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mwaters



Joined: 23 May 2013
Posts: 29

PostPosted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 12:41 pm    Post subject: Redundant Servers Reply with quote

Is there any way to run two servers in a high availability context so that we would always have one server available should one be down? Aside from just building another server and moving serial cables when we wanted to work on one of the servers.


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Tech Support



Joined: 25 Aug 2003
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 12:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

What are your output methods? From the context of your message, it sounds like you're using a direct serial connection to a TAP terminal?



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mwaters



Joined: 23 May 2013
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 12:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

We use both TAP as well as TCP/IP connections. Recipients are either Cell phones, regular pagers or special circuit boards in remote locations over VPN connections.


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 12:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The reason I ask is that you can configure a backup server and configure PageGate's Synchronization feature, which will have the primary server periodically update the secondary server on a timescale you decide. However, there isn't an automatic way to have one server fail over to the other server, you would still need to switch the secondary for the primary if the primary ever goes down. Also, if you're using a serial connection to a TAP terminal, you would still need to move the cable to the alternate server to keep using that output method.



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mwaters



Joined: 23 May 2013
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 12:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hmm, that /may/ work. I am trying to shorten the amount of time that the server would be unavailable, such as when a reboot is necessary because of security updates.

Although, our dispatchers also have the local GUI client installed on their workstations as an alternate way to send pages. Normally they send via our CAD dispatch software which connects to PageGate through a serial connection. Would I need a second client installed for them to use while the first server was out of commission?


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 1:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not necessarily. The PageGate Client references the PageGate Server's database either by mapped network drive or UNC path. If the primary server ever goes down, you can assign the machine name and/or IP address to the secondary server and, assuming the PageGate Database directory has been shared out with the same share name as the primary, the client would just connect to the secondary server since it would be mimicking the primary.



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OzCom



Joined: 22 Oct 2003
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Location: US

PostPosted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 3:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In addition to the hints from Support - we have installed auto-switches on backup servers to share serial output. Basically - RS-232 from the PRIMARY PageGate server into the switch, RS-232 from the BACKUP PageGate server into the switch, and a single RS-232 serial OUT from the other side of the switch to the destination device

(similar to this: http://www.aten.com/products/Data-Communication/Auto-Switches/RS232-Serial-Auto-Switch-(2-to-1)~AS251S.html#.VC275GddWAg )



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killlereye



Joined: 10 Feb 2015
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Location: Pakistan

PostPosted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 7:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Normally they send via our CAD dispatch software which connects to PageGate through a serial connection. Would I need a second client installed for them to use while the first server was out of commission?



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PostPosted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 9:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It depends on how you configure things. If the secondary server is going to be assigned the primary server's IP and/or machine name if it's ever 'made' the primary, there isn't anything you'll need to configure in the Client. If it's going to retain its own unique IP/machine name, the only thing you'll need to do is give the Client the UNC path to the secondary server's database because when the primary server goes down, the path that the client references will be invalid.



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