A VNFCI receives a heartbeat message from a peer VNFCI with an Active state and sends a heartbeat message to the peer VNFCI indicating that the VNFCI is in an Active state. The VNFCI sends a next state request message to an EMS and starts a response timer. The VNFCI sends a second heartbeat message to the peer VNFCI indicating that the VNFCI is in an Active state and that the VNFCI has a desired operational state of Active when the response timer expires and the VNFCI is not the preferred Standby instance; or the VNFCI receives a next state response message from the EMS and the VNFCI response state is an Active state. The VNFCI transitions to a Deactivating state when the response timer expires and the VNFCI is the preferred Standby instance; or the VNFCI receives the next state response message from the EMS and the VNFCI response state is Standby.
EMS assisted split-brain resolution in virtual network function components