listen to broadcast message on network

[karnoobs]

i have 3 computers on a network that must boot in a sequence
ServerA serverB serverC. when serverA runs serverB should run start running and so on..what i was thinking of that in case of power cut and power returns all servers will bootup with now sequence, so i thought if for example serverB broadcast the MAC address till serverA receive this message and compare it with the mac entry found on /etc/ethers then confirm on serverB to continue boot up. it can be like serverB is waiting for reply or something i cant imagine exactly what the solution is. can any one help on this

 

[Annihilannic]

Why do they need to boot in sequence? Is it because they have services that depend on each other? If so, why not do it later in the boot sequence, i.e. at the beginning of the rc2 scripts insert a new script to make the server pause until it can successfully ping the server(s) it is dependent on?

Annihilannic.

 

[karnoobs]

i had the same thought but will the service be available on run level 2?

 

[Annihilannic]

I have no idea, it would help if you described which services were involved here.

You should be able to see from the existing startup scripts when each of the services start.

What OS?

Annihilannic.