VMware VCENTER SERVER 4.0 - GETTING STARTED UPDATE 1 Installation Guide download pdf (Page 7)

VMware, Inc. 7

This guide introduces you to vCenter Server Heartbeat and provides an overview of the procedure to get

vCenter Server Heartbeat up and running quickly. It contains the following sections:

 “vCenter Server Heartbeat Overview” on page 7

 “Installation Prerequisites” on page 8

 “Installation Process” on page 8

 “Post Installation Configuration” on page 14

 “Installation Verification” on page 16

vCenter Server Heartbeat Overview

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

protection for vCenter Server and/or SQL Server configurations without requiring specialized hardware. This

guide can be used to install vCenter Server Heartbeat in a Local Area Network (LAN) employing a Physical

to Virtual or Virtual to Virtual architecture with or without SQL Server either local or remote.

VMware describes the organization of vCenter Server Heartbeat servers based upon Pairs and Pair status.

VMware refers to two servers (either virtual or physical) with vCenter Server Heartbeat installed working

together as a vCenter Server Heartbeat Pair. Each server instance in the Pair is assigned both an Identity

(Primary or Secondary) and a Role (active or passive). Identity is used to describe the instance of the server

while the Role is used to describe what the server instance is doing. When the Identity is assigned to a server

it normally will not change over the life of the server whereas the Role of the server is subject to change as a

result of the operations the server is performing.

vCenter Server Heartbeat operates using a Public (Principal) network connection for user access and a separate

private (channel) network connection between the servers for control and data transfer.

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. A second pair of NICs can be used to provide a degree of redundancy for the

VMware Channel.

Getting Started with vCenter Server

Heartbeat

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VMware VCENTER SERVER 4.0 - GETTING STARTED UPDATE 1 Installation Guide Page 7