Planning Checklist for Cluster Continuous Replication
Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 will reach end of support on April 11, 2017. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see Resources to help you upgrade your Office 2007 servers and clients.
Applies to: Exchange Server 2007, Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Exchange Server 2007 SP2, Exchange Server 2007 SP3
Before deploying cluster continuous replication (CCR) using the release to manufacturing (RTM) version of Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 or Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1), your existing infrastructure must meet certain prerequisites. You can use the following checklist to verify that you're ready for CCR.
We also recommend that you review the Exchange 2007 System Requirements.
General CCR Requirements
| Requirements | Check |
|---|---|
Each storage group that you intend to create on the clustered mailbox server will only have one database. |
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The cluster in which Exchange 2007 is installed cannot contain Exchange Server 2003, Exchange 2000 Server, or any version of Microsoft SQL Server. Running Exchange 2007 in a cluster with any of these other applications is not supported. |
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Before you install Exchange 2007, make sure that the folder to which you will install all of the Exchange data on the physical disk resource exists and is empty. |
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You must install the same version of Exchange 2007 on all nodes in the cluster that are configured as hosts of a clustered mailbox server. |
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The nodes must have the Enterprise Edition of Exchange 2007 installed in the same location. |
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Node Requirements
| Requirements | Check |
|---|---|
The intended nodes are listed in the Microsoft Windows Server Catalog of Tested Products. The servers do not need to be listed in the Cluster Solutions category or the Geographically Dispersed Cluster Solutions category, but they must be listed in the Windows Server Catalog of Tested Products. |
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The intended nodes are comparable with respect to CPU, memory, input/output (I/O) capability, networking, vendor, and available disk storage. The servers do not need to be identical, but they should be of equal processing power, I/O performance, and capacity. |
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The nodes must have Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition, Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition, or Windows Server 2008 Datacenter Edition installed using the same boot and system drive letters. In addition, the operating system must be the same on both nodes. Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 cannot co-exist in the same failover cluster. |
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The cluster must either be a three-node cluster with a traditional Majority Node Set (MNS) quorum, or a two-node cluster with an MNS quorum with file share witness. It is assumed that most customers will deploy a two-node cluster that uses an MNS quorum with file share witness. |
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Network and Name Resolution Requirements
| Requirements | Check |
|---|---|
Each node must have at least two network adapters installed and available to the cluster. Clients and other servers only have to access the nodes from one of the two network adapters. The other network adapters are used for intra-cluster communication. |
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IP addresses are required for both the public and private networks on each node, for the cluster, and for the clustered mailbox server. |
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If the CCR solution is deployed on Windows Server 2003, the private network for all nodes in a cluster must be on the same subnet. In addition, the public network for all nodes in the cluster must also be on the same subnet, and they must be on a different subnet from the private network. |
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If the CCR solution is deployed on Windows Server 2003 and a virtual LAN (VLAN) is being used, the point-to-point, round-trip latency must be less than 0.5 seconds. In addition, the link between two nodes must appear as a single point-to-point connection from the perspective of the operating system running on the nodes. |
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The cluster network connection order in Windows and the network priority inside the cluster must be correctly configured. For detailed steps about how to configure the network connection order, see How to Configure Network Connections for Cluster Continuous Replication. |
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In a multiple datacenter configuration, the cluster public network must provide adequate bandwidth and sufficiently low latency to enable clients to access the clustered mailbox server from either data center. |
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In a multiple datacenter configuration, the networks used for the cluster heartbeat must be capable of sending and receiving a heartbeat packet within the required number of configured retries. |
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Storage Requirements
| Requirements | Check |
|---|---|
The location of the storage groups and databases must be identical on both cluster nodes. |
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The database files and transaction log files should be stored on different logical unit numbers (LUNs) and different drives. |
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Equivalent storage for performance and capacity of the system should be configured on both nodes using the same location (drive letter and paths) for each storage group and database. |
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Adequate storage is present on the Hub Transport servers in the Active Directory directory service site containing the clustered mailbox server to accommodate your use of the transport dumpster feature. For more information about the transport dumpster, see Cluster Continuous Replication. |
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Service Account Requirements
| Requirements | Check |
|---|---|
If the CCR solution is deployed on Windows Server 2003, the Cluster service account must have local administrator privileges on the cluster nodes. |
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If the CCR solution is deployed on Windows Server 2003, you must use a domain account for the Cluster service account, and all nodes in the cluster must use the same Cluster service account. |
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All nodes in the cluster must be members of the same domain. |
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