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Appendix C. Redundant servers: Setting up and swapping out
This appendix contains two main sections related to the creation and repair of iPATH Agility Controller installations that employ
redundancy.
• Setting up iPATH Agility Controller redundancy - below
• Swapping out an iPATH Agility Controller - on next page
Note: When upgrading from a 3.1 redundant system after upgrading the primary iPATH Agility Controller and then the associated
devices to 3.3, it is important to remember to upgrade the backup iPATH Agility Controller to 3.3. Failover with mixed firmware
versions is not supported.
C.1 Setting up iPATH Agility Controller redundancy
This section details the steps required to successfully configure two iPATH units as primary and secondary servers.
1 First determine the password requirements for iPATH Agility Controllers. Access the Dashboard > Settings page and click
Servers button. Set the Require Authentication option as required. If set to No, then new servers can join the network as soon
as they are plugged in. If set to Yes, you will need to enter a Cluster Password in the field below and this must be set on every
iPATH Agility Controller.
2 Within the main Servers tab, choose the iPATH unit that you wish to use as the primary server.
3 Click
for the chosen iPATH Agility Controller to display the Configure Server page and change the Rôle entry to primary and
click Save.
4 Add the new secondary iPATH Agility Controller to the network. This unit must have its factory default settings in place. The
new server should appear within the main Servers tab and be identified as being Unconfigured.
5 Wait five minutes for automatic server replication to take place. After five minutes the secondary server will be added to the list
on the main servers tab. It is possible that the backup status may show a failure state before the correct status of standby is
shown. This is because the replication of the database from the primary to the backup may take longer than expected.
Note: If the transfer of the backup database is interrupted and only a partial database is transferred, then the problem will be
reported within the management server page. If this occurs, it will not be possible to log in to the backup database and the
firmware version of the backup will be reported as V. After five minutes, you should be given the options of Reboot and
Factory Reset. Choose the factory reset option in order to clear this issue.
6 You can now configure the secondary server in either of two ways:
• Click the
icon to configure the server remotely from the primary server.
• Click the
icon to open a restricted page in order to configure the server directly from its own IP address. If you use this
option, the configuration options are limited to: view the logs; update/reset iPATH and configure this server.
C.2 Operation of Redundancy
If the Primary server fails for any reason (for example, loss of power or a network issue) then the secondary server will failover.
This will happen automatically without any user intervention, however it is not instantaneous. The failover time required is the
value entered in the primary timeout plus 30 seconds for the process to happen. The Agility extenders will start communication
with the second IP address that is stored in their configuration and the redundant server will take control of the Agility units.
When the redundant server is acting as the primary it is not possible to add any new devices or change the configuration. If this is
required then the backup server can be promoted to be the primary.
When the primary server comes back online then it will resume its role as the primary. If however the backup server has been
promoted to primary, when the primary server comes back its role will need to be factory reset back to the backup. It is not
possible to have two primary servers on the same network.
Both the primary and the backup server periodically synchronize their databases to ensure that they are identical. If for any reason
the backup server is powered down then any changes to the system configuration will not be maintained by the backup server.
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Appendices
Page 69
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