RE: Exchange replication
- From: "Tiago de Aviz" <Tiago@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "[ExchangeList]" <exchangelist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 16:41:14 -0200
Another really great solution is CA's Brightstor High Availability
Manager. I used it in several customers to replicate Exchange, Oracle
and SQL Server databases with minimal downtime when the primary server
fails. It's cheap, but you have the trade-off of having a machine only
sitting, waiting for the primary to fail. But's in one hella good
product if you can't afford a cluster.
Tiago de Aviz
-----Original Message-----
From: Zoran [mailto:zmarjanovic@xxxxxxxx]
Sent: quinta-feira, 22 de janeiro de 2004 14:30
To: [ExchangeList]
Subject: [exchangelist] RE: Exchange replication
http://www.MSExchange.org/
Thank you a lot Al,
I have w2k3 advanced but I don't have e2k3, and e2k is not compat with
w2k3. Anyway I will probably find a hardware solution and use MSCS. Also
I
hope I'll get trial version of Stanby-server from Legato and test it
thorougly. And let you all know is it realy something or rather nothing.
Also when I set my cluster I'll let you know how did I do that and
present
you with my impressions (undocumented problems, strange behaviors,
fluctuations ...).
Cheers
Zoran
> I'd use the Microsoft clustering for that. It's not fault tolerant;
it's
> highly available, but it sounds like that is what you are pretty much
after
> based on the solutions you're looking at. MCS is really good at
hardware
> abstraction such that if you lose a piece of hardware on one node, you
get
> the benefit of a failover.
>
> I recommend using Windows 2003 vs. Windows 2000. You get improvements
in
> memory handling and clustering that are well worth it.
>
> As for the hardware you have, you have to figure out if it's on the
cluster
> HCL as a solution. Be careful not to just look at parts, but rather
look at
> the whole solution for recommended/tested configurations.
>
> MCS was designed for the situation you mentioned. It comes with the
OS and
> will work well in that situation. From what I can tell, you have an
expense
> regardless of the solution: software replication or MCS, as well as a
> learning curve either way. For the requirements you've shared, I
think that
> MCS would be a better long term bet. Especially on Windows 2003
server.
>
> Another poster had mentioned using a NAS, SAN, or other shared disk.
You
> cannot use a NAS device that I'm aware of. There was some promise of
the
> iSCSI NAS being tested, but otherwise Microsoft hasn't supported NAS
devices
> in the past for very good reasons (IMHO). There are many cluster in a
box
> solutions out there from major vendors as well as small SAN products
that
> can do what you're after if you're looking to do this on the cheap.
EMC
> partners with Dell for example to sell a low end SAN/Clustering
solution.
> HP has similar. Etc.
>
> Keep in mind that clustering (third party or MCS) is not a fault
tolerant
> solution. It is a highly available solution that allows you to
quickly
> recover from a hardware failure. It does not protect you against
corruption
> etc. It basically acts like a stand-alone server and then fails over
when
> told or an event causes it to. That's another advantage: you can
perform
> hardware maintenance or software upgrades (hotfixes, service packs)
with a
> lot less downtime because you can fail over the node and perform the
> maintenance to the passive node while clients continue to operate.
The
> trade-off? It's a little more expensive and takes a bit more effort
to
> understand and read the docs prior to deployment of initial software
load
> and upgrades. Otherwise, it works well from what I've seen.
>
>
>
> Al
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Zoran [mailto:zmarjanovic@xxxxxxxx]
> Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2004 3:09 AM
> To: [ExchangeList]
> Subject: [exchangelist] RE: Exchange replication
>
>
> http://www.MSExchange.org/
>
> Thanks Al,
>
> There is no distance. I want to do it in the same room, to have foult
> tolerance for my main location. As I don't have experience with
clustering
> and we have limited budget for it, I believed that soft solution would
be
> cheaper. But non of these solutions I found is well documented and
local
> resellers told me it looks too good on paper to be true. I read at
> marathontecnologies site that they have a patented solution for data
> protection as well, so I thought it could be a standard option. Can
you
> recommend me a good and not too expensive hardware solution? I will
use 2
> ASUS 2400 servers with w2k advanced servers.
>
> Zoran
>
> > Interesting. In case of hardware based solution, you would have the
> > same requirement and be able to meet it. The difference is where
the
> > replication code runs and what you get when done. If the code runs
on
> > the hardware, then it's abstracted from the operating system and
> > application. This often results in a more stable implementation in
my
> > experience. It also tends to have a different cost associated.
> >
> > In either case, if there is corruption, then that will very likely
be
> > replicated as well. I mean, that's the point, isn't it? To have an
> > exact replica of the original? Bifurcating the writes is a great
way
> > to do this. Setting up a geo cluster may also be an option if
distance
> > is a concern.
> >
> > I'd say if disk is the only concern, then use RAID sets and a
cluster
> > (MCS
> > cluster) to mitigate the risk. The software replication products
are
> really
> > for geographically separate systems in case of datacenter disaster
vs.
> > hardware failure.
> > MCS would be a lot easier and it's built into the OS already.
> >
> >
> > Al
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Zoran [mailto:zmarjanovic@xxxxxxxx]
> > Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2004 11:13 AM
> > To: [ExchangeList]
> > Subject: [exchangelist] RE: Exchange replication
> >
> > http://www.MSExchange.org/
> >
> > In case of hardware clustering, I would have shared hard disk(s). If
a
> > disk(s) goes down I would need time to put it back in operational
> > state. In case of software clustering or simple volume replication,
I
> > would have a fresh copy of my exchange at any moment.
> >
> > > What is the end goal that you are trying to achieve? I've seen
> > > these in action in a previous job, but I'm not overly impressed
with
> > > the technical abilities of the solution. It's a software level
> > > solution which to me discounts it before even opening the box.
For
> > > my money, I'd prefer a more hardware based solution wherever
> > > possible such as a SAN.
> > >
> > >
> > > Interested to hear what you are trying to accomplish with the
> > > solution.
> > >
> > > al
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Zoran [mailto:zmarjanovic@xxxxxxxx]
> > > Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2004 7:51 AM
> > > To: [ExchangeList]
> > > Subject: [exchangelist] Exchange replication
> > >
> > > http://www.MSExchange.org/
> > >
> > > Hi people,
> > >
> > > Does anyone have experience with a software that could be used for
> > > real time replication of exchange stores. I found: Double Take and
Geo
> > > Cluster (too expensive for me), Veritas-volume replicator,
Marathon
> > > Technologies-FT Server, Legato-Co-Standby Server. Only Legato
offers
> > > tryal version, but I would be happy to get a piece of advice from
smb
> who
> > used one of these.
> > > And one more question. What do you think is there any chance that
> > > this kind of software recognise a logical error on source server
and
> > > stop replication instead of copying the error to the target
server?
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > >
> > > Zoran
> > >
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