Directory Manager configuration tabs

You configure the settings of the Directory Manager role from the Roles view of the System task in Security Center Config Tool.

Directory Manager - Directory servers tab

In the Directory servers tab, you can configure the servers assigned to Directory failover and load balancing.

List of Directory servers (for failover and load balancing):
List of servers assigned to Directory failover and load balancing, called the Directory failover list.

The server identified with a different icon () than the rest () is the main server. The main server is the only Directory server that can write to the Directory database. The rest can only read from that database.
Advanced ():
Configure the server as a gateway or disaster recovery server.
Modify license for all servers:
Modify your Security Center license every time you make a change to the list of servers assigned to host the Directory role.

Directory Manager - Database failover tab

In the Database failover tab, you can configure the Directory database failover.

Use database failover:
Enable Directory database failover.
Failover mode:
Select which database failover mode to use.
Backup and restore:
The Directory Manager protects the Directory database by regularly backing up the master database instance (source copy). During a failover, the latest backups are restored to the backup database that’s next in line.
- LED ():
  Indicates the database server that is active.
- Server:
  Security Center server hosting the database instance. The server that manages the master database instance is flagged as (Master).
- Database server:
  Database server name. The name must be accessible from all computers. Relative names, such as (local)\SQLSEXPRESS cannot be used. Always explicitly write the server’s DNS name (for example TW-WIN7-SC-5) instead of (local).
- Database name:
  Database instance name.
- State:
  Database state. If there is a problem, an error message is displayed.
- Last Backup/Restore time:
  Time of the last backup on the master database, or the last restore on the backup database.
- Folder:
  Local folder on the specified server where the backup files are copied.
- Automatically reconnect to master database:
  Select this option to force all Directory servers to reconnect to the master database after it is back online after a failover. This will cause a short service disruption, and all changes made to the system configuration while the master database was offline will be lost.
- Generate full backup every:
  Specify how often (in days) a full backup is generated, and at and what time.
- Generate differential backup every:
  Specify how often (in minutes) a differential backup should is generated. A differential backup contains the database transactions made after the previous backup (full or differential). The differential backups are deleted after the next full backup is made.
  NOTE: All backup activities are stopped when the active database is not the master database.

Mirroring:
Database failover is taken care of by Microsoft SQL Server and is transparent to Security Center. The Principal and Mirror instances of the Directory database are kept in sync at all times. There is no loss of data during failover.
- Database server:
  Database server name. The name must be accessible from all computers. Relative names, such as (local)\SQLSEXPRESS cannot be used. Always explicitly write the server’s DNS name (for example TW-WIN7-SC-5) instead of (local).
- Database name:
  Database instance name.
SQL AlwaysOn:
Select this option if you are using the Windows feature SQL AlwaysOn as your Directory database failover solution.