There are two major concerns regarding client and server machine failures:
When a client application is terminated with a Control-C or kill command (other than a "kill -9"), AcuServer detects the termination and closes all files held open for that client process. However, other terminal software and hardware failures are not detected.
If a client system crashes while using AcuServer, the server will hold the client's open files open until "acuserve -unlock" is used to close the files, or the acuserve daemon is stopped and restarted (when AcuServer is stopped, all open files are closed. For a description of the use of "acuserve -unlock", see Section 7.2.9 acuserve -unlock).
Should the server go down, all clients actively using AcuServer will get access errors when attempting to communicate with the server. Client systems must terminate their current applications and wait for the return of the server. All files that were open on the server at the time of the crash are left in an unknown state and may be corrupt. If acuserve is automatically started when the server boots, acuserve should be immediately halted. Before AcuServer is started, all files that might have been affected by the crash should be checked and, if necessary, rebuilt. After all files have been verified, the acuserve daemon can be started.