However, this configuration is appropriate for business-critical systems since the application can use the full power of another cluster node in case one cluster node fails.

NOTE: For clarity, future references of activen/active and activen/passive configura- tions will use “n” to equal the number of active cluster nodes. For example, an active/active/active/active configuration consisting of four active cluster nodes will be referred to as an active4 configuration.

Failover and Failback Support

One of the key features of Cluster Service is failover and failback support. Failover is the process of automatically moving resources from a failed cluster node to other healthy node(s) in the cluster. Failback is the process of returning the resources back to the original cluster node. Both failover and failback can be an automatic or manual process, depending on how you configure the Cluster Service.

NOTE: For more information on failover, failback, and cluster groups, see “Configuring Failover and Failback Support” in Chapter 6, “Configuring the System Software.”

PowerEdge Cluster FE100/FL100 Datacenter Server Failover Options

The PowerEdge FE100/FL100 Datacenter Server configuration provides the following failover options:

N + 1

Multiway

Cascading

N-Way migration solution

The following subsections describe each of these failover options.

N+1 Failover

N+1 failover is an activen/passive failover solution where one cluster node provides backup for multiple cluster nodes. This solution provides the following features:

Advantage:

One cluster node is a dedicated backup node for all cluster nodes, providing the best solution for critical applications.

Disadvantages

High expense, as one node is not used to provide network resources.

Backup cluster node may lack the resources to support multiple cluster node failures.

Figure 1-2 shows an example of N + 1 failover configuration.

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Dell FE100, FL100 manual Failover and Failback Support, +1 Failover, Advantage, Disadvantages

FL100, FE100 specifications

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