Action Server Failover

Opalis Integration Server provides built-in failover capabilities to ensure protection from computer failure and to keep your Policies running. When you deploy your first Action Server, it becomes the primary machine to run Policies. Additional Action Servers that you deploy become standby machines.

Action Servers track the presence of other Action Servers and Policies. If an Action Server or Policy is not detected after 45 seconds, the Action Server or Policy is considered missing. A missing Action Server is removed from the list of available Action Servers, and the next Action Server in the list picks up the Policies that were executed by the missing Action Server.

Opalis Integration Server enables you to designate which machines will be standby machines, and the order in which they will be assigned Policies. Additionally, you can change the roles and order of your primary and standby machines at any time. This flexibility enables you to take advantage of new machines with greater computing resources that you have added to your infrastructure. For example, if you deploy a new machine that is higher powered than the current primary machine, you can designate the new machine to be the primary Action Server, while the current machine can become a standby machine.

Opalis Integration Server also enables you to assign specific Action Servers to run specific Policies. For example, if a Policy requires a specialized resource in order to run, such as Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0, you can install .NET Framework 3.0 on some of your Action Server machines, and then designate those machines to run the Policy that needs that resource. For more information, see Assigning Specific Action Servers to Run Policies.

Note: There may be a slight delay from the time that the Action Server heartbeat is no longer detected to the time when Policies are started on a standby Action Server.

Additionally, each Action Server can be configured with a limit to the number of Policies that it can run. For more information, see the Administrator Guide. When the primary Action Server is processing the maximum number of Policies, it automatically transfers additional Policies to the next Action Server in the Standby list. When the standby Action Server is operating at full capacity, the standby Action Server automatically transfers additional Policies to the next Action Server on the list, and so on. This ensures that your Policies will not have to wait until the Primary Action Server is available again.