In many deployment scenarios, the Intra2net system provides important functions for the customer's network and then a failure has a serious impact on the employees' ability to work. In addition to a replacement Internet connection (see Section 10.10, „Switching to Other Providers in the Event of an Error (Fallback)“) and the regular and automated storage of backups on another system (see Section 16.3.3, „Remote Storage“), it is also recommended to create a contingency plan for the failure of the Intra2net system and/or to reduce the failure probability.
An important aspect here is the necessary recovery time, i.e. the time between a failure and the moment when all functions are available again with a sufficient level of quality. This includes time for response, diagnosis, travel, procurement of new hardware or spare parts, replacement of hardware, access to the backup, copying and restoration of the backup.
To reduce the recovery time in the event of an error, a standby system can be used. Two variants are possible here:
A cold standby system is a system in the local network that can promptly take over the function, configuration and data of a failed primary system. For this purpose, a suitable device is kept ready in the local network. The Intra2net system is installed there in the suitable version and everything is prepared for fast takeover of the data.
Unlike the hot standby system, however, user data is not synchronized to the cold standby system every few minutes.
Configure the system as follows:
When selecting the hardware, make sure that the standby system
has the same or a higher number of network cards
has the same or a larger hard disk capacity
Install the current version of the Intra2net system
You need a separate license for the standby system. This is always an Intra2net Network Security (I2N-NSL-100) regardless of the license of the primary system.
If two hard disks are available, set up the RAID array before
Assign the system an IP in the local network of the primary Intra2net System
Set up a provider profile of type "" and use the IP of the primary Intra2net System as router IP
The version level on the standby system must always be the same or higher than that of the primary system. It is therefore best to always install an update on the standby system first and only start the update of the primary system when it has been successfully completed on the standby system.
On the primary system, configure remote backups to be automatically copied directly to the
restoreshare of the standby system
If the primary system fails, proceed as follows:
Switch off the primary system
If the primary system is switched on and connected again at this moment, network disruptions and loss of email and groupware data can occur.
Therefore, secure the primary system against inadvertent restarting, e.g. by removing the mains cable and sealing the power supply socket with an appropriately labelled adhesive tape.
Restore the last backup set uploaded by the primary system completely on the standby system (menu System > Backup > Restore, Restore type "")
If the system asks you to select the license to be restored, select the license of the primary system.
Plug additional network cables (e.g. Internet connection) from the primary system to the standby system.
Wait until the standby system has fully restored the backup and restarted itself automatically.
Should network connection problems occur, it is possible that the assignment of the network cards of the standby system is different from that of the primary system.
In this case, connect a monitor and keyboard, log in to the console with a user from the administrator group and check the assignment of the network cards in the menu "". Disconnect a network cable. The connection will then be shown as disconnected at the corresponding network card number in the menu. You can then exchange the assignment between 2 network cards using the corresponding option.
The disadvantage of cold standby, especially with an Intra2net Business Server with a larger stored email volume, is that it must be restored to disk and this step extends the recovery time.
Hot standby circumvents this problem by continuously synchronizing email and groupware data to the standby system. In addition, continuous synchronization drastically reduces the maximum time between last backup and failure.
A hot standby system can be set up remotely by Intra2net technicians. If you are interested, please contact your distributor or the Intra2net sales department.
You need a separate license for the standby system. This is always an Intra2net Network Security (I2N-NSL-100) regardless of the license of the primary system.
An alternative or complementary approach to reducing the recovery time via standby systems is to reduce the probability of failure.
The probability of hardware failure with age usually follows the so-called bathtub curve. The probability of failure falls shortly after commissioning, remains at a low level for several years and then slowly rises again.
If you now replace the hardware after say 5 years as a precautionary measure, you prevent the probability of failure from increasing disproportionately and thereby possibly don't need to restore at all.