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MIIS cold stand-by licensing change

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New licensing rules from Microsoft to Software Assurance customers allow for cold stand-by MIIS servers without the additional cost.  Read here:  https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=12D01621-2A23-4EAB-91C0-064A47D64AB6&displaylang=en

Why does this matter? 

The need for high availability in the metadirectory is dependent on what you are using it for.  In many cases, the availability of the underlying directories (AD, HR, ADAM, etc.) are more critical to the business.  If the SLA for your metadirectory requires high availability, then you may want to take steps as follows:

  • Put the MIIS SQL database on a clustered SQL Server with fully redundant backend storage (e.g. - SAN).
  • Run the MIIS service on a standalone server (it cannot be clustered at this time). Ensure the base hardware is redundant (power supplies, OS disks, etc.).
  • Setup a cold standby MIIS server and keep it offline until needed. This is where the new licensing rules come into play.
  • If the production MIIS server fails, the cold standby server can be quickly brought online with a single command.
  • Ensure the underlying directories that MIIS is connected to are highly available (e.g. AD, ADAM, HR, etc).
  • Additionally, you could provide a complete copy of the metadirectory in LDAP form by configuring an instance of ADAM.  ADAM can be setup in a load balanced configuration to ensure it is highly available.