Tasks for deploying a disaster recovery configuration of Microsoft Exchange


Tasks for deploying a disaster recovery configuration of Microsoft Exchange
Prev	Deploying disaster recovery for Exchange Server	Next

Before setting up disaster recovery at the secondary site, you must complete the high availability configuration on the primary site.

See High availability (HA) configuration (New Server).

You can also configure disaster recovery for a primary site that is configured as a replicated data cluster.

See VCS Replicated Data Cluster configuration.

After setting up the SFW HA environment for Exchange on a primary site, you can create a secondary or "failover" site for disaster recovery using the Disaster Recovery (DR) wizard. The DR wizard helps you to clone the storage and service group configuration from the primary site to the secondary site. You can install the application on the secondary site during the DR wizard workflow.

After service group configuration, the DR wizard helps you set up replication and global clustering (GCO option). You can choose to configure replication using VVR or an agent-supported array-based hardware replication. The DR wizard can configure required options for the VCS agents for EMC SRDF and for Hitachi TrueCopy. To use the wizard with any other agent-supported array-based replication, you must complete configuring global clustering with the wizard before configuring replication on the array.

The DR wizard is available from the Solutions Configuration Center. Symantec recommends using the Solutions Configuration Center as a guide for installing and configuring disaster recovery.

See About the Solutions Configuration Center.

Note:

If you are using non-shared storage (dynamic disk groups monitored using VMNSDg agent), you cannot use the DR wizard to configure disaster recovery. You have to set up DR manually. Refer to the separate workflow table, Table: Configuring the secondary site for disaster recovery available for configuring DR manually.

Table: Configuring the secondary site for disaster recovery outlines the high-level objectives and the tasks to complete each objective for a DR configuration at the secondary site using the Disaster Recovery wizard.

Table: Configuring the secondary site for disaster recovery

Action	Description
Install SFW HA and configure the cluster on the secondary site	Install SFW HA and configure the cluster at the secondary site. Ensure that the name you assign to the secondary site cluster is different from the name assigned to the primary site cluster. See Setting up the secondary site: Installing SFW HA and configuring a cluster.
Verify that Exchange Server has been configured for high availability at the primary site	Verify that Exchange has been configured for high availability at the primary site and that the service groups are online See Verifying your primary site configuration.
Set up the replication prerequisites	Ensure that replication prerequisites for your selected method of replication are met before running the DR wizard See Setting up security for VVR. See Configuring EMC SRDF replication and global clustering. See Configuring Hitachi TrueCopy replication and global clustering.
(Secure cluster only) Assign user privileges	For a secure cluster only, assign user privileges See Assigning user privileges (secure clusters only).
Start running the DR wizard	Review prerequisites for the DR wizard Start the DR wizard and make the initial selections required for each task: selecting a primary site system, the service group, the secondary site system, and the replication method See Configuring disaster recovery with the DR wizard .
Clone the storage configuration (VVR replication only)	(VVR replication option) Clone the storage configuration on the secondary site using the DR wizard See Cloning the storage on the secondary site using the DR wizard (Volume Replicator replication option).
Create temporary storage for application installation (other replication methods)	(EMC SRDF, Hitachi TrueCopy, or GCO only replication option) Use the DR wizard to create temporary storage for installation on the secondary site See Creating temporary storage on the secondary site using the DR wizard (array-based replication).
Install and configure Exchange Server	Follow the guidelines for installing Exchange Server in the SFW HA environment See Installing Exchange 2010.
Clone the service group configuration	Clone the service group configuration from the primary to the secondary site using the DR wizard See Cloning the service group configuration on to the secondary site using the DR wizard.
Configure replication and global clustering, or configure global clustering only	(VVR replication) Use the wizard to configure replication and global clustering (EMC SRDF replication) Set up replication and then use the wizard to configure the SRDF resource and global clustering (Hitachi TrueCopy) Set up replication and then use the wizard to configure the HTC resource and global clustering (Other array-based replication) Use the wizard to configure global clustering, and then set up replication See Configuring replication and global clustering.
Verify the disaster recover configuration	Verify that the secondary site has been fully configured for disaster recovery See Verifying the disaster recovery configuration.
(Optional) Add secure communication	Add secure communication between local clusters within the global cluster (optional task) See Establishing secure communication within the global cluster (optional).
(Optional) Add additional DR sites	Optionally, add additional DR sites to a VVR environment See Adding multiple DR sites (optional).
Handling service group dependencies after failover	If your environment includes dependent service groups, review the considerations for bringing the service groups online after failover to the secondary site See Recovery procedures for service group dependencies.