Using a Server Cluster

You can configure PKI Services Manager to run in a Microsoft cluster environment. The Microsoft cluster service helps ensure that applications that require certificate validation services have continuous access to PKI Services Manager, even if one computer within the cluster becomes unavailable.

To run in a cluster, you install the PKI Services Manager on multiple nodes, and create a cluster group. This group defines shared resources that can be used by any node in the group. For PKI Services Manager, these shared resources include a shared disk; the PKI Services Manager IP address and DNS name; and the PKI Services Manager service. At any given time, only one node has ownership of the shared resources. If that node fails, the PKI Manager service is started on a different node and that node takes over the shared resources.

In the cluster above, if the PKI Manager service fails on Node 1, Node 2 acquires the shared resources and the service is started on the new node. At this point, Node 1 no longer has access to resources within the group. PKI Services Manager continues to run using the same configuration, so no change is apparent to clients establishing a new connection.

Note: Any active connections to PKI Services Manager are disconnected when a failover occurs.