| Failover
involves the automatic switching of functions from a
primary device, such as a server or router, to a secondary
device, in the event the primary device is no longer
operational. The secondary device receiving the failover
could have extra capacity or be a spare unit kept on-line
in reserve. The goal of the failover process is to be
as seamless as possible so as to not be noticeable to
end users.
Failover Benefits and
Issues
Failover
is an integral part of mission critical systems where
redundancy is required. Failover typically involves
the use of clusters or a backup system in a geographically
separate location. While failover provides an increased
level of fault tolerance it is not a simple task to
accomplish. Clustering and failover require a great
deal of technical knowledge if the system is to be properly
set-up and maintained. Make sure your internal resources
or external hosting provider have failover expertise
before you assign them the failover task. |
