Master Slave Exchange 2003 Environment
Can someone explain me how to get 2 Exchange servers in the same domain (not oranization as I know about multiple Exchanges in same organization)? The need for this is to have different exchange databases on different servers but within a same domain.
My actual problem is;
my exchange server database is nearing engulfing whole hard drive and now stands at around 500GB.
I have removed/archived lot of mailboxes, but the problem is, it is still showing the same size and I cannot defragment it because of the time it would take. I can't keep my server off for such a long period.
I can't plugin more HDDs as bays are already full.
I can't do a full fledge Hard disk change, because in about 8-9 months time, this server will go offline (with all other servers scattered in different countries) and a central server will take care of corporate emailing.
As of now I have two solutions keeping in mind all above (better suggestions are always welcome):
1. Install another exchange server within same domain in Master/Slave environment and transfer mailboxes to that server's new database. I need info on this.
2. Install new hard disks using "Direct Attach Storage" solution.
Second option seems to be good but I don't know about performance issues with DAS and Exchange. Please suggest; which is the better one of the above or any other good option.
Thanks in advance.
Software/Hardware used:
Software/Hardware used:
ASKED:
September 8, 2008 5:59 PM
UPDATED:
September 10, 2008 5:22 PM
Answer Wiki:
*** Improved by Wrobinson on 9/9/08 ***
Windows and Exchange Server clusters are intended to provide high-availability. This comes at the cost of additional networking and storage complexity. It also requires a different approach for administrative tasks, such as service packs and upgrades.
You can add direct attached storage (DAS) to the existing Exchange Server solution without a performance penalty, so long as it is designed to meet the input/output per second (IOPS) requirement for your environment. In fact, a DAS solution affords more flexibility in the future, as you start to look at upgrading to Exchange Server 2007 or the next version.
*** End Updae ***
Hi anwar,
For master slave (avtice passive) exchange server u need configre your exchange server as active and passive mode cluster. here is the link that will help u
http://www.computerperformance.co.uk/exchange2003/exchange_2003_clustering.htm
u want anything other then let me know.
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Thanks Wrobinson for your reply on DAS. I know with normal file accessing there won’t be any problem but with Exchange I don’t know. Is there a way to find this before going for it? I am trying to get one unit for testing.
Regarding Master/Slave, I think I have not put it clearly. On searching google I found below article which explains about Exchange migration from 2000 to 2003 where hardware box is also need to be changed:
http://www.msexchange.org/tutorials/Migrating-Exchange2000-Exchange-2003-Hardware.html
I think this is what I was searching for. With a bit of tweaknig same steps can be used for placing two Exchange Servers (both 2003) in the same domain.