Questions about ZFS replication and HA

lumox

Well-Known Member
May 29, 2020
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Hi everyone,

I have a small Proxmox VE 9 machine with a couple of VMs running on it. I am thinking about adding a new machine and setting up a cluster (yes, just two PCs) in order to practice and experiment with it.

I have started watching videos and reading articles about the topic, but I want to make sure I have a few steps right. For example, let's say I first set up ZFS replication for 'VM_Test' from NODE1 to NODE2 (with a replication job every 5 minutes), and then enable HA (High Availability) for both nodes.

In my understanding, if NODE1 goes down, NODE2 comes into play and runs VM_Test—but it would be a '5-minute younger' version of the VM (meaning it might not be completely up to date) compared to the one on NODE1, right?

But what exactly happens when NODE1 starts working again, say, after a few hours or even a few days? The VM_Test running on NODE2 would have new data by then. Would the VM_Test on NODE2 be copied back to NODE1 with all the updated data?

I hope I was clear. Thanks
 
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and then enable HA (High Availability) for both nodes.
You enable HA for a VM, not for a Node. The node where a HA-VM is running will fence (hard reboot) itself when Quorum is lost. Other nodes without a HA resource will not do that.

Would the VM_Test on NODE2 be copied back to NODE1 with all the updated data?
Yes, that's the idea. The direction of the replication switches automatically, depending on where the VM is currently residing.

Make sure to have three votes. Usually you would add a separate instance for this - like a VM on another system, a Container on a NAS or a physical Raspberry Pi. https://pve.proxmox.com/pve-docs/pve-admin-guide.html#_corosync_external_vote_support

Have fun :-)
 
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You enable HA for a VM, not for a Node. The node where a HA-VM is running will fence (hard reboot) itself when Quorum is lost. Other nodes without a HA resource will not do that.

Yes, HA for a VM, not a Node. Sorry, my bad.

Yes, that's the idea. The direction of the replication switches automatically, depending on where the VM is currently residing.

Make sure to have three votes. Usually you would add a separate instance for this - like a VM on another system, a Container on a NAS or a physical Raspberry Pi. https://pve.proxmox.com/pve-docs/pve-admin-guide.html#_corosync_external_vote_support

Have fun :-)

Okay. Thank you very much
 
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