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Failing over full server to ESX jobs

When a failover condition has been met, failover will be triggered automatically if you disabled the wait for user option during your failover configuration. If the wait for user before failover option is enabled, you will be notified in the console when a failover condition has been met. At that time, you will need to trigger it manually from the console when you are ready.

1. On the Manage Jobs page, highlight the job that you want to failover and click Failover or Cutover in the toolbar.
2. Select the type of failover to perform.
• Failover to live data—Select this option to initiate a full, live failover using the current data on the target. This option will shutdown the source machine (if it is online), stop the protection job, and start the replica virtual machine on the target with full network connectivity.
• Perform test failover—Select this option to perform a test failover using the current data on the target. This option will leave the source machine online, stop the protection job, and start the replica virtual machine on the target without network connectivity.
• Failover to a snapshot—Select this option to initiate a full, live failover without using the current data on the target. Instead, select a snapshot and the data on the target will be reverted to that snapshot. This option will not be available if there are no snapshots on the target or if the target does not support snapshots. This option is also not applicable to clustered environments. To help you understand what snapshots are available, the Type indicates the kind of snapshot.

  • Scheduled—This snapshot was taken as part of a periodic snapshot. 

  • Deferred—This snapshot was taken as part of a periodic snapshot, although it did not occur at the specified interval because the job between the source and target was not in a good state.

  • Manual—This snapshot was taken manually by a user.

3. Select how you want to handle the data in the target queue. You may want to check the amount of data in queue on the target by reviewing the Statistics or Performance Monitor.
• Apply data in target queues before failover or cutover—All of the data in the target queue will be applied before failover begins. The advantage to this option is that all of the data that the target has received will be applied before failover begins. The disadvantage to this option is depending on the amount of data in queue, the amount of time to apply all of the data could be lengthy.
• Discard data in the target queues and failover or cutover immediately—All of the data in the target queue will be discarded and failover will begin immediately. The advantage to this option is that failover will occur immediately. The disadvantage is that any data in the target queue will be lost.
• Revert to last good snapshot if target data state is bad—If the target data is in a bad state, Double-Take will automatically revert to the last good Double-Take snapshot before failover begins. If the target data is in a good state, Double-Take will not revert the target data. Instead, Double-Take will apply the data in the target queue and then failover. The advantage to this option is that good data on the target is guaranteed to be used. The disadvantage is that if the target data state is bad, you will lose any data between the last good snapshot and the failure.

4. When you are ready to begin failover, click Failover.

   Because the Windows product activation is dependent on hardware, you may need to reactivate your Windows registration after failover. In most cases when you are using Windows 2003, you can follow the on-screen prompts to complete the reactivation. However, when you are using Windows 2008, the reactivation depends on several factors including service pack level, Windows edition, and your licensing type. If a Windows 2008 target comes online after failover with an activation failure, use the steps below appropriate for your license type. Additionally, if you are using Windows 2012, you may only have 60 minutes to complete the reactivation process until Windows activation tampering automatically shuts down your server.

   • Retail licensing—Retail licensing allows the activation of a single operating system installation.
   1. Open the System applet in Windows Control Panel.
   2. Under Windows activation at the bottom of the page, click Change product key.
   3. Enter your retail license key. You may need access to the Internet or to call Microsoft to complete the activation.
   • MAK volume licensing—Multiple Activation Key (MAK) licensing allows the activation of multiple operating system installations using the same activation key.
   1. View or download the Microsoft Volume Activation Deployment Guide from the Microsoft web site.
   2. Using an administrative user account, open a command prompt and follow the instructions from the deployment guide to activate MAK clients. Multiple reboots may be necessary before you can access a command prompt. You may need access to the Internet or to call Microsoft to complete the activation.
   • KMS volume licensing—Key Management Service (KMS) licensing allows IT professionals to complete activations on their local network without contacting Microsoft.
   1. View or download the Microsoft Volume Activation Deployment Guide from the Microsoft web site.
   2. Using an administrative user account, open a command prompt and follow the instructions from the deployment guide to convert a MAK activation client to a KMS client. Multiple reboots may be necessary before you can access a command prompt.

   Depending on your replica configuration, you may have to reboot your replica after failover. You will be prompted to reboot if it is necessary.

   After failover, if you attempt to use a full server job to revert back to your original configuration, you will need to perform a few additional tasks before creating the full server job. Contact technical support if you need assistance with these steps.

   1. On either the source or target, stop the Double-Take and Double-Take Management Service services.
   2. Remove the GUID value from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\NSI Software\Double-Take\CurrentVersion\Communication\UniqueId. Do not delete the UniqueId key. Only delete the GUI value within the key.
   3. Restart the the Double-Take and Double-Take Management Service services.
   4. Remove and then add your servers back into the Double-Take Console.
   5. Install a different license on the original source and complete a host transfer if necessary.

   If your source was using vCenter, you may have problems with failover if vCenter is down or if it is unreachable. See the technical support article 34768 for details on how to complete failover in this situation.

    

5. If you performed a test failover, you can undo it by selecting Undo Failover or Cutover in the toolbar. The replica virtual machine on the target will be shut down and the protection job will be restarted performing a file differences mirror.
6. There is no reverse or failback once you have failed over. If you need to go back to your original hardware, delete the job and re-create a new one if your original source was a virtual server. If your original source was a physical server, you will need to use a full server job.

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