Set up a SolarWinds Platform High Availability pool

A SolarWinds Platform High Availability (HA) pool is a group of two servers that have access to the same network and database resources. The pool includes one main server or Additional polling engine and one secondary server or secondary polling engine. Each server is called a pool member and can take over all responsibilities of the other server.

When a pool member is sending and receiving data, it is the active pool member. When a pool member is waiting to take over, it is the standby pool member.

If you use a virtual hostname, the browser and computer may cache the host name of the active server. If you are testing using the host names, you may need to flush your DNS cache.

Before you begin, you need the following:

• A VIP address (for single subnet installations)
• A virtual hostname (for multiple subnet installations)
• A secondary HA server
• An available HA pool license

Single subnet

1. In the SolarWinds Platform Web Console, click Settings > My Deployment.

2. Click Setup High Availability pool next to your standby server. If a HA pool license is not available, you are prompted to activate an HA pool license.
   

3. Choose the server you want to make highly available.

4. Enter the pool name.

5. Enter your VIP. On single subnets, providing the VIP is obligatory.

   The VIP must be unassigned and on the same subnet as the primary and secondary servers.

   You can use both VIP and virtual hostname at the same time. If you use a virtual hostname, do not include the domain name. See When do I use a VIP or a virtual hostname?

6. Click Next, and review your selections.

7. Click Create Pool to complete the pool setup.

Your main server or Additional polling engine is now highly available and can failover to the standby server on the same subnet. An audit event is logged when you create the pool.

When the pool is created, the High Availability Deployment Summary displays the active and standby servers grouped under the pool name. Failover events are logged and you can receive email notifications.

You may need to refresh the page to see the correct pool and server status.

SolarWinds recommends that you perform a manual failover after you create your pool and observe the data collected to ensure that all network and device changes are correct.

Multi-subnet

The servers must be able to resolve the host name of the other server in the pool. You may need to update the hosts file on each server.

1. In the SolarWinds Platform Web Console, click Settings > My Deployment.

2. Click Setup High Availability pool next to your standby server. If an HA pool license is not available, you are prompted to activate an HA pool license.

3. Choose the server you want to make highly available.
   

4. Enter the pool name and the virtual hostname. Do not include the domain name in the virtual hostname.

   You must provide a virtual hostname. Virtual IPs are not supported for multi-subnet deployments. See When do I use a VIP or a virtual hostname?

5. Click Next.

6. Select the DNS type.

   • Microsoft DNS

     1. Enter the IP address of the DNS server that manages the pool members' DNS Zone.

     2. Enter the DNS Zone.

     3. Enter administrative credentials for the DNS server.

     4. We recommend a local administrator account configured for WMI access. For non-local administrator accounts, we recommend an administrator account with full DACL and remote WMI management enabled.

   • BIND DNS

     The BIND server must allow the virtual hostname to update dynamically. The operating system must also allow for dynamic updates to the DNS.

     1. Enter the IP address of the DNS server that manages the pool members' DNS Zone.

     2. Enter the DNS Zone.

     3. Enter the TSIG secret key name and the TSIG shared secret key value.

   • Other

     • Use this option if you can use scripts to update the DNS entry for the host name.
     • SolarWinds cannot validate the DNS server IP address or DNS zone for this selection.

     1. Enter the IP address of the DNS server that manages the pool members' DNS Zone.

     2. Enter the DNS Zone.

7. Click Test to validate your Microsoft or BIND credentials and permissions.

8. Click Next to complete the pool setup. The software validates the virtual hostname against the selected DNS server. If the host entry already exists, you are prompted to overwrite the entry or change the virtual hostname.

Your main server or additional polling engine is now highly available and can failover to the standby server across subnets. An audit event is logged when you create the pool and the DNS entry points to the active server

When the pool is created, the High Availability Deployment Summary displays the active and standby servers grouped under the pool name. Failover events are logged and you can receive email notifications.

SolarWinds recommends that you perform a manual failover after you create your pool and observe the data collected to ensure that all network and device changes are correct.