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Installing a Two Node Exchange Server 2007 Single Copy Cluster (SCC) in a Virtual Server Test
Environment - Part 2: Creating and Configuring the Windows 2003 Cluster
Installing a Two Node Exchange Server 2007 Single Copy Cluster (SCC) in a Virtual Server Test
Environment Part 3: Installing Exchange Server 2007 and verifying Cluster Functionality
Introduction
Exchange Server 2007 supports two types of cluster setups Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR) and
Single Copy Clusters (SCC). In this three part article series well install and configure a two node
active/passive Single Copy Cluster in a Virtual Server 2005 R2 test environment. An Exchange 2007 Single
Copy Cluster is very similar to a Exchange Server 2003 active/passive cluster, although a few changes and
improvements have been introduced in Exchange Server 2007. A Single Copy Cluster is basically a
clustered mailbox server, which consists of two or more servers (known as nodes) which shares the same
storage (typically for databases and log files). The shared storage subsystem is typically an SAN or a NAS.
Note
Exchange Server 2007 doesnt support active/active clusters like is the case with previous Exchange
versions, only active/passive.
An Exchange 2007 Single Copy Cluster (SCC) provides high availability of server resources, as one node
takes over should the active node for some reason fail. In addition you can apply Hot Fixes, Service Packs
etc. to the nodes without having any downtime of your mission-critical messaging environment at all. But
bear in mind that a single copy cluster is susceptible to failure of the shared storage subsystem. This means
that no matter how many nodes are part of your cluster youll always have a single point of failure when
using this type of cluster opposite cluster continuous replication (CCR), which provides storage group failover via the new log file shipping and reply technology (Ill cover CCR in another article series here on
MSExchange.org).
Since most of you dont have the necessary hardware for a cluster, before you decide you want to deploy a
cluster in your environment, I thought it would be a good idea to show you how to install a single copy
cluster in a virtual server 2005 R2 environment.
Note
Pretty much all of the steps in the section where we install a clustered Exchange 2007 Mailbox server can
also be used when installing the cluster on real hardware.
Prerequisites
In order to follow the steps throughout this article series, you need the following:
One physical machine running Virtual Server 2005 R2. Since this product is free to download
from the Microsoft web site, this shouldnt be a problem.
A Windows 2003 Active Directory forest with at least one Domain Controller (raised to 2000 or
2003 forest functional level).
At least one existing Exchange 2007 Hub Transport/Client Access Server already installed in the
above forest
Two virtual guests running Windows 2003 R2 or Windows 2003 SP1 Enterprise Edition with at
least 512MB RAM and two virtual NICs each - one for the Public network and one for the Private
network. This means you need to create an additional virtual network on the virtual host server,
None (Guest Only) is sufficient for this network.
Note
In order to install Exchange 2007 Single Copy Cluster, you need to install the cluster HotFix mentioned in
MS KB article 898790 (at the time of this writing you need to contact Microsoft Product Support Services
in order to acquire this HotFix)
Warning
Since Exchange Server 2007 Beta 2 isnt supported in a production environment, unless youre
participating in the Rapid Deployment Program (RDP) or Technology Adopter Program (TAP), you should
install the Single Copy Cluster in a test domain.
Also make sure you untick File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks for the Private network
connection.
Figure 9: Specifying the virtual hard disk file name and size
We now need to add the virtual quorum disk to each of the two virtual Windows 2003 Servers. Let's add it
to E2K7SCCNode1 first, we do this by clicking Master Status > E2K7SCCNode1 > Edit
Configuration. Since this disk needs to be shared between the nodes, we need to click SCSI Adapters
then Add SCSI Adapter. Under the new SCSI adapter tick Share SCSI Bus for Clustering then set the
SCSI adapter ID to 6 (or whatever is unused in your environment).
The detected disk now needs to be partitioned, in order to do so right-click the unallocated space then select
new partition.
go through the above steps for each virtual disk you add to the SCSI 1 adapter. Nope I wont detail the
steps for adding additional disks to the cluster nodes, as the process is more or less identical.
Okay we have reached the end of part one. In part two (which will be released soon here on
MSExchange.org), well go through creating and configuring the Windows 2003 Cluster.
Installing a Two Node Exchange Server 2007 Single Copy Cluster (SCC) in a Virtual Server Test
Environment - Part 1: Preparing the virtual environment
Installing a Two Node Exchange Server 2007 Single Copy Cluster (SCC) in a Virtual Server Test
Environment Part 3: Installing Exchange Server 2007 and verifying Cluster Functionality
Weve reached part two in this three part article series covering how you prepare for, install and configure
an Exchange Server 2007 Single Copy Cluster (or in short SCC) in a virtual server 2005 R2 test
environment.
Introduction
In the previous article in this article series covering how you prepare for, install and configure an Exchange
Server 2007 Single Copy Cluster (or in short SCC) in a virtual server 2005 R2 test environment, we went
through how to create the Windows 2003 cluster. In this part two well create and configure the Windows
Server 2003 Cluster.
I bet many of you are eager to get going, so lets start right away.
Figure 20: Specifying the IP address used by the cluster management tools
You should now enter the cluster service account and password, then click Next.
Figure 21: Entering the username and password of the cluster service account
Note
Since were installing the Windows 2003 cluster in a test environment, well use the administrator account.
But please bear in mind that you should always create a dedicated cluster service account when speaking
about production environments.
You now see a screen with the proposed cluster configuration, click the Quorum button and make sure that
the cluster configuration quorum is set to Disk Q. Then click Next.
We have now created the cluster itself but since it only consists of one node, well need to add the other
Windows server as well. In order to do so turn on E2K7SCCNode2 and login with a domain admin
account. Now click Start > Administrative Tools > Cluster Administrator. Select Add nodes to cluster
in the drop-down menu then specify the cluster name in the Cluster or server name box and click OK.
Enter the password for the cluster service account (in this case the administrator account), then click Next.
Figure 28: Entering the username and password of the cluster service account
Verify that you want to add the node to the cluster with the configuration shown in Figure 29 below, then
click Next.
Figure 31: Cluster administrator will cluster resources listed and online
Since the sole purpose of the Private network is to be used for communications between the internal
cluster nodes, you should select Internal cluster communications only (private network), then click OK.
Do the same for the Public network but set it to Client access only (public network).
Figure 32: Changing the cluster role for the private network
Alright we now have a fully operational 2 node Active/Passive Windows cluster up and running.
Figure 33: Installing the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Windows Component
Since were installing the Mailbox Server role in the cluster, we also need to install the below IIS 6.0
components:
Note
Remember to install these components on both cluster nodes.
Alright we have reached the end of part two. In the next, last part of this series, well go over the most
exciting part, and that is to install Exchange Server 2007 and last but not least verify cluster functionality.
Installing a Two Node Exchange Server 2007 Single Copy Cluster (SCC) in a Virtual Server Test
Environment Part 2: Creating and Configuring the Windows 2003 Cluster
Installing a Two Node Exchange Server 2007 Single Copy Cluster (SCC) in a Virtual Server Test
Environment - Part 1: Preparing the virtual environment
Introduction
In the previous article in this article series covering how you prepare for, install and configure an Exchange
Server 2007 Single Copy Cluster (or in short SCC) in a virtual server 2005 R2 test environment, we went
through how to create the Windows 2003 cluster. In this part three well install Exchange Server 2007 and
verify cluster functionality.
Since this is the part weve all been waiting for (where we finally install and play with Exchange Server
2007), lets get going.
As you can see we still need to complete Step 3: Install Microsoft Command Shell (MSH), before we
can start installing Exchange. Therefore click the link to download MSH then unzip and install it.
Figure 40: Selecting to install a single copy cluster and specifying name and IP address of the clustered
mailbox server
Let the readiness check complete, and if no issues are found click Next to begin the installation.
Figure 41: Exchange Server 2007 Clustered Mailbox Role Readiness Check
The Exchange Server 2007 installation wizard will now copy the needed Exchange files, install and
configure the Mailbox Role then finally create and configure the clustered mailbox server resources locally
and create the object in Active Directory. When each step has been completed, untick Exit Setup and open
Exchange System Manager (yes this will be corrected in a later build), then click Finish. We dont want
to open the Exchange Management Console just yet, well install Exchange on the second node first.
Figure 42: Installation of the Exchange 2007 clustered mailbox role completed successfully
Log on to E2K7SCCNode2 with a domain admin account and perform the exact same steps as we did
when installing Exchange Server 2007 on E2K7SCCNode1. Only difference is you should tick Passive
Clustered Mailbox Role instead of Active Clustered Mailbox Role as shown in Figure 43 below.
Figure 43: Installing the passive clustered mailbox role on the second node
When you have installed the Exchange Clustered Mailbox Role on the second node, we can move on to the
next section, where we verify that the functionality of the clustered mailbox server works as expected.
Figure 44: Listing all Exchange cluster resources in the cluster administrator
Now try to open the Exchange Management Shell by clicking Start > All Programs > Microsoft
Exchange Server 2007 > Exchange Management Shell on one of the nodes, then type GetClusteredMailboxServerStatus. As you can see in Figure 45 below the status of the clustered mailbox
server is Online, and E2K7SCCNode1 is currently the active node. This just keeps getting better and better
doesnt it?
Figure 45: Requesting the online status of the clustered mailbox server
Now that we have verified that the clustered mailbox server is online, lets try to move the Exchange
resources from node one to node two using the Move-ClusteredMailboxServer CMDlet. In the test
environment used in this article, we do so by issuing below CMDlet:
Move-ClusteredMailboxServer -Identity:MailboxServer -TargetMachine:E2K7SCCNode7
-MoveComment:"Testing functionality!"
Youre then asked to confirm this action, type Yes then hit Enter. After a while the clustered mailbox
resources would have been moved to the second node.
Figure 46: Moving the clustered mailbox resources to the second node
Note
Although its possible to move the cluster resource groups between nodes using the Cluster Administrator
console, you should always do so using the Move-ClusteredMailboxServer CMDlet as the Move Group
task in the Cluster Administrator console isnt Exchange 2007-aware.
Lets also take a look at the clustered mailbox server in the Exchange Management Console. To do so click
Start > All Programs > Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 > Exchange Management Console, then drill
down to Server Configuration > Mailbox. Notice the clustered mailbox server which we named
MailboxServer is listed in the Result pane and that its recognized as a cluster server. Also notice that the
Mailbox Database for this server points to the S: drive exactly as we specified during the installation of the
Active Clustered Mailbox Role.
Figure 47: Viewing the clustered mailbox server in the Exchange Management Console
Conclusion
As was also the case with Exchange Server 2003, Exchange Server 2007 provides high availability of
server resources, as one node takes over should the active node for some reason fail. But bear in mind that a
single copy cluster is susceptible to failure of the shared storage subsystem. This means that no matter how
many nodes form part of your cluster, youll always have a single point of failure when using this type of
cluster. If you want a cluster without a single point of failure, you should consider the other type of cluster
supported in Exchange Server 2007 called Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR), which not only provides
high availability of server resources, but also storage groups. Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR)
combines a traditional active/passive cluster with the new log file shipping and reply mechanisms in
Exchange Server 2007. Log file shipping and reply makes it possible to keep a replica of the production
mailbox databases. In my next article series here on MSExchange.org, Ill take you through how to prepare
for, install and last but not least verify the functionality of a Cluster Continuous Replication setup. Until
then have a nice one!