Configure for Failover

In a Spectrum environment using distributed services, you can configure for failover of services from one Spectrum Application Server to another. However, if you configure a service to run on only one Spectrum Application Server but to fail over to another if that server goes offline, then users may experience a noticeable interruption during failover.

Important! In a Spectrum environment with distributed services, all Spectrum Application Servers that are online must be accessible to each client computer.

Tip: To prevent disruptions for users, it is recommended that you configure your Spectrum environment for high availability (load balancing with failover) rather than simple failover. For more information, see Configure for High Availability.

To configure a service to run on one Spectrum Application Server and fail over to another Spectrum Application Server if the first one is incapacitated, use the following procedure.

1. In System  > Service Management, locate the core service, device group service, integration service, or facility service that you want to manage.

   Note: The Service Management page is primarily relevant if your Spectrum environment includes two or more Spectrum Application Servers installed as a distributed environment. For information about how to create a distributed Spectrum environment, see the Loftware Spectrum Installation and Configuration Guide.

2. If the Concurrent Running Servers property is displayed, select a number to indicate how many Spectrum Application Servers should run the service concurrently.

   Tip: To use one or more servers as standby servers in case of the need to fail over from another server, select a number less than the maximum available.

3. In the Instance Configurations table, select Activate for each Spectrum Application Server on which the service should have the potential to run, regardless of whether the service is expected to run on that server under ordinary circumstances or only if another server fails.

Important! The Font Management Service should be activated and started on all Spectrum Application Servers to ensure consistent fonts.

4. For the Priority for each Spectrum Application Server, select the order in which the service should fail over from one Spectrum Application Server to another. The order proceeds from the lowest number to the highest number.

   Tip: To configure one Spectrum Application Server to act as a standby server for another, set the Priority for each service on the standby server to a greater number than on the server that ordinarily runs the service.

   Example: How Priority Affects Failover and Restoration

   If you have multiple standby servers, you can use the priority to control which server acts as the failover target for each service. The order proceeds from the lowest number to the highest number. That is, if a Priority 1 server fails and servers with Priority 2 and Priority 3 are available, then the server with Priority 2 will be used if it is running. If the server with Priority 2 fails, then the server with Priority 3 will be used.

   When the server with Priority 1 comes back online, the service will automatically stop running on the Priority 3 server and start running on the Priority 1 server. If you do not want the service to automatically switch servers when a failed server is restored, set the Priority for the service to 1 on all servers.