Failover

AssumingthatthePrimaryserverwasactiveandtheSecondaryserverwaspassivebeforethefailover,after

thefailovertheSecondaryserverisactiveandthePrimaryserverispassive.

Afterrectifyingtheproblemthatinitiatedthefailover,itisasimpleprocesstoreinstatethePrimaryserveras

theactive

serverandtheSecondaryserverasthepassiveserver.

WhenvCenterServerHeartbeatstartsonthefailedPrimaryserver,itdetectsthatitdidnotstopcleanlythe

previoustime.ItdisablesthepublicidentitybydeployingtheIPpacketfilterandhaltsvCenterServer

Heartbeatsothattheissuesthat

causedthefailurecanberesolved.

N

OTEWhenfailoverconditionssuchasapowerfailurecausebothactiveandpassiveserverstofail,the

conditionmayresultthatcausesbothserverstorestartinpassivemode.Inthissituation,manualintervention

isrequired.

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20 VMware, Inc.

To restore the previously failed server to the active role

1 Correcttheconditionsthatcausedthefailover.

2Verifytheintegrityofthediskdataonthefailedserver.

3Restartthefailed,nowpassive,serverafterallissuesareresolved.

4StartvCenterServerHeartbeatonthepassiveserver.

Atthispoint,theinstancesofvCenterServerHeartbeatrunningontheserversconnectand

beginto

re‐synchronizethedataonthePrimaryserver.

5 WaituntilvCenterServerHeartbeatisfullysynchronized.

Whenthere‐synchronizationiscomplete,youcancontinueoperatingwiththisconfiguration(for

example,theSecondaryserveristheactiveserverandthePrimaryserveristhepassiveserver),orinitiate

amanaged

switchover.

6Optionally,performamanagedswitchovertoreturnthePrimaryandSecondaryserverstothesameroles

theyhadbeforethefailover.

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VMware vCenter vCenter Server Heartbeat 6.3 User guide

VMware vCenter vCenter Server Heartbeat 6.3 User guide

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