Exchange CLUSTERING EQUIPMENT!!!

[MyEyesAreBurning]

hey...
I know this probably belongs in a diff forum but.. it does pertain to exchange clustering... I want to set up my own little EXCH cluster...Will this SCSI drive work with this controller card? Im sure it will but you know about assumptions...

DRIVE:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...00010583032&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWN:IT&rd=1

CONTROLLER:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Adaptec-SCSI-co...ryZ39969QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

any help would be appreachiated...
thks,
MEAB

 

[WhoKilledKenny]

Not sure... but it sounds like you are building a test environment. You are also going to require a Domain. I would suggest going to

http://www.vmware.com

and downloading VMServer (it is the GSX version which is now free). Build your test environment in the virtual world, works great... You can also build a MS Cluster in VM...

Good luck, throw away your old hardware...

 

[MyEyesAreBurning]

Now that I think of it... isn't it only possible to create a load balanced cluster on a server without SCSI drives? I really want to go all out and create a active/passive cluster. I thought that was my reasoning in buying the equipment. If you set up a VPC or a Vmware installation doesnt the hardware configuration of the hard machine carry over to the virtual PC/VM. The only reason that I say that is because I have a pretty nice laptop.. I loaded up VPC/VM and tried to configure a cluster but...just wasn't going to happen. I figured that I would try again with some real equipment... of course its back to the books.
MEAB

 

[MiniOrganMorgan]

You can't have a cluster without shared storage; won't matter if the disks are FC, SCSI or SATA, obviously there are performance implications between the different technologies. Look at how you are going to connect to your shared disks first.

 

[MyEyesAreBurning]

MiniOrganMorgan
could you be more specific... are you talking about having a JBOD or NAS solution on your network, or can I just go in and share the disk? I guess that I overlooked the part about shared disk space... back to the books.
Thks,
MEAB

 

[MyEyesAreBurning]

Found something good info here...

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pr...b53-29f0-4d8e-8ebe-9367a547cbfd.mspx?mfr=true

 

[MiniOrganMorgan]

This may be of some help

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Windo...c30b-4d36-acfa-71492ed3ba4e1033.mspx?mfr=true

When I say "shared", I don't mean disk/folders shared out from like a file server or NAS, but a set of disks common to the two cluster nodes.

 

[MyEyesAreBurning]

Thanks for the great information... But, is there a way to accomplish this without having to spend a ton of $$$ building a fibre channel fabric... I mean that would be tons of fun but...my pockets dont run that deep. cant I just buy a crappy single disk NASbox inclosure that will plug into my switch or router for like a 100 bucks off ebay?

 

[MiniOrganMorgan]

Not really without using VMWare - which may be the best way forward if you are simply wanting to play with clustering... In saying that, clustering is only suitable if you have serious $$$ and are serious about getting that final .5% of uptime.

 

[WhoKilledKenny]

Here is a link on how to build a cluster in VMWare. Download the pdf.

http://www.blkmtn.org/index.php?q=node/172

 

[ntinlin]

You could also buy a cheap CL380 packaged cluster from eBay if you want to stick with a hardware solution.

This is basically 2xDL380's with a couple of internal HDD's plus shared storage space all in one unit.

 

[Daveyd123]

I setup an Exchage cluster in my network. I have 2 identical Dell 1850s attached to a Dell PowerVault 220s via SCSI 320.

Probably a little more than you want to spend in a test enviorment

 

[MyEyesAreBurning]

Found something of interest... Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 has support for clustering now. Great alternative to VMware here is the "how to". Have fun!

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/virtualserver/deploy/cvs2005.mspx