Cisco Unified MeetingPlace

Document ID: 51219

Contents

Introduction
Prerequisites
      Requirements
      Components Used
      Conventions
Estimated Disaster Recovery Time
Disaster Recovery Process
      Networked Cisco MeetingPlace Conference Server Down
      What Happens if the System Goes Down
      What To Check External to the Server
      Recovery Procedures
Related Information

Introduction

In the current Cisco MeetingPlace design, the network server is the only server implemented with its redundancy (for example, shadow server). In the event of a network server disaster, it can be recovered by the shadow server automatic switchover. However, there is no automatic redundancy for a standalone server or a networked conference server. The objective of this procedure is to recover the standalone or networked conference server when a disaster happens, with minimal down time.

Prerequisites

Requirements

Before attempting this configuration, be sure that you meet these requirements:

• Hardware—A completely functioning, spare, standalone conference server needs to be available on standby.

• Software release—It is required that the standby server is running at the same level of software as the network server.

• System up/down—During the disaster recovery process, the network server stays up. It will continue to operate and function normally.

Components Used

The information in this document is based on the Cisco MeetingPlace Networked Conference Server (PCI) all versions.

The information in this document was created from the devices in a specific lab environment. All of the devices used in this document started with a cleared (default) configuration. If your network is live, make sure that you understand the potential impact of any command.

Conventions

For more information on document conventions, refer to the Cisco Technical Tips Conventions.

Estimated Disaster Recovery Time

There are two types of disaster failures that need to be recovered, hard disk failure and non-hard disk failure.

• Hard disk failure—This does not require swapping out the entire server. However, the new disk replacement will require it to be merged to the network server. Depending on the size of conference records, the merge process time could be somewhere between one to a few hours

• Non-hard disk failure—This requires swapping the entire server. The estimated time for the manual process is about 30 minutes.

Disaster Recovery Process

Networked Cisco MeetingPlace Conference Server Down

The most likely cause for a catastrophic hard down failure of a Cisco MeetingPlace conference server is a component hardware failure within the server. System components that could generate hard down conditions include:

• CPU

• System disk drive

• Master Switching Control (MSC) card

• SCSI interface board

• System Integrity Card (SIC)

• Backplan

• Power supply

System components that might lead to partial system failure (not a hard down condition) include:

• T1 interface card

• Port resource card (PRC)

• Ethernet interface card

What Happens if the System Goes Down

In the event of an unavailable networked conference server, all system communication by telephone will be lost. Depending on the failure mode, there may or may not be a meeting attendee warning before the shutdown. As long as the network server is still operational, the database will still be accessible through Cisco MeetingTime and Cisco MeetingPlace Web, meaning that meetings can continue to be scheduled on other Cisco conference servers through these interfaces. A conference server that is no longer communicating to the network server will generate a Major Alarm.

What To Check External to the Server

Verify that there have been no environmental failures that have affected the Cisco MeetingPlace conference server. This includes power to the server, Ethernet network problems, or T1 problems from PBX or telephony source.

Verify whether there is power to the failed Cisco MeetingPlace conference server by visually inspecting for the green LEDs on the front of the Cisco MeetingPlace server.

Verify the operational status of the Network Server and any other related conference servers.

Recovery Procedures

Follow the instructions provided below:

1. Telnet to the spare standalone server.

2. At the tech prompt, type in getether. Write down the Ethernet address.

3. At the tech prompt, type in halt.

4. Wait for 30 seconds, then power off the server.

5. Remove the system drive and the voice drive.

   Note: Facing the front side of server, the system drive is located at the right-most slot next to the floppy drive. The voice drive is located at the left-side of system drive

6. Telnet to the failed conference server (if it is still accessible).

7. Follow steps 3-5 on the failed conference server.

8. Take the system drive and voice drive (that you just removed from the failed server), and install them into the spare server.

9. Remove all the T1 cables from the failed server and connect them to the spare server.

10. Telnet to the network server.

11. At the tech prompt, type net.

12. Select 3 to enter the unit number of the failed conference server unit.

13. Select 2 to modify the server configuration.

14. Select 4 to change the Ethernet address.

15. Enter the spare server's Ethernet address that you wrote down from step 2.

16. Select 99 to return to the main menu.

17. Save changes, then exit.

18. Power on the spare server.

19. Perform full functionality testing.

Related Information

• Voice Technology Support
• Voice and IP Communications Product Support
• Recommended Reading: Troubleshooting Cisco IP Telephony
• Technical Support - Cisco Systems