Single Network High Availability configuration

The Single Network High Availability configuration for fault tolerance is meant for systems with Plixer Replicators on the same subnet. In this configuration, packets are sent to a virtual IP address that the primary (master) and secondary (backup) appliances are both configured to listen to for traffic. Because each Plixer Replicator in High Availability mode is assigned a priority, they are aware of their primary/secondary role in the configuration.

When the primary Plixer Replicator fails, the packet streams are immediately picked up by the secondary appliance and forwarded to the same Collectors. Once the primary is active again, it will resume its previous replication functions.

The Single Network High Availabiity configuration can be used to set up redundancy beyond basic primary and secondary roles.

Requirements

The following are required to set up a fault tolerant configuration using the traditional method:

  • A primary Plixer Replicator

  • A secondary Plixer Replicator

  • Exporters that are configured to send data to a single virtual IP address

Single Network High Availability configuration

To set up the Plixer Replicator as the secondary appliance in the High Availability configuration:

  1. Deploy the appliance as normal following the instructions in the deployment guides.

  2. Add the virtual IP address to the primary Plixer Replicator using the following command: REPLICATOR> system virtualip enable eth0 [virtual_ip]

  3. Set the IP address of the primary appliance: REPLICATOR> role set ha master [primary_ip]

  4. Enable Single Network High Availability on the primary Plixer Replicator: REPLICATOR> role set ha on 101 [virtual_ip] eth0 master

    Note

    When prompted, enter the admin user’s password for the web UI.

  5. Add the virtual IP address to the secondary Plixer Replicator by running the following command: REPLICATOR> system virtualip enable eth0 [virtual_ip]

  6. Set the IP address of the primary Plixer Replicator on the secondary appliance: REPLICATOR> role set ha master [primary_ip]

  7. Enable Single Network High Availability on the secondary Plixer Replicator: REPLICATOR> role set ha on 100 [virtual_ip] eth0 backup

    Note

    When prompted, enter the admin user’s password for the web UI.

  8. Test whether Single Network High Availability has been successfully configured:

    1. Run the following command on the primary and secondary Plixer Replicators: REPLICATOR> role test ha

    2. Shut down the primary appliance and ping the virtual IP address.

If a response is received from the virtual IP address, Single Network High Availability has been correctly configured and the primary Plixer Replicator can be restarted as normal.

Important

The admin user’s password for the web UI must be set to the same password on the primary and secondary Plixer Replicators for the configuration to be successful.

Disabling the Single Network configuration

To revert Plixer Replicators from single network to their previous state, run the following commands on the primary and secondary Plixer Replicators:

REPLICATOR> role set ha off
REPLICATOR> system virtualip disable eth0 [virtual_ip]