Synchronous Replication and Manual Failovers

In some cases you might need to perform a manual failover of volumes that use Synchronous Replication.

Normally, if you have Automatic Switchover (ASO) and the Witness set up, this feature automatically performs a failover when either the upstream or downstream replication partner becomes unavailable. If ASO is not enabled, you must perform a manual failover.

Some of the situations that might require a manual failover include:

  • ASO is not enabled because the Witness has not been installed and the backup group leader cannot be reached.
  • ASO is not enabled because the Witness has not been installed and the group leader cannot be reached.
  • ASO is not enabled even though the Witness is installed and the backup group leader cannot be reached.

  • ASO is not enabled even though the Witness is installed and the group leader cannot be reached.

NOTE: If you were using ASO, then before you perform a manual failover, it is a good practice to verify that ASO was correctly set up and the Witness was enabled. Make sure that the information you provided about the group leader when you set up ASO was correct.

When the group leader cannot reach the backup group leader, the group leader database transitions to out of sync. The volumes on the group leader array will remain accessible; however, any volumes on the backup group leader become unavailable.