Clustering Exchange 2000

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Clustering Exchange 2000

Scott SchnollMCT, MCSE, MCSA, MCP, MVP

Manager – Product SupportTNT Software – http://www.tntsoftware.com

Overview of Session

What is Clustering Requirements for Clustering Step-by-Step E2K Cluster Build Managing E2K Clusters Disaster Recovery for E2K Clusters Caveats

Overview of Clustering Why Cluster

High-availability Measured in 9s Provided by failover Strengthened by fault tolerant design

Increased Uptime (but not 100%) System Uptime Performance Counter SRVINFO Uptime Utility Application Uptime

Managed maintenance/upgrades Rolling Upgrades (Supported by Win2k and E2K

SP3)

Does not protect against: Loss of or damage to shared storage Network failures Application failures or database

corruption Disasters

Does not provide scalability Cannot move running applications

Shared state is lost

Overview of Clustering

Network HeartbeatNetwork Heartbeat

External StorageExternal StorageNode A

Node B

Shared nothing modelShared nothing model


External StorageExternal StorageNode A

Node B


XNetwork HeartbeatNetwork Heartbeat

Shared nothing modelShared nothing model

Overview of Clustering Cluster Quorum

Stores most current configuration data in quorum recovery logs and registry checkpoints

Maintains resource checkpoints Provides persistent physical storage

Recovery Logs Used to Enable any node to form a cluster Enable nodes to maintain a cluster Guarantee that a single cluster is formed

Cluster.Log file Logs cluster activity; great for troubleshooting

Overview of Clustering Windows 2000 Advanced Server

2-node Active/Passive (A/P) 2-node Active/Active (A/A)

Windows 2000 Datacenter Server 2-node Active/Passive (A/P) 3-node Active/Active/Passive (A/P) 4-node Active/Active/Active/Passive (A/P) 4-node Active/Passive/Active/Passive

(A/P)

Overview of Clustering Best Practices

Active/Active Don’t use more than two EVS Limit number concurrent MAPI users per node to

1,900 Limit avg CPU utilization on each node to 40%

Active/Passive is the STRONGLY preferred model.

Exchange Virtual Server Limits Two Node

A/P – 1 A/A – 4

Three Node – 2 (A/P only) Four Node – 3 (A/P only)

Exchange 2000 Support Active/Active Support

System Attendant Information Store POP3, IMAP, SMTP, HTTP Microsoft Search (Full-text Indexing) SMTP and Routing Group Connectors

Active/Passive Message Transfer Agent

Exchange 2000 SupportNOT Supported

ADC Calendar Connector Chat Services Conferencing Services Exchange Event Service Foreign Mail System Connectors Instant Messaging Key Management Services NNTP – STILL REQUIRED FOR INSTALL! Site Replication Service

Migrating from anExchange 5.5 Cluster

In-Place Upgrade Not SupportedMove Mailbox Method - 316886

Introduce standalone Exchange 2000 Server into Exchange 5.5 Site

Move mailboxes from Exchange 5.5 cluster to this system

Add Exchange 2000 cluster to Site Move mailboxes to EVS

SCSI or Fibre Channel shared storage Identical RAM and CPUs Cluster-certified hardware (HCL – Cluster) Windows 2000 Advanced Server or

Datacenter Server Exchange 2000 Enterprise Server

Preparing for Clustering

Preparing for Clustering Design Storage

4 storage group maximum on node 5 databases per storage group

RAID arrays (RAID 1 or RAID 0+1) Shared disks must be BASIC and formatted with

NTFS Separate Disk Resources for Logs and DBs in the

same EVS Separate Resource Group for Quorum

Plan network (IP addresses and names)

Building an Exchange 2000 Cluster

Step 1 - Prepare Hardware Apply latest system BIOS Apply latest device firmware Gather latest software drivers Disable unnecessary hardware No need for more than 3GB


Step 2 – Install OS and Related Software Win 2000 Advanced/Datacenter w/SP3

SMTP, W3SVC and NNTP services Windows Update/Security Hotfixes Administration Tools – ADMINPAK.MSI (SP3)


Step 3 – Prepare Nodes for Cluster Service Disable unnecessary services Configure Networks

Rename LAN connections to ‘Private Network’ and ‘Public Network’

Disable NetBIOS on private (heartbeat) interface Disable Media Sense on NICs – Hard-code

Create cluster service account Domain account w/Exchange Full Admin rights, and

local Administrator rights on each node

Step 3 – Prepare Nodes for Cluster Service (cont’d) Add Nodes to Domain as member servers Create Quorum partition on shared disk

50MB min; 500MB recommended Create and format additional disks/arrays


Step 4 – Install Cluster Service on each node

Step 5 – Install MS DTC on each nodeStep 6 – Install Exchange 2000 Ent. Svr.

Unattended setup not supported Cluster-aware version will be installed Binaries installed locally in same location on each

node Install one node at a time and reboot each node

when finished


Step 7 – Install Exchange 2000 Updates Service Pack 3

Step 8 – Create Exchange Virtual Servers Create Resource Group

Disk Resource IP Address ResourceNetwork Name ResourceExchange System Attendant Resource

Repeat Step 8 if using Active/Active model


Step 9 – Set Quorum Log file to reset at 4096KB

Step 10 – Configure EVS Resources LooksAlive not implemented IsAlive hard-coded at 10 seconds Increase pending timeout on A/A clusters

Step 11 – Bring Resources Online


Building a Back-EndExchange 2000 Cluster

Extra Steps for Back-End Servers Create HTTP virtual servers in ESM Create virtual directories to match those

on FE server Add HTTP virtual servers to EVS Take EVS offline and restart IIS

You must create one HTTP virtual server for each FE namespace

SMTP domain must match users of FE server

Before Cluster GoesInto Production

Test failover policiesTest hardware (simulate failures)Stress Tests – LOADSIM/ESP

Test performance under heavy network loads

Test performance under heavy disk I/O Test performance under heavy services

load Test performance under large number of

simultaneous logon attempts

Before Cluster GoesInto Production

Tune Failover Performance ESE Log Checkpoint Depth SMTP Tuning Evenly distribute threads across protocols Consider number of IS service connections

Managing an Exchange2000 Cluster

Cluster AdministratorOther Objects Managed Within MMC

Exchange System Manager Internet Services Manager DNS AD Users & Computers

Management can be scripted WMI scripts Command-line mgmt (CLUSTER.EXE) CDO for System Management (formerly

EMO)Diagnostic Logging on EVS

Disable MTA Stack service monitoring Redirect IIS log files to shared storage

Managing an Exchange2000 Cluster

Health & Performance MSExchangeIS\VM Largest Block Size MSExchangeIS\VM Total 16MB Free Blocks MSExchangeIS\VM Total Free Blocks MSExchangeIS\VM Total Large Free Block

Bytes Make sure VM Total Large Free Block Bytes

ALWAYS exceeds 32 MB SP3 fixes VM frag problem (324118)

Monitoring an Exchange2000 Cluster

Cannot remove first EVS until all other EVSs have been removed

Designate a replacement system if bridgehead

5 steps Move all content (mailboxes/PFs) to another EVS Take the SA resource offline Delete the SA resource Verify that EVS server object is gone from AD Delete remaining cluster resources

Removing an EVS from a Cluster

Create a temp folder outside Exchsrvr structure

Copy four DLLs from Exchsrvr\BIN to temp folder: Dsaccess.dll, Exchmem.dll, Expoxy.dll, Pttrace.dll

Uninstall via Control Panel Prompt: Is this the last one in the cluster? Reboot Copy DLLs from temp folder back to original

location Run exchmgmt.exe \uninstall

Removing Exchange 2000from a Cluster

Use cluster-aware backup softwareLocation of backup

Backup device/software on each node LAN-based backup solution

See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=1714 for Exchange 2000 Disaster Recovery info

Exchange 2000 ClusterDisaster Recovery

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=1714

Recovery from Loss of NodeEvict the old node and verify evictionBuild a new cluster node and join clusterRestore System State only on new node Install Exchange on new nodeMake new node Possible Owner of resources


Recovery from loss of shared storage Make sure disk signatures are correct

(280425)Recovery from Quorum Failure

Use DumpConfig to recreate disk signature Perform a node restore Use ClusRest to restore quorum See 248998 for more information


Recovery from Total Failure Rebuild all nodes Create original cluster group Restore System State on each node Install Exchange on each node Recreate Exchange resources (use same

names) Restore databases from backup


If you are installing the Exchange 2000 cluster into an existing Exchange 5.5 organization, the Exchange 2000 cluster may not be the first Exchange 2000 server in a site, and the Exchange 2000 cluster may not be a bridgehead server.Exchange 2000 requires the Site Replication Service (SRS) in a mixed environment. SRS is not supported in a clustered environment.

Caveats

Caveats

To successfully install or upgrade an Exchange 2000 SP3 cluster on Windows 2000 SP2 or later, you may need to run Comclust.exe on all nodes in the cluster. Comclust.exe creates a Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MSDTC) cluster resource, which is required by Exchange 2000.See 312316, “XADM: Setup Does Not Install Exchange 2000 on a Cluster If the MSDTC Resource Is Not Running.”

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=3052&ID=312316

241626 – XADM: Do Not Use Secure Sockets Layer Only for Cluster Virtual Servers263060 – XADM: Full Exchange Admin Cannot Create a New Store on the Second Virtual Server in a Cluster271449 – XADM: Message Transfer Agent Stacks Service Incorrectly Logs an Error When It Runs in a Cluster Environment241627 – XADM: Cannot Access Additional HTTP Virtual Server on Cluster Servers

Caveats

271407 – XADM: Default SMTP Log File Directory Is Incorrect for Clustered Servers251525 – XADM: Registry Checkpoints for DSProxy Need Manual Configuration266689 – XADM: The "ESEUTIL /CC" Command Does Not Work on Cluster Server

Caveats

Step-by-Step Guide to Installing Cluster Service http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=266

Disaster Recovery for Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=1714

Front-End/Back-End Configuration Guide http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/techinfo/deployment/2000/E2KFrontBack.asp

Deploying Exchange 2000 Clustershttp://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=9393 http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/techinfo/deployment/2000/E2KCluster.asp

For more information



Exchange 2000 SP3 Deployment Guide http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/techinfo/deployment/2000/SP3Deployment.asp

Exchange 2000 Third-party Solutions http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=5225

Exchange 2000 Server Database Recoveryhttp://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=6273

http://www.microsoft.com/exchange http://msdn.microsoft.com/exchange http://www.nwnetworks.com/cluster.html news://msnews.microsoft.com http://www.microsoft.com/technet/exchange/default.asp http://searchwin2000.discussions.techtarget.com

For more information

Questions?Questions?

Click the “Ask a question” button Click the “Ask a question” button on the bottom left corner of your on the bottom left corner of your

screen now to ask Scott a screen now to ask Scott a question.question.

Thank You!Thank You!Scott Schnoll – [email protected] Schnoll – [email protected], MCSE, MCSA, MCP, MS MVPMCT, MCSE, MCSA, MCP, MS MVPManager – Product SupportManager – Product SupportTNT Software – http://www.tntsoftware.comTNT Software – http://www.tntsoftware.com

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Clustering Exchange 2000