Geo SCADA: Configuring a Hot-Standby pair of servers

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This Knowledge article is designed to be a summary of the steps required for configuring a Standby Geo SCADA server. For a complete list of steps, please refer to the ViewX Help in the following section:

System Administration | Server Administration | System Architectures | Hot-Standby pair architecture | Configure a Hot-Standby

For configuring a redundant Geo SCADA server, follow these steps:

(Note: it is highly recommended that a backup copy be made of the MAIN Geo SCADA Server’s database prior to configuring a redundant server)

For ease of understanding, this example will use the following IP addresses for the MAIN and Standby servers:

MAIN – 10.10.10.1

Standby – 10.10.10.2

Install the same version of Geo SCADA server (as is running on the MAIN server) on the Standby PC. Ensure the same drivers are installed.
License the Standby Geo SCADA server with the same options that are in the MAIN server’s license file
On the MAIN Geo SCADA server, go into the Geo SCADA server configuration | System Configuration | Partners tab
Change the ‘Type’ field from ‘Lone Server’ to ‘Hot-Standby Pair’
On the ‘Standby’ tab, set the ‘Name/IP address’ in the ‘Standby A’ field to the IP address of the Standby server (I.E. 10.10.10.2)

The ‘localhost’ branch of the tree (on the left) should be coloured red, to indicate that a change has been made. Right-click ‘localhost’ branch and select ‘Apply Changes’.

Close the Server Configuration dialog
On the Standby Geo SCADA server, go into the Geo SCADA server configuration | System Configuration | Partners tab
Change the ‘Type’ field from ‘Lone Server’ to ‘Hot-Standby Pair’
On the ‘Standby’ tab, set the ‘Name/IP address’ of the ‘Standby A’ field to the IP address of the MAIN server (I.E. 10.10.10.1)

The ‘localhost’ branch of the tree (on the left) should be coloured red, to indicate that a change has been made. Right-click ‘localhost’ branch and select ‘Apply Changes’.

Close the Server Configuration dialog and then shut down the Standby Geo SCADA server. Ensure it is shut down as indicated by the server icon turning from a blue triangle to a grey square
When you are ready to sync the Geo SCADA servers, shut down the MAIN server. Ensure that the Standby server is shut down before proceeding, and then start up the MAIN server *

*It is EXTREMELY important to ensure that the Standby server is shut down before bringing up the MAIN server. When two servers are configured for redundancy, the server that starts up first becomes MAIN. If you start up a Standby server (whose database is empty) first, it will go MAIN. If you then start up the MAIN server, it will see that the Standby server is already MAIN, and it will start to synchronize its database to the Standby server’s database. The result will be that the original MAIN server’s database will be overwritten with the database of the Standby server. In this case, the procedure would result in a blank database.

Verify that the MAIN server is running as indicated by the blue triangle showing in the GS server icon (as per step 12, above)
Start up the Standby server. After a few seconds, it’s server icon should turn green (starting) , and then yellow (sync-ing) . It will stay yellow while the Standby server synchronizes to the MAIN server.
Once the Standby server is synchronized, its server icon will turn to a light blue triangle .