Universal Driver Heavy (UDH) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is the Universal Driver Heavy?
The Universal Driver Heavy is client/server software designed to allow real time mirroring of your Revelation Software data. It is designed to handle intensive Revelation Software based applications that need to scale up and have high availability. In addition, real 'point in time' backups can be taken (as opposed to open file backups) by taking the secondary server offline and journaling changes on the primary server for the duration of the backup. Once finished, changes to the data files are written to the secondary server and full mirroring can resume.
Has the Universal Driver Heavy been tested on 64bit platforms?
At the time of writing, we have not yet completed testing on 64bit platforms.
What hardware requirements are there?
Both machines should reside on the same switch, and have a minimum of 100 Mbps connection.
- Two Servers, Pentium 4, 1GB RAM minimum
- OS needs to be 2000, 2003 or Windows 2008 Server
- Directory structure for the Revelation applications need to be identical on both servers (for example, they cannot be on the J: share on one and the G: share on another, both need to be on G: or J:)
- A copy of OpenInsight 4.1.x or later, or ARev 3.12 with multiple users
Is the secondary backup maintained continuously (every time a record is written), or does the backup to the secondary server only occur on a timed basis (once per hour or day), or is it manually initiated?
The system can be configured to achieve all three of these options, providing you with the ultimate in flexibility.
Could switching to the backup server occur automatically and seamlessly when an interruption occurs on the primary server, or would the switchover have to be manually imitated?
Could the UDH automatically switch between servers on a timed basis to periodically test the readiness of the backup server and detect switching problems?
At this time, the switchover cannot be done automatically. There are one or two small changes that need to be made to the mirrored copy of OpenInsight before it can go live. So, no, at the present time it cannot automatically switch between servers on a timed or automated basis.
Is the backup server (database) an exact duplicate of the primary?
If switching is necessary, are there any data or file compatibility issues between the databases?
The backup server (secondary server) is almost an exact duplicate. Because the mirror copy of OpenInsight is not running, there are one or two steps that need to be performed. They include copying over .DBTs (more common in a development environment), as well as confirming the tables are attached  which will update the index definitions. Aside from that, there should be no data or file compatibility issues.
User Locks: Can User Locks be freed up without affecting anything else on the system?
Could User Lock management be set up to automatically log out an RDS that was open for an extended period of time (>20 min.)?
Locks can be freed up without affecting anything else on the system. This is done with the included Linear Hash Server Manager Console. This eliminates resetting the server. However, the user lock management does not have the capability to automatically log out a user (release a lock) that has been open for an extended period. You may be able to do this within the Console, as it is a limited development copy of OpenInsight.
Will the Universal Driver Heavy impact indexer cycle time or in some other way impact the speed of the system?
The Universal Driver Heavy should not impact indexer cycle time. In one of our tests, while in development mode and running on a TS server, there was some occasional delay in the application. The Mirror server was two switches and over forty meters of patch cable away. We have not seen this delay on other tests and we have not heard any reports of speed being affected from installations in the field.
Are there any integration issues to existing copies of OpenInsight?
You will need to run the client installation. You may also need to allow access to the Database Manager module from your runtime to allow the mirror to attached the tables as mentioned above.
Is the Universal Driver Heavy compatible with our current version of OpenInsight?
What about when we perform OpenInsight upgrades in the future?
The Universal Driver Heavy is compatible with OpenInsight 4.1 and later. It will handle upgrades in the future as well.
What impact is there to install the Universal Driver Heavy software? System downtime? Support available?
There should be minimal impact on your system to install the Universal Driver Heavy. Whilst it is recommended that all users remain out of the system during the installation, the installation should not entail system downtime  though anticipate making OpenInsight inaccessible to your users while configuring the system. Support is included in the price.
What is the purchase price of the software?
Please contact sales@revsoft.co.uk for the latest product pricing and to obtain a quote.
What documentation is available for Universal Driver Heavy?
Universal Driver Heavy Installation Manual
Network Driver Update for Large Keys