The scenario is:
I got 2 identical 2U rack mount servers with Operating System Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise. They are :
- in same domain.
- both installed Exchange 2010 in Hyper-V
- both are domain controller
If I want to enable failover clustering for both Exchange 2010, ensure zero downtime. What are the steps? Thanks for advice.
Best Answer
RTFM.
First, failover cluster DOES NOT GIVE ZERO DOWNTIME. Bad news, isn't it - happens because you did not read the documentation. Failover cluster will start exchange / a VM on another server if the first fails. It takes some time (seconds) to realize the original system is down, plus the time it takes for the system to start (larger for a VM), so while the time is small, IT IS NOT ZERO DOWNTIME.
Second, Exchange can do that a lot better WITHOUT a failover cluster. Exchange has it's own cluster mechanisms that can work with multiple data copies... which means one less thing that can g o wrong (corrupt files in a node crash), so it is (a) superior to failover cluster and (b) faster in switching.
So, I sgugest getting your requirements straight, and then using Exchange integrated mechanisms to ensure uptime.