Protecting VMware vCenter Server Environments › How Switchover and Switchback Work › Run a Scenario

Run a Scenario

You can run a single scenario using the following procedure:

To run the scenario

1. From the Scenario pane, select the scenario you want to run.
2. Click Run on the Standard toolbar.

   Before initiating synchronization and replication, Arcserve RHA verifies your scenario configuration. When verification completes successfully, the Manager displays the message: Are you sure you want to run scenario "scenario_name?" If problems are discovered, the top pane displays any warning and error messages resulting from verification.

   Note: Scenario Verification checks many different parameters between the Master and Replica servers to ensure a successful switchover. If any errors or warnings are reported you should not continue until they are resolved.

3. Correct errors before you continue. Errors are reported on the Event pane.

   Note: Replication of mount points succeeds only if those were added to the Master before the Engine was started. If you included the mount points in the Master root directories when the Engine was already running, no error is reported but the replication does not start. In this case, you need to restart the Engine on the Master before initiating replication.

   When no error is reported, the Run dialog appears and contains synchronization options.

   Note: Do not use Skip Synchronization for any scenarios replicating a database.

4. If you have a large number of small files, select File Synchronization. If you have large files, select Block Synchronization. If you have low bandwidth, select Offline Synchronization to transfer data to an external device, then perform synchronization from that device. Select the Ignore same size/time files to skip the comparison of files with the same path, name, size and modification time, which are generally identical, to reduce synchronization time. You should enable the Skip Synchronization option only when you are certain the files on both Master and Replica are identical. (The default selections are File Synchronization and Ignore same size/time files option enabled).
5. Click the OK button. Synchronization may take a while, depending on database size and network bandwidth between the Master and Replica. You will receive the following message in the event window when the synchronization is complete: All modifications during synchronization are replicated.

At this point, the scenario is operational and active. By default, a Synchronization Report is generated when synchronization finishes. To view the report, refer to the topic, View a Report. You can also generate regular Replication Reports to monitor the replication process on each participating server. For more information, see the Arcserve RHA Administration Guide.