Exchange DR (newbie) 1

[enbw]

Hi,

I have seen recent posts on this and I am newbie. The scenario is that we currently have one site with exchange 2003. We are about to have a second site with a dedicated fibre link , at the moment, 1gb, only our traffic. We would like to introduce real time fail over between the two sites. If one site goes down it doesn't matter, it can be either site and needs to be near real-time.

We have had to two suppliers come in with two different opinions. Both has suggested going to 2007/2010 environment. One has suggested clustering across the link the other says that isn't possible without additional software to manage it. They are suggesting a mixture of virtualisation etc.

As newbie, I would like whether a pure Microsoft enviroment would do the job and experiences of similar situations.

Thanks in advance.

 

[58sniper]

You can certainly stretch a CCR cluster across subnets, but Microsoft really recommends that SCR be used for site resiliency, not CCR. SCR is not automatic, though.

A good solution would be CCR in the production site, with SCR in the DR site.

Pat Richard MVP
Plan for performance, and capacity takes care of itself. Plan for capacity, and suffer poor performance.

http://www.ucblogs.net/blogs/exchange/

 

[enbw]

Sorry , I should of said that both sites will be 24/7.

Does this make a difference?

 

[58sniper]

24/7 means nothing. Everything is expected to be 24/7.

If you will have live users in both locations, put CCR clusters in each location, and SCR targets for each in the OTHER location. But there's more to it than that. You'd be better off bringing in a consultant to design a proper solution for you.

Pat Richard MVP
Plan for performance, and capacity takes care of itself. Plan for capacity, and suffer poor performance.

http://www.ucblogs.net/blogs/exchange/

 

[Zelandakh]

Clustering across the link is entirely possible with no extra software. Whoever said it isn't possible needs to be kicked into touch.

 

[58sniper]

If you do CCR in each site for the users in the local site, then you should never have down time unless that site becomes a smoking hole in the ground. At that point, SCR target in the remote site can be manually activated.

You have to think about this logically - if both CCR nodes are not available, there are other issues at play, and the fact you have to manually failover shouldn't be a concern.

Zelandakh's correct, though. As I mentioned earlier, you CAN stretch clusters across subnets, given fast enough speed and low enough latency. But I still think SCR is a better solution unless you have dedicated email admins.

Pat Richard MVP
Plan for performance, and capacity takes care of itself. Plan for capacity, and suffer poor performance.

http://www.ucblogs.net/blogs/exchange/

 

[theravager]

You could virtualise your existing 2003 environment to. Probibly be cheapest to i would expect unless you have a need to upgrade.

 

[SilviaS]

If you do decide to span the cluster accross the two datacenters make sure you network hardware is capable of VLAN spanning across subnets

 

[enbw]

Hi,

Thanks for the feedback. So in summary, a pure exchange solution would do the job in one configuration or another. Both sites will have live users at some point in the near future.

 

[Zelandakh]

Yes

 

[alfa2008]

What I read here is that CCR in different sites is not the best option. We're thinking to do it for DR purposes. The DR center will have only few users there. We link it with a link with around 30Mbps.
What are the issues we can expect, and is there any improvement over this issue in Exchange 2010 (hopefully to come soon)?

 

[58sniper]

Exchange 2010 has a completely different approach to this.

CCR across sites WILL work. But Microsoft recommends you use SCR instead, as that was specifically engineered for site resilience. SCR for DR, CCR for HA. Combine the two together for the best option.

Pat Richard MVP
Plan for performance, and capacity takes care of itself. Plan for capacity, and suffer poor performance.

http://www.ucblogs.net/blogs/exchange/

 

[alfa2008]

When you say Exchange 2010 has a completely different approach to this, do you mean that it'll work better in CCR across sites, and what are the issues?

We are willing to wait for Exchange 2010 to implement CCR, since we think will be cheaper (we can all roles in single server what I read), and we maintain 2 instead of at least 4 servers for 300 users, plus we'll have other improvements which are supposed to come with new Exchange (we have to pay CALs but...).

 

[58sniper]

Well, 2007 allows you to have all roles on a server - just not in clusters.

It's an entirely different approach in 2010, that would take too long to convey here. But think about DAS for each server (instead of SAN).

Pat Richard MVP
Plan for performance, and capacity takes care of itself. Plan for capacity, and suffer poor performance.

http://www.ucblogs.net/blogs/exchange/

 

[alfa2008]

Thank you for replying so fast.

To be short, do you expect Exchange 2010 to be reliable in CCR intersite implementation (based of what is out about Exchange 2010)?

 

[58sniper]

There really isn't a CCR in 2010. There is a viable alternative to that that should work fine.

Pat Richard MVP
Plan for performance, and capacity takes care of itself. Plan for capacity, and suffer poor performance.

http://www.ucblogs.net/blogs/exchange/

 

[Zelandakh]

Based on what is out about 2010, there isn't much information

Exchange 2010 could well be a product you would like and if you purchase now on software assurance, you get 2010 on release.

 

[alfa2008]

Does anybody know release time?

 

[58sniper]

That has not been announced publicly.

Pat Richard MVP
Plan for performance, and capacity takes care of itself. Plan for capacity, and suffer poor performance.

http://www.ucblogs.net/blogs/exchange/

 

[Zelandakh]

I could take an educated guess on the year of release...