Manual Failover
Manual failover is a disaster recovery and high availability strategy where an administrator or operator manually initiates the process of switching from a primary system (e.g., server, database, or service) to a standby or backup system in response to a failure or planned maintenance. This involves human intervention to assess the situation, verify the failure, and execute the switchover, ensuring minimal downtime and data integrity. It is commonly used in IT infrastructure, databases, and network systems to maintain service continuity.
Developers should learn and use manual failover when implementing systems that require high availability but where automated failover is too risky, complex, or costly, such as in legacy systems, critical financial applications, or environments with strict compliance requirements. It is essential for scenarios like database maintenance, server upgrades, or handling unexpected outages in cloud services, allowing controlled transitions to prevent data loss and ensure operational stability.