HA-Lizard is the only reliable high availability solution for 2-node XenServer pools in the industry

In the United States of America

The most common use of our software is in a 2-node XenServer environment with local storage. This setup specifically addresses two issues:

 

1- HA in a 2 node pool is not reliably supported by XenServer- HA-Lizard was designed to provide predictable failover in a 2-node pool

 

2- local storage is converted to a form of internal SAN such that VMs can be moved live and restarted without any of the limitations of using DAS. This is done with our iSCSI-HA package and allows users to build 2-node pools without any external SAN while realizing the all the functionality (mainly VM agility) of a SAN environment.

Many users are implementing HA-Lizard+iSCSI-HA to realize the scenario described above. This design is well documented in a reference design and how-to that we publish on our site.

“noSAN” or a “noSAN Cluster” the term used to define an HA-Lizard  2-node pool which utilizes local storage. This special configuration combines two HA-Lizard software projects. HA-Lizard + iSCSI-HA = noSAN

Typically a 2-node virtualization cluster is not possible without a minimum of three hosts and an external Storage Area Network (SAN). HA-Lizard’s “noSAN” can accomplish this with just 2 hosts utilizing each of the hosts local storage – hence no SAN is required.

iSCSI-HA is an add-on software component that was developed to complement a 2-node HA-Lizard cluster. It allows users to create a 2-node high availability cluster while utilizing local storage (Hard Drives within the server).

HA-Lizard is open source software available to any person or organization that requires High Availabilty for Citrix Xenserver. We specialize in providing high availability for 2 node pools with internal hard drive storage, but the software can provide high availability for multiple hosts and Storage Area Network (SAN) applications. HA-Lizard comes in 3 formats to allow you maximum flexibility for your requirement. 

HA-Lizard comes in 3 formats for maximum flexibility:

 

1. HA-Lizard software:  Provides High Availability for Xenserver
2. HA-Lizard and HA-iSCSI software: Provides High Availability for Xenserver utilizing local hard drive storage with manual installation
3. HA-Lizard NoSAN Installer software: Provides High Availability for Xenserver utilizing local hard drive storage in a easy to use auto installer

No. HA-Lizard works with any number of hosts within a pool and provides reliable high availability in a 2-node pool.

Yes. HA-Lizard is free GPL open source.

	HA-Lizard	XenServer HA
Open Source	Yes	Yes
Host High Availability Support	Yes	Yes
VM Watchdog	Yes	No
Support for 2-node HA Pool	Yes	No
Configured Through XenCenter	Partially	Yes
Command Line Interface	Yes	Yes- via XE
Hardware Fencing	Yes	No

High availability for the pool and each VM can be managed from within XenCenter.

Configuration parameters for HA-Lizard are managed by a CLI “ha-cfg”.

There are two methods available for creating your noSAN cluster:

1-      Register to download HA-Lizard’s noSAN installer. This installer will install and configure all the necessary components and in about a minute. The total time required to create a noSAN cluster is about 10 minutes. A video on how to install is available on our Youtube page.

2-      Read our reference design which provides detailed steps for manually installing and configuring the necessary components. Although this approach takes more time, it leaves the installer with a better understanding of how HA-Lizard works.

There  are two methods to building the cluster:

1-      Follow our installation video on our youtube page. The entire cluster can be built from scratch in < 30 minutes with our automated noSAN installer

2-      Manual approach. Follow the detailed instructions provided in our reference design which is available on this website

HA-Lizard has NO software dependencies outside of what is available on a standard XenServer installation. Meaning, NO additional packages are required.

If you choose to also install iSCSI-HA, then DRBD is required for network storage replication and TGT to expose the storage via iSCSI.

No. HA-Lizard stores all of its settings in a shared pool database. A simple command line tool can be used on any member of a pool to make changes for the entire pool.

Yes – HA-Lizard and iSCSI-HA provide tools and functionality so that pool upgrades can be performed without any VM downtime.