High-Availability User s Guide v2.00

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High-Availability User’s Guide v2.00

Intended Audience

 The information presented in this manual is written for storage administrators to build Thecus High-Availability system.

Requirement

 Two Thecus NAS with High-Availability  Firmware 2.00.00 or above

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High-Availability User’s Guide v2.00

1. Introduction ... 3 1.1 HA function Description ... 4 2. HA Setup Procedure ... 5 2.1 System Requirements ... 5 2.2 Primary Server ... 6

2.2.1 Check the WAN setting ... 6

2.2.2 Start to Setup HA ... 7

2.3 Secondary Server ... 9

2.3.1 Check the WAN setting ... 9

2.3.2 Start to Setup HA ... 10

2.4 Reboot both servers and check HA Ready ... 11

The conditions for Primary server taken over by Secondary:... 12

3. How to change IP for HA server ... 13

3.1 Stop the HA ... 13

3.1.1 Stop the HA service on Primary Server ... 13

3.1.2 Stop the HA service on Secondary Server ... 15

3.2 Change IP on both server ... 17

3.2.1 Change the IP on Primary Server ... 17

3.2.2 Change the IP on Secondary Server ... 18

3.3 Enable HA on both servers ... 19

3.3.1 Enable HA on Primary Server ... 19

3.3.2 Enable HA on Secondary Server ... 20

3.3.3 Reboot the both servers ... 21

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1. Introduction

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1.1 HA function Description

1. HA keeps data updated on one Primary and one Secondary NAS. All functions are run through a single virtual IP address that accesses the Primary NAS normally and automatically switches to the Secondary NAS if necessary. The HA system synchronizes the Master RAID volume from the Primary NAS on the Secondary NAS using 'Heartbeat' packets. With HA, only ONE RAID volume can be created, the Master RAID.

2. Activating HA deletes all existing data on the NAS. Because of this, it is recommended to first backup any important data before activating HA.

3. Please double-check all HA settings before activation to avoid having to reset HA in the future. 4. Step-by-step activation setup:

A. Create a Master RAID volume on the Primary NAS. B. Create a Master RAID volume on the Secondary NAS.

C. Activate HA on the Primary NAS and allow the system to restart (This will delete all existing data on the NAS)

D. Activate HA on the Secondary NAS and allow the system to restart (This will delete all existing data on the NAS)

E. This will begin Primary and Secondary NAS synchronization. Additional Notes:

1. A NAS with HA activated can only have one RAID volume. If HA is deactivated, the RAID volume will be marked as “Used for HA” and unusable if HA is deactivated.

2. All settings for the Secondary NAS are controlled from the Primary NAS, for example AFP, FTP, NFS, iSCSI and Shared Folder functions.

3. After one NAS experiences problems and is back online, it will recover data from another NAS. During data recovery, DO not restart or turn off either NAS.

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2. HA Setup Procedure

2.1 System Requirements

HA needs two units to be setup one each for “Primary” and “Secondary” unit and both units have to build up RAID volume in prior.

Let’s take example for two HA Units.

 Host1: hostname:HA-1 (172.16.66.206)  Host2: hostname:HA-2 (172.16.66.208)

The demonstration firmware version is 2.02.03.3

Before we start to build HA, we need to have RAID volume on both two units. Please note that encrypted RAID is not supported.

Primary Server has RAIDHA1 with capacity 2,792GB

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2.2 Primary Server

Setup Primary Server (Active) for HA, take example unit N16000-Active (172.16.66.206):

2.2.1 Check the WAN setting

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2.2.2 Start to Setup HA

1. Login in to web UI of system 172.16.66.206 then go to [Storage / High-Availability] HA configuration page.

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3. For example, the secondary server named “N16000-Standby” at IP 172.16.66.208. We also check the virtual host name as HA at IP 172.16.65.13.

4. Click “Apply” to save HA Primary Server configuration.

5. After click “Apply”, you will see a window pop up to notice waiting for secondary server. Please next to Section 2.3 for secondary server configuration.

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2.3 Secondary Server

Setup Secondary Server for HA, take example unit N16000-Standby (172.16.66.208):

2.3.1 Check the WAN setting

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2.3.2 Start to Setup HA

1. Login in to web UI of system 172.16.66.206 then go to [Storage / High-Availability] HA configuration page.

2. Click on “Enable” radio button, you will see the configuration page was expanded.

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2.4 Reboot both servers and check HA Ready

After you have configured secondary server, please go back to the primary server. A popped up windows will ask you to reboot the unit. Please click “Yes”, this action will reboot both primary and secondary server.

HA Primary Server

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HA Secondary Server

The Standby unit has no accessibility as its roll played.

Caption: Screen shot of [System Network / High-Availability]

The conditions for Primary server taken over by Secondary: 1. Primary Server RAID damage

2. Losing Primary Server data port connection 3. Losing Heartbeat connection

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3. How to change IP for HA server

In this session we will change IP on both server and virtual IP of HA server.  Primary Server: 172.168.66.206 -> 172.16.65.71

 Secondary Server: 172.16.66.208 -> 172.16.65.72  Virtual IP: 172.16.65.13 -> 172.16.65.73

3.1 Stop the HA

3.1.1 Stop the HA service on Primary Server

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2. Click “Setting” tab. Click “Disable” and “Apply”.

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3.1.2 Stop the HA service on Secondary Server

1. Login in to web UI of system Secondary Server (172.16.66.208) then go to [Storage / High-Availability] HA configuration page.

2. Click “Setting” tab. Click “Disable” and “Apply”.

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3.2 Change IP on both server

3.2.1 Change the IP on Primary Server

1. Login in to web UI of system Secondary Server (172.16.66.208) then go to [System Network / Networking] configuration page. Change the IP from 172.16.66.208 to 172.16.65.71 and click “Apply”.

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3.2.2 Change the IP on Secondary Server

1. Login in to web UI of system Secondary Server (172.16.66.208) then go to [System Network / Networking] configuration page. Change the IP from 172.16.66.208 to 172.16.65.71 and click “Apply”.

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3.3 Enable HA on both servers

3.3.1 Enable HA on Primary Server

1. Login in to web UI of system Primary Server (172.16.65.71) then go to [Storage / High-Availability] HA configuration page. Click on “Enable” radio button, you will see the configuration page was expanded. Fill “Virtual IP”, “Secondary IP” and click “Apply”.

2. While the system asks for recovery HA RAID, please click “No, continue”.

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3.3.2 Enable HA on Secondary Server

1. Login in to web UI of system Primary Server (172.16.65.72) then go to [Storage / High-Availability] HA configuration page. Click on “Enable” radio button, you will see the configuration page was expanded. Fill new IP of Primary Server and click “Detect”.

2. While the system asks for recovery HA RAID, please click “No, continue”.

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3.3.3 Reboot the both servers

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4. Recovery for HA

This session is simulate that primary server was defected and get another unit to replace the Primary Server.

1. After the primary server was done, we could check the HA setting in Secondary Server, we could find Secondary Server took the Active role.

2. After we have received a new Thecus unit, install the original disks and use Thecus Setup Wizard to configure the WAN IP.

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4. Click “HA Recovery” button.

5. You may need to enter the heartbeat IP of “Active” role. For this case, the primary server was done, therefore the IP of “Active” is Primary Server now, we should fill in the heartbeat IP as 192.168.3.201, the IP address is beyond to your configuration.

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7. After reboot the unit, you may check the HA status and found the Primary Server is acting as standby role. (* This action was decided by the option “Auto Failback” set to off”)