Failover and Enterprise License

[Yellow_Flash]

Hi,

we have 2 separate servers, Production(Server 1) and a backup server(Server 2), one of which is active at a given time.
We switch them once in every 3-4 months, the only issue is that both are on-premise.
So if there is a network issue in the office, like lines go down or something, then we are doomed.
It is a very rare scenario but in case that happens, we need a backup server than we can switch to.
A server that is outside the office, but connected to office via a different career.

Since we are using the same license for the current Production and Backup server, can the same license be used if we go for the 3rd server, which is Failover server(Server 3).

In the normal Failover scenario, the Ent License will be on the Server 1 and Server 3, but since we switch over to the backup server(Server 2) every 4 months, is it also possible to use the same license and activate Failover using the Server 2 and Server 3??

Thank you.

 

[cobaltit]

In theory yes. The enterprise license allows for two concurrent activations of a single license. In theory as long as only one of the two on-prem servers is online at a time it shouldn't be an issue but you would be living dangerously. You would be better off with virtualizing your on-premise and use VM failover on-prem so you effectively have just the one prem server and then 3CX failover to the offsite.

 

[Yellow_Flash]

In theory yes. The enterprise license allows for two concurrent activations of a single license. In theory as long as only one of the two on-prem servers is online at a time it shouldn't be an issue but you would be living dangerously. You would be better off with virtualizing your on-premise and use VM failover on-prem so you effectively have just the one prem server and then 3CX failover to the offsite.

Thank you for the response @cobaltit
Can you please let me know why you said "living dangerously".
There is no scenario where both the Server 1 and Server 2 will be online at the same time.
Kindly let me know what all are the difficulties/risks that you think there are. I would like to know it and see what can be done to mitigate it.
Thank you.

 

[cobaltit]

I won't go into detail but basically the licensing controls 3CX uses may not like what you are trying to do and could deactivate your license.

 

[Yellow_Flash]

I won't go into detail but basically the licensing controls 3CX uses may not like what you are trying to do and could deactivate your license.

Thank you for the information.
Can someone from 3cx please check on this?

 

[YiannisH_3CX]

Hello @TechieGuy

The ENT licence and failover scenario allows for activation from 2 different servers and you can switch between those 2 for failover purposes.
Adding a third server under the same licence key could cause your licence to be locked and all servers will be deactivated. The ENT licence is designed to work for 2 servers.

 

[Yellow_Flash]

Hello @TechieGuy

The ENT licence and failover scenario allows for activation from 2 different servers and you can switch between those 2 for failover purposes.
Adding a third server under the same licence key could cause your licence to be locked and all servers will be deactivated. The ENT licence is designed to work for 2 servers.

Thank you for the reply @YiannisH_3CX
Then it is better I drop this plan.
I believe then the only thing we can do is to go for a secondary license(new license) for the 3rd server and keep it active at the remote location.

Or we have to ditch the 2 on-premise server setup and move one of them to the remote location and then configure failover, so that we won't need a 3rd server.

Can you please share your thoughts on this?

 

[YiannisH_3CX]

While this is something that has to be decided by you and what fits your needs better, please note that an on premise to cloud failover is not supported by the current failover implementation.
https://www.3cx.com/docs/failover/#h.9pyv4ra4v56x

 

[Yellow_Flash]

While this is something that has to be decided by you and what fits your needs better, please note that an on premise to cloud failover is not supported by the current failover implementation.
https://www.3cx.com/docs/failover/#h.9pyv4ra4v56x

I understand but doesnt 3cx support failover if the servers are on-premise but on different locations?
Like one server is in the main branch whereas the secondary one is in one of the remote branch? Won't failover work in that case?

 

[JohnS_3CX]

If they appear to be on the same network (via VPN for example) then you should be fine. Otherwise the failover will most likely not work.

 

[Yellow_Flash]

If they appear to be on the same network (via VPN for example) then you should be fine. Otherwise the failover will most likely not work.

For Failover to work, Is it necessary that both the servers should be in the same network?
What happens if the specific network provider has some issues with their network at a particular time? Failover wouldn't work?

 

[JohnS_3CX]

For Failover to work, Is it necessary that both the servers should be in the same network?
What happens if the specific network provider has some issues with their network at a particular time? Failover wouldn't work?

1) Yes, necessary that both the servers should be in the same network. (Same network = same LAN, same subnet)

2) Yes the failover would not work / not apply in this case (the office loses internet, and cannot reach the failover server which would normally be connected via VPN)

Take a look at our article here: https://www.3cx.com/docs/failover/