Automatic failover for OWA and ActiveSync clients on Exchange 2010
I have Exchange 2010 at my main office and have set up a second Exchange 2010 server at another office to provide DR/BC. I am using Database Availability Groups (DAG) to replicate the databases to the remote site. I know that Outlook 2007/2010 can use the SRV records to find AutoDiscover, and therefore find the secondary server if there is a failure.
The question is: can I set up automatic failover for Outlook Web App and ActiveSync clients (specifically the iPhone and iPad)? Will OWA and/or ActiveSync clients use AutoDiscover to find the secondary server, or is there something else I need to do to help these clients reconfigure automatically?
The question is: can I set up automatic failover for Outlook Web App and ActiveSync clients (specifically the iPhone and iPad)? Will OWA and/or ActiveSync clients use AutoDiscover to find the secondary server, or is there something else I need to do to help these clients reconfigure automatically?
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I think the best way to do this is to use an hardware based load balancer.
Check this:
http://www.msexchange.org/articles_tutorials/exchange-server-2010/high-availability-recovery/load-balancing-exchange-2010-client-access-servers-using-hardware-load-balancer-solution-part1.html
You could also use a NLB cluster.
Next you configure a CAS Array:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/ucedsg/archive/2009/12/06/how-to-setup-an-exchange-2010-cas-array-to-load-balance-mapi.aspx
Check this:
http://www.msexchange.org/articles_tutorials/exchange-server-2010/high-availability-recovery/load-balancing-exchange-2010-client-access-servers-using-hardware-load-balancer-solution-part1.html
You could also use a NLB cluster.
Next you configure a CAS Array:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/ucedsg/archive/2009/12/06/how-to-setup-an-exchange-2010-cas-array-to-load-balance-mapi.aspx
Since ActiveSync devices are external to your internal system, the main issue is how DNS can failover to the second site.
There are services out there that do 'Automatic DNS Failover'. They monitor if the primary site is up. If the site is not up, the DNS record will change to the secondary IP address of the second site. The key would be the DNS record will have a short time to live. I have read that they can do this in 1 minute or so. I don't know if that is true. I guess that depends on if the mobile devices override the time to live on a external DNS record.
I would a search on the internet for 'automatic dns failover' or 'dns failover service'. I have found some on the internet.
The other item to note is how your DNS infrastructure is setup. You may need to change your dns to one of the services or if you host your DNS buy a software to do that internally for you.
Also, the incoming mail to your server would need to the have the same DNS changes for the MX record to the secondary site. You can probably use weighted/priority records for the MX records to email comes both the primary and secondary sites.
There are services out there that do 'Automatic DNS Failover'. They monitor if the primary site is up. If the site is not up, the DNS record will change to the secondary IP address of the second site. The key would be the DNS record will have a short time to live. I have read that they can do this in 1 minute or so. I don't know if that is true. I guess that depends on if the mobile devices override the time to live on a external DNS record.
I would a search on the internet for 'automatic dns failover' or 'dns failover service'. I have found some on the internet.
The other item to note is how your DNS infrastructure is setup. You may need to change your dns to one of the services or if you host your DNS buy a software to do that internally for you.
Also, the incoming mail to your server would need to the have the same DNS changes for the MX record to the secondary site. You can probably use weighted/priority records for the MX records to email comes both the primary and secondary sites.
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