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Appendix A. FAQ

Q:
Why is the Project Called Pacemaker?
A:
First of all, the reason it’s not called the CRM is because of the abundance of terms [21] that are commonly abbreviated to those three letters. The Pacemaker name came from Kham, [22] a good friend of Pacemaker developer Andrew Beekhof’s, and was originally used by a Java GUI that Beekhof was prototyping in early 2007. Alas, other commitments prevented the GUI from progressing much and, when it came time to choose a name for this project, Lars Marowsky-Bree suggested it was an even better fit for an independent CRM. The idea stems from the analogy between the role of this software and that of the little device that keeps the human heart pumping. Pacemaker monitors the cluster and intervenes when necessary to ensure the smooth operation of the services it provides. There were a number of other names (and acronyms) tossed around, but suffice to say "Pacemaker" was the best.
Q:
Why was the Pacemaker Project Created?
A:
The decision was made to spin-off the CRM into its own project after the 2.1.3 Heartbeat release in order to:
  • support both the Corosync and Heartbeat cluster stacks equally
  • decouple the release cycles of two projects at very different stages of their life-cycles
  • foster clearer package boundaries, thus leading to better and more stable interfaces
Q:
What Messaging Layers are Supported?
A:
Q:
Can I Choose Which Messaging Layer to Use at Run Time?
A:
Yes. The CRM will automatically detect which started it and behave accordingly.
Q:
Can I Have a Mixed Heartbeat-Corosync Cluster?
A:
No.
Q:
Which Messaging Layer Should I Choose?
A:
You can choose from multiple messaging layers, including heartbeat, corosync 1 (with or without CMAN), and corosync 2. Corosync 2 is the current state of the art due to its more advanced features and better support for pacemaker, but often the best choice is to use whatever comes with your Linux distribution, and follow the distribution’s setup instructions.
Q:
Where Can I Get Pre-built Packages?
A:
Most major Linux distributions have pacemaker packages in their standard package repositories. See the Install wiki page for details.
Q:
What Versions of Pacemaker Are Supported?
A:
Some Linux distributions (such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise) offer technical support for their customers; contact them for details of such support. For help within the community (mailing lists, IRC, etc.) from Pacemaker developers and users, refer to the Releases wiki page for an up-to-date list of versions considered to be supported by the project. When seeking assistance, please try to ensure you have one of these versions.