Unprotected Operation

You select a VM’s protection level when you create or import the VM by using the ztC Edge Console.

In unprotected operation, a virtual machine (VM) runs on only one physical machine (PM, or node); if that PM goes offline for any reason, the VM stops running. Use unprotected operation only if a VM has specific requirements to do so, for example, if software licensing restrictions prevent your applications from being installed or running at the same time on both PMs for redundancy.

Caution: If you set the Protection Level of a VM to NONE, the VM is unprotected. If the preferred node shuts down or fails, the VM and its applications will stop. The VM will not fail over to the second node.

Unprotected operation has the following configuration requirements and behavior:

You can configure a VM for unprotected operation only when you create or import the VM by setting the Protection Level to NONE and selecting a Preferred node on which the VM will run.
The option to set the protection level is available only on dual-node systems. On single-node systems, the VMs automatically run in unprotected mode.
After you initially create or import the VM, you cannot modify its protection level or switch the preferred node (in the Reconfigure Virtual Machine wizard, for example). If you need to convert the VM to an HA- or FT-protected VM, you can do so only by exporting and re-importing the VM.
If you put the preferred node into maintenance mode (Work On) or upgrade the Stratus Redundant Linux system software, the system will automatically shut down any unprotected VMs.
When the preferred node powers back on or comes back online from maintenance mode, the VM either starts or remains stopped depending on its auto start setting. For information about modifying the auto start setting, see Starting a Virtual Machine.
If you need to replace the preferred node that contains an unprotected VM, you must shut down the unprotected VM, export the VM, and delete the VM before replacing the node; otherwise, you will be unable to boot the VM on the replacement node. After replacing the node, you can import the VM and configure it as an unprotected VM again.
You cannot copy unprotected VMs.
You cannot back up an unprotected VM as described in Backing Up a Running Virtual Machine, but you can recover a VM to an unprotected VM as described in Recovering a Virtual Machine from a Backup.
An unprotected VM cannot be load balanced. It runs only on the preferred PM.