Should I use Exchange 2013 DAG with VMware HA?
I am in the process of setting up a new domain with all of the servers being virtualized using VMware. At the moment, I am working on installing and configuring Exchange 2013. I will be exporting all of the mailboxes out of our current production Exchange 2003 server and importing them into Exchange 2013 on the new domain. Our current Exchange Server has roughly 50 mailboxes with a total size of 70 GB.
I have been reading a lot about Database Availability Groups in Exchange 2013. However, I am wondering if using DAGs is recommended / necessary in my environment. I am running two VMware ESX hosts with HA turned on so if one host fails the VMs will be migrated to the other host so that no server is down for an extended period of time. All of my VMs / Data reside on a SAN. Since I already have HA configured with VMware, is there much advantage to installing two Exchange Servers and using a DAG?
Thoughts?
I have been reading a lot about Database Availability Groups in Exchange 2013. However, I am wondering if using DAGs is recommended / necessary in my environment. I am running two VMware ESX hosts with HA turned on so if one host fails the VMs will be migrated to the other host so that no server is down for an extended period of time. All of my VMs / Data reside on a SAN. Since I already have HA configured with VMware, is there much advantage to installing two Exchange Servers and using a DAG?
Thoughts?
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The above article is very good, except it is written by the vendor, so can hardly be seen as objective.
Been there before with vendors saying one thing, Microsoft saying another.
It is supported to use the VMWARE HA solution with Exchange 2013, and it is also supported to use it with a DAG. Personally I think the VMWARE technology overcomplicates things for little gain.
A DAG is pretty easy to setup, but if you aren't sure then I would get a consultant to assist. A decent consultant can be worth the money. I recently assisted a client by tearing up their design completely and redoing it. Saved half of the budget as they planned to use 20 servers, I not only met the objectives but gave them additional functionality and a quicker migration with just 10.
Simon.
Been there before with vendors saying one thing, Microsoft saying another.
It is supported to use the VMWARE HA solution with Exchange 2013, and it is also supported to use it with a DAG. Personally I think the VMWARE technology overcomplicates things for little gain.
A DAG is pretty easy to setup, but if you aren't sure then I would get a consultant to assist. A decent consultant can be worth the money. I recently assisted a client by tearing up their design completely and redoing it. Saved half of the budget as they planned to use 20 servers, I not only met the objectives but gave them additional functionality and a quicker migration with just 10.
Simon.
All vendors do publish articles. When it comes to VM, they always look for larger environment than a smaller ones. So any design part is basically depends upon the type of company environment and their requirement. If the requirements are high availability, fail overs, redundancy, DR etc.., then the solutions may vary.
Zackur
Zackur
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Thanks for the reply. Patching isn't much of a problem as I can perform it after hours or even during hours as it is not a huge deal if the server goes down for a brief period of time during working hours.
One my concerns with using DAG is:
1. I do not know how much effort is involved in getting it setup correctly.
2. I do not know how much a VMware environment with HA complicates things.
I am pretty green when it comes to this stuff and I do not want to create additional headaches for myself with little gain. Maybe my concerns are a non-issue???