Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Deployment Guide- P34 docx

Figure 2 Four-node active/passive Exchange Server 2003 cluster The following sections provide the recommended software, hardware, and storage requirements for an Exchange Server 2003 ac

Figure 2 illustrates the four-node, active/passive Exchange Server 2003 cluster

Figure 2 Four-node active/passive Exchange Server 2003 cluster

The following sections provide the recommended software, hardware, and storage requirements for an Exchange Server 2003 active/passive four-node cluster

Software Recommendations

In this scenario, all four nodes in the cluster are running Windows

Server 2003, Enterprise Edition and Exchange Server 2003, Enterprise Edition Additionally, each node is connected to a DNS server configured for dynamic updates

Hardware Recommendations

In this scenario, the following hardware configurations are recommended

Server hardware

 Four 1 gigahertz (GHz), 1 megabyte (MB) or 2 MB L2 cache

processors

 4 gigabytes (GB) of Error Correction Code (ECC) RAM

 Two 100 megabits per second (Mbps) or 1000 Mbps network interface cards

 RAID-1 array with two internal disks for the Windows Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2003 program files

 Two redundant 64-bit fiber Host Bus Adapters (HBAs) to connect to the Storage Area Network

Local area network hardware

 Two 100 Mbps or 1000 Mbps network switches (full duplex)

Storage Area Network hardware

 Redundant fiber switches

 106 disk spindles (Ultra Wide SCSI) with spindle speeds of 10,000 RPM or greater

 256 MB or more read/write cache memory

Storage Configuration Recommendations

In this scenario, the following storage configurations are recommended:

Storage groups and databases

 Three storage groups per Exchange Virtual Server

 Five databases per storage group

Disk drive configuration

Table 2 lists the recommended disk drive configuration For more

information about this and other disk drive configurations, see "Drive Letter Configurations" in the guide Planning an Exchange Server 2003 Messaging System (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=47584)

Table 2 Disk drive configuration for a four-node active/passive

cluster containing three Exchange Virtual Servers

Node 1 (EVS1

active)

Node 2 (EVS2 active)

Node 3 (EVS3 active)

Node 4 (passive)

Disk 1:

SMTP/MTA

Disk 8: SMTP Disk 15: SMTP Disk 22: Quorum

Disk 2: SG1

databases

Disk 9: SG1 databases

Disk 16: SG1 databases

Disk 3: SG1 logs Disk 10: SG1

logs

Disk 17: SG1 logs

Node 1 (EVS1

active)

Node 2 (EVS2 active)

Node 3 (EVS3 active)

Node 4 (passive)

Disk 4: SG2

databases

Disk 11: SG2 databases

Disk 18: SG2 databases

Disk 5: SG2 logs Disk 12: SG2

logs

Disk 19: SG2 logs

Disk 6: SG3

databases

Disk 13: SG3 databases

Disk 20: SG3 databases

Disk 7: SG3 logs Disk 14: SG3

logs

Disk 21: SG3 logs

Storage Area Network disk configuration

 SMTP/MTA drives RAID-(0+1) array consisting of four spindles (3

EVSs × 4 disks = 12 disks.)

 Storage group log drives RAID-1 array consisting of two spindles

(3 EVSs × 3 storage groups × 2 disks = 18 disks.)

 Database (.edb and stm files) drives RAID-(0+1) array consisting

of eight spindles (3 EVSs × 3 storage groups × 8 databases = 72 disks.)

 Quorum disk resource drive RAID-1 array consisting of two

spindles (2 disks)

Total shared disk spindles is 104

Deploying a New Exchange Server 2003 Cluster

This section provides information about how to deploy a new Exchange Server 2003 cluster in your organization The procedures referenced this section are applicable for any cluster configuration, from an

active/passive cluster with two to eight nodes to a two-node active/active cluster with one or two nodes

Specifically, this section will guide you through the following steps:

1 Preparing Active Directory for Exchange Server 2003

2 Installing Exchange Server 2003 on each node

3 Creating the Exchange Virtual Servers

Step 1: Preparing Active Directory for Exchange Server 2003

Preparing Active Directory for a cluster installation resembles preparing Active Directory for non-clustered servers

Step 1 includes the following tasks:

1 Run ForestPrep

2 Run DomainPrep

Running ForestPrep

Before you install Exchange Server 2003 anywhere in the forest, you must extend the Windows Active Directory schema To accomplish this task, you must run ForestPrep

Note:

Running ForestPrep is required only if you are installing Exchange

Server 2003 for the first time in your organization If you already

installed Exchange Server 2003 in your organization, you do not have

to run ForestPrep

For detailed steps about how to run ForestPrep, see How to Run

Note:

During the ForestPrep process, you will enter the name of the user or group who is responsible for installing Exchange Server 2003 This

account must be a domain account that includes local administrator

privileges on the cluster nodes The account you specify will also have permission to use the Exchange Delegation Wizard to create all levels

of Exchange Server 2003 administrator accounts

Running DomainPrep

You must run DomainPrep for each Windows 2000 or Windows

Server 2003 domain in which you want to install Exchange Server 2003

However, before you can run DomainPrep, ForestPrep must finish

replicating the schema updates

Note:

Running DomainPrep is required only if you are installing Exchange

Server 2003 for the first time in your domain If you already installed

Exchange Server 2003 in your domain, you do not have to run

DomainPrep

For detailed steps about how to run DomainPrep, see How to Run

Step 2: Installing Exchange Server 2003 on Each Node

After you extend the schema with ForestPrep and prepare the domain with DomainPrep, you are ready to install Exchange Server 2003 on the first cluster node

Step 2 includes the following tasks:

1 Make sure that the Cluster service is running on each node

2 Install and enable the required Windows services

3 Install Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MSDTC)

4 Run Exchange Server 2003 Setup

However, before you perform these tasks, familiarize yourself with the requirements necessary for installing Exchange Server 2003 on cluster servers (Table 3)