JSCAPE MFT Server may be configured to synchronize all configuration changes to a failover server. The purpose of a failover server is that in the event the production server goes down the failover server can quickly take over the duties of the production server.
Figure 93
Enable automatic failover synchronization - Check to enable automatic synchronization of configuration files to failover server upon any change on production server.
Host - The hostname or IP address of the failover server.
Port - The port running the JSCAPE MFT Server Service on the failover server.
Password - The JSCAPE MFT Server Service password for the failover server.
Substitute IP/host of local services with failover IP/host - Check to replace IP/host address of local services with specified IP/host prior to synchronizing data to failover server.
Start domain/services after synchronization - Check to start domain and services on failover machine after synchronization.
Failover considerations
There are a few things you must consider when defining a failover server in JSCAPE MFT Server Manager.
1. With failover mode enabled an active connection is maintained between the primary server and the administrative service of the failover server. This connection ensures that whenever configuration changes are made to primary server that they are automatically synchronized to failover server. In order to see the changes on failover server you may need to refresh the JSCAPE MFT Server Manager connection. This can be done by selecting File > Reconnect from menu.
2. Upon synchronization of data from primary server to failover server the domain and web services on failover server are NOT automatically started (unless the "Start domain/services after synchronization" is enabled). This is by design. The reasoning behind this is that in the event you are using database logs you may not want duplicate log information to be sent from failover server to database log whenever server configuration is updated. Therefore when switching to failover server you will need to first enable any web services in File > Settings > Web section of JSCAPE MFT Server Manager and start the domain.
3. User directories and data are NOT copied during failover synchronization. This process should be managed by your SAN (Storage Area Network) or via manual synchronization.
If failover synchronization fails further synchronization may be disabled to prevent possible performance issues. You may identify this event by creating a trigger to capture the "Failover Synchronization" event and adding a condition to check whether the "Success" variable is equal to true. You may then add one or more actions to the trigger in order to respond to this condition i.e. "Send Email".
On-demand synchronization
JSCAPE MFT Server also supports on-demand synchronization. This is slightly different than failover mode in that an active connection is not maintained between the source and destination server. This allows you to perform a one-time synchronization of server configuration files to destination server by clicking the "Synchronize" button. The "Synchronize" button is enabled only when the "Enable failover" checkbox is NOT selected.