The Alarm Manager service is a module in the system that can be distributed and run across multiple workstations in a remote application. The Alarm Manager ensures that transaction logs (i.e. alarm log files) and the state of alarms in the alarm database (i.e. Alarms.db) are kept synchronized on all workstations running the application.
Due to VTS's built-in server redundancy features, there can be a primary server to manage all Alarm Manager actions, and backup servers to take over Alarm Manager actions if the primary server is unavailable.
As described in the previous section, it is possible to configure separate servers for different VTS services:
• If you've specified a separate list with a primary service server and backup service servers for the Alarm Manager service (see Designate Alarm Manager Server(s) for a Remote Application), then it is the first server in the Alarm Manager server list that is the primary service server. All subsequent workstations in the list are backup servers that will take over if the primary Alarm Manager server becomes unavailable.
• If you have not specified a separate list of servers for the Alarm Manager service, then by default, it is the first server in the list under the [RPCManager-Servers] section of the Config.ini configuration file for your application that is the primary server for all VTS services (including the Alarm Manager service). All subsequent workstations in the list are backup servers that will take over if the primary Alarm Manager server becomes unavailable.
Regardless of the configuration of servers for the Alarm Manager service for your remote application, it is the primary Alarm Manager server to which all alarm calls are sent for propagation to all client workstations running the application.
Should the primary Alarm Manager server become unavailable, the second server in the list of service servers specified for your application takes over the management of the Alarm Manager service. When the primary Alarm Manager server comes back online, it synchronizes with the backup server currently managing the Alarm Manager service so that its data is current, and then it resumes the role of primary Alarm Manager server, while the backup server returns to its role as a client of the primary Alarm Manager server.