NetMan Desktop Manager supports high availability

NetMan Desktop Manager supports you with the operation of highly available infrastructures. Flexible for any network size.

Graphic: Failover 1

Failover 1: NDM Server

To ensure high availability even without a complex cluster installation, NDM 5 offers the option of setting up a secondary installation. These secondary servers complement the primary installation and maintain constantly updated databases that mirror the primary installation. If the primary server fails due to a hardware defect or other problem, the secondary server takes over the tasks of the NDM server in real time so active sessions continue without interruption. To enable maximum availability in critical environments, several secondary installations can be set up. These are arranged in a replication ring that coordinates the order of takeover in the event of failure.

Graphic: Failover 2

Failover 2: Terminal Server/Remote Desktop Server

If one of the terminal servers in the network should fail due to a hardware fault or the like, NetMan Desktop Manager automatically removes the machine from the server cluster, and the next users to log on are distributed among the remaining servers. As soon as the failed machine is back online and reconnects with NetMan Desktop Manager, the load balancing mechanism adds it to the cluster automatically – no administrator action needed.

In combination with NetMan Desktop Manager's intelligent load balancing, this gives you high performance and high availability without any action required on the client machines.

Graphic: Failover 3

Failover 3: Server farms

NDM 5 can be used in distributed server farms with designated failover mechanisms. For example, each of the local server farms in a company's branch offices can be configured to take over in the event of server failure in one of the another offices, serving applications for that office's workstations until the failure is corrected.

And – of course – separate load balancing systems can be set up within the server farms.

Intelligent load balancing: Getting the most out of your hardware

There are two variants in NetMan Desktop Manager's load balancing capabilities. You can either have the server sessions distributed based on the number of active sessions on the terminal servers, or have NetMan Desktop Manager monitor the RAM utilization or processor load on the individual servers and distribute sessions on the basis of the values detected.

When distribution is based on number of sessions, you can define maximum load thresholds for each server individually. This way, the more powerful machines can carry heavier loads while the older equipment serves just a fewer users. When managing distribution based on CPU load or memory utilization, NetMan Desktop Manager manages load distribution fully automatically.

Maintenance mode

NetMan Desktop Manager's load balancing mechanism also supports "server draining." This can be used, for example, to gracefully remove specific servers from the load balancing cluster to perform maintenance. A server being drained continues to serve its existing sessions, but does not accept new users or sessions. If necessary, the administrator can also terminate the remaining sessions. After the maintenance work is completed, a simple mouse-click is all it takes to add the server back into the load balancing cluster.

Active server management

NetMan Desktop Manager's integrated server monitor supports active server management by monitoring CPU load and memory utilization. Managing your servers actively helps prevent server failure before it can happen. You can specify threshold values for server load; if a defined threshold is exceeded, an entry to that effect is logged in the NDM performance report.