Database Availability Groups: Configure in Exchange 2010

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Configur ing D a t a ba se Ava ila bilit y Gr oups for Ex cha nge Se r ve r 2010
by J. Pet er Bruzzese - Sept em ber 1, 2011 Print er Fr iendly Version
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Ove r vie w
Because your end user s rely so m uch on em ail not only for t heir day - t o- day com m unicat ions but also ult im at ely for your com pany s daily oper at ions, you need t o m ake sur e t he ser vices for Exchange ar e accessible and av ailable pr act ically all t he t im e. I n ot her w or ds, t hey should exhibit High Availabilit y. I n t his art icle, w ell t alk about how Exchange 2010 offers High Availabilit y, w hich is basically t hr ough Dat abase Availabilit y Groups. Well t hen com e up wit h a sam ple scenar io and t hen show y ou how t o configur e Dat abase Availabilit y Groups using t hat scenario. I n t he video lesson below y ou w ill learn about a r eal wor ld scenar io t hat will help y ou configure Exchange Server 2010 Dat abase Availabilit y Gr oups. ( I nst r uct ional video below pr ovides a walkt hr ough of t he st eps cont ained in t his art icle.)

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I f your e alr eady fam iliar wit h t he concept s of Dat abase Availabilit y Gr oups and sim ply w ant t o k now how t o configure t hem , j ust scroll down dir ect ly t o t he sect ion A sam ple scenar io.

H igh Av a ila bilit y in Ex ch a n ge 2 0 1 0

Fir st of all, High Availabilit y ( HA) does not j ust m ean t hat an Exchange serv er should be up. Rat her, t hat ser ver m ust also be available t o ser ve. Sim ply put , users should be able t o do all t he t hings t hey expect t o do t hr ough an Exchange serv ice, e.g., send and receive em ails, all t he t im e. Exchange 2010 pr ov ides HA using a feat ur e know n as Cont inuous Replicat ion. I n Cont inuous Replicat ion, t he dat abase is copied fir st and t hen t he log files ar e shipped and r eplayed const ant ly t o ensure t hat t he dat abase st ay s up t o dat e.

Figu r e 1 : Sh ow s Syst e m 1 a n d Syst e m 2

D a t a ba se Ava ila bilit y Gr ou p a n d it s m a in fe a t u r e s

I n Micr osoft Ex change Serv er 2010, t he base com ponent of it s high availabilit y and sit e resilience fram ework is t he Dat abase Availabilit y Group or DAG. DAG uses cont inuous replicat ion, suppor t s up t o 16 copies of t he dat abase on 16 different serv er s, and em ploys som e clust er ing feat ur es like heart beat s and a File Share Wit ness in or der t o m ake m em ber s of a DAG work t oget her effect iv ely. H e a r t be a t s A hear t beat is a m echanism t hat enables ser vers t o verify whet her ot her ser vers in t he sam e DAG are st ill alive. Let s say y ou have t wo ser ver s. One ser ver has t he act ive copy of t he dat abase, while t he ot her one has a r eplica copy. I f t he second serv er no longer det ect s a heart beat com ing fr om t he fir st ser ver, it m ay have t o t ake over and m ak e it s copy of t he dat abase t he act ive copy. File Sh a r e W it n e ss To help m em ber ser vers of a DAG det er m ine w it h cer t aint y t hat a m em ber has in fact gone down, Exchange Serv er 2010 uses what is k nown as a File Shar e Wit ness. A File Shar e Wit ness serves as t he refer ee bet w een DAG m em ber s w henev er a ser ver ceases t o give off a hear t beat and hence appear s t o have gone down. Thus, w hen t he second ser ver fails t o r eceive a hear t beat fr om t he fir st ser ver, it check s wit h t he File Share Wit ness t o v er ify whet her t he first serv er has really gone down. Only aft er t he File Shar e Wit ness confir m s t hat t he first serv er has gone down will t he second serv er m ake it s dat abase t he act ive copy.

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This pr event s an issue known as t he split - br ain sy ndr om e , wher ein t wo ser vers will be sim ult aneously providing t he sam e ser vices t o end users. The File Share Wit ness is a Hub Tr ansport ( HT) Serv er on t he sam e DAG t hat shouldn t reside on a Mailbox ( MB) Serv er . That doesn t m ean t hat HT serv er s can t be inst alled alongside MB server s. The rest rict ion only applies t o t hose HT Server s t hat will be used as a File Shar e Wit ness. All ot her HT Serv er s can reside on an MB Serv er . Tr a n spor t D u m pst e r A t ypical DAG also em ploy s what is know n as a Tr anspor t Dum pst er. I t is a feat ur e of t he HT Ser ver t hat allow s it t o ret ain copies of all em ails in dat abases t hat have r eplicas in t he DAG and pr ovide an updat e t o a replica copy whenever t he need ar ises. An updat e t o a replica copy of t he dat a m ay be needed when a server holding t he act iv e copy of t he dat abase goes down. So when t he ser ver holding t he act ive copy goes down, t he ser ver assigned t o t ake over checks w it h Transport Dum pst er t o see whet her t her e ar e copies of m ail t hat it doesn t have. I f t her e are any, t hose copies ar e added t o what it already has. Heres a sam ple Dat abase Availabilit y Gr oup cont aining t wo m em ber s, Mailbox1 ( MB1) and Mailbox2 ( MB2) . MB1 holds t he act ive copy of t he dat a, while MB2 holds t he passiv e copy. Also pr esent is a Hub Tr anspor t Server t hat serves as t he File Shar e Wit ness and Tr ansport Dum pst er .

Figu r e 2 : Sh ow s a D a t a ba se Ava ila b ilit y Gr ou p

W h a t you n e e d t o k n ow be for e cr e a t in g a D a t a ba se Ava ila bilit y Gr ou p

Having m ult iple Mailbox Serv er s and a Hub Transport Ser ver t hat ser ves as a File Shar e Wit ness and a Tr anspor t Dum pst er doesn t aut om at ically enable High Availabilit y . You st ill need t o carr y out t he following st eps: St e p 1 . Creat e t he Dat abase Av ailabilit y Group St e p 2 . Add m em bers t o t he DAG St e p 3 . Add copies of dat abases. Well show you how t his is done st ep- by- st ep lat er but in t he m eant im e, her es a figur e showing a set up sim ilar t o what you m ay end up wit h aft er car ry ing out t hose st eps:

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Figu r e 3 : Sh ow s Syst e m 1 , Sy st e m 2 , a n d Syst e m 3 I n t his set up, we have t hr ee Mailbox Ser vers ( Syst em s 1, 2, and 3) , each holding one dat abase ( DB1 resides on Syst em 1, DB2, on Syst em 2, and so on) . Not ice t hat each dat abase is being r eplicat ed on t he t wo ot her serv er s. So DB1 has a r eplica on Syst em 2 and 3, DB2 has a replica on Syst em 1 and 3, and so on. So even if w e lose t wo sy st em s, t he r em aining syst em can t ake over; t hus e n su r in g h igh a va ila bilit y . Not e however, t hat it will be up t o you t o choose how m any copies ( and on which server s t hose copies should be) a dat abase should hav e. I t is not necessary for all syst em s t o hav e replicas of each dat abase. I t s all up t o you. Of course, t he m ore copies your dat abases have, t he great er your DAGs capabilit y of providing high availabilit y w ill be. Sim ilar ly , it is also up t o you t o decide how m any m ailbox serv er s should host a dat abase. I n t he alt ernat ive design below, w e again have t hree m ailbox serv er s: EX2K10MB1, EX2K10MB2, and EX2K10CHMB. But not ice t hat , while EX2K10CHMB has replicas of t he dat abases host ed on EX2K10MB1 and EX2K10MB2 ( DB1 and DB2 r espect iv ely) , it is not host ing a dat abase it self.

Figu r e 4 : Sh ow s N o D B3 on Ch ica go sit e Now t hat weve got t he basic concept s covered, you re now ready t o learn how t o configur e DAGs.

A sa m ple sce n a r io
Well be using t he following scenar io as t he basis for t he configur at ions well be set t ing lat er , so y ou should read t his sect ion fir st . Refer t o t he following figure:

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Figu r e 5 : Sh ow s t w o sit e s: Sit e 1 in N e w Yor k a n d Sit e 2 in Ch ica g o. Not e: Those lit t le light bulbs wit h a green leaf indicat e vir t ual ser vers. So t he Chicago sit es CHI DC1, EX2K10CHPRI ME, and EX2K10CHMB ar e virt ual ser ver s running on a par ent ser ver t hr ough Hy per - V. Sam e is t r ue wit h NYDC2, EX2K10PRI ME, and EX2K10MB2. I n Chicago, EX2K10CHMB serv es as t hat sit es Exchange Mailbox Ser ver. I n New Yor k, t her e ar e t wo m ailbox ser vers: EX2K10MB1 and EX2K10MB2. EX2K10PRI ME is a Hub Transport Serv er . Not ice t hat it doesnt reside on a Mailbox serv er , so we can use it lat er on as our File Shar e Wit ness. Our m ailboxes are divided only bet ween EX2K10MB1 and EX2K10MB2 ( see t he design on t he four t h im age above) . The m ain funct ion of EX2K10MB2 is t o provide high av ailabilit y as well as load balancing wit h EX2K10MB1, while t he funct ion of EX2K10CHMB ( in Chicago) is t o pr ovide sit e r esiliency for t he New Yor k server s in addit ion t o providing HA. I f you not ice, EX2K10MB1 is on a physical serv er , w hile EX2K10MB2 is on a v irt ual serv er . Had w e placed EX2K10MB1 on anot her v irt ual serv er under t he sam e parent serv er as EX2K10MB2, w e would have only achiev ed disk r esiliency but not ser ver r esiliency. Ser ver r esiliency can only be achiev ed for EX2K10MB1 and EX2K10MB2 if t hey r eside on separ at e phy sical boxes regardless whet her t hey r un on physical serv er s or vir t ual ser vers. Mov ing for war d, if all we want t o achieve is serv er r esiliency, t hen we would only need t o add t he t wo New Yor k m ailbox ser vers t o t he Dat abase Availabilit y Group t hat w e will soon be creat ing. However, if we want t o achieve sit e r esiliency and high availabilit y , t he DAG should include all t hr ee m ailbox ser vers, w hich is what well be doing shor t ly .

Con figu r in g D a t a ba se Av a ila bilit y Gr ou ps

Were now r eady t o st art configuring our Dat abase Availabilit y Gr oup. Just t o see what y ou curr ent ly have, go t o t he Ex ch a n ge M a n a g e m e n t Con sole , select t he M a ilbox node, and click t he D a t a b a se M a n a ge m e n t t ab.

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Figu r e 6 : Sh ow s if you se le ct a da t a ba se , you ll se e t h e M a ilb ox Se r ve r on w h ich it is r u n n in g off of. Creat ing t he Dat abase Availabilit y Group Now let s creat e our DAG. Go t o t he D a t a ba se Ava ila b ilit y Gr ou p s t ab and, in t he Act ion s panel, click t he N e w D a t a ba se Ava ila bilit y Gr ou p W iz a r d .

Figu r e 7 : Sh ow s w e r e t o click for t h e N e w D a t a ba se Av a ila billit y Gr ou p W iza r d . I n t he N e w D a t a b a se Ava ila bilit y Gr ou p window, assign a nam e for t he DAG ( e.g. GloboHA) . Aft er assigning a nam e, y ou r e supposed t o select a File Share Wit ness Ser ver and Wit ness Direct or y. I f you dont select any, Exchange will t r y t o find a serv er t hat can qualify. I n our case w e alr eady have one t hat does: EX2K10PRI ME. So all w e need t o do is click on t he N e w but t on and Exchange will do t he r est . Do t hat now .

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Figu r e 8 : Click N e w .

Figu r e 9 : Click Fin ish . Navigat e t o t he D a t a ba se Ava ila bilit y Gr ou p s t ab and scr oll horizont ally unt il you r each t he colum n nam ed Wit ness Serv er . You should be able t o find your new W it n e ss Se r ve r and Wit ness Dir ect or y in t her e.

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Figu r e 1 0 : Sh ow s you r n e w W it n e ss Se r ve r a n d W it n e ss D ir e ct or y . Since y ou now have a DAG, t he nex t st ep is t o add m em ber s t o it . Adding m em ber s t o t he Dat abase Availabilit y Group On t he sam e t ab, scr oll back t o t he left unt il y ou r each t he colum n nam ed N a m e . Under t hat colum n, find and r ight - click t he nam e of t he DAG you j ust cr eat ed. When t he cont ext m enu pops - up, click M a n a g e D a t a ba se Ava ila bilit y Gr ou p M e m b e r sh ip .

Figu r e 1 1 : Sh ow s you w h e r e t o click t h e M a n a g e D a t a ba se Ava ila b ilit y Gr ou p M e m be r sh ip. I n t he Manage Dat abase Availabilit y Group Mem ber ship window, click t he Add but t on.

Figu r e 1 2 : Click Add. Select t he server s y oud like t o add t o t he DAG. I n our case, because we want t o achiev e sit e r esiliency and sit e High Av ailabilit y, w e would have t o select all t hr ee ser vers ( r eview t he end of t he Scenario sect ion if you r e st ill wondering why) . Click OK.

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Figu r e 1 3 : Click OK. I n t he Manage Dat abase Availabilit y Mem ber ship window , you should see t he ser ver s you select ed. Click t he M a n a g e but t on.

Figu r e 1 4 : Click M a n a ge .

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Figu r e 1 5 : Click Fin ish . Back in t he Dat abase Av ailabilit y Groups t ab, you should now see a bunch of infor m at ion under N e t w or k s.

Figu r e 1 6 : Sh ow s you ve su cce e de d in a dd in g m e m be r s t o y ou r D AG. Your e now ready for t he final st ep, which is adding copies of your dat abases. Adding copies of your dat abases To st art adding copies of y our m ailbox dat abases, go t o t he D a t a ba se M a n a ge m e n t t ab. Next , find a dat abase you want t o copy . I n our exam ple, t he dat abase is locat ed in t he EX2K10MB1 Mailbox Ser ver.

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Figu r e 1 7 : Righ t - click on t h e d a t a ba se a n d, in t h e con t e x t m e n u , se le ct Add M a ilbox D a t a ba se Copy I n t he Add M a ilb ox D a t a b a se Copy window, you should see t he nam e of t he Mailbox dat abase y ou select ed. Click t he Br ow se but t on.

Figu r e 1 8 : I n t h e Add M a ilb ox D a t a b a se Copy w in d ow click t h e Br ow se bu t t on . Select a Mailbox Serv er y ou d like t o copy t he dat abase t o. e.g. EX2K10MB2, t hen click OK.

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Figu r e 1 9 : You sh ou ld se e t h e M a ilbox Se r v e r you j u st se le ct e d in t h e box la be le d Se r v e r n a m e : Below t hat box , youll also see an Act iv a t ion pr e fe r e n ce n u m be r . This num ber will be used by Exchange t o det erm ine when t his par t icular copy should be act iv at ed. I f t he num ber is one, t hen it has t op pr efer ence. 2 is t he next , and so on. So if t he copy wit h Act ivat ion pr efer ence num ber 1 goes down, t he one wit h num ber 2 is next in line t o t ak e over . Pick a num ber by using t he spinner. I n our exam ple, we have 2. So t hat w ould m ean EX2K10BM2 w ill only t ake over t he r eins once EX2K10MB1 goes dow n. The m om ent we add a t hird copy and assign it a pr eference num ber of 3, t hat copy will only t ake over once EX2K10BM2 goes down as well.

Figu r e 2 0 : Click Add. I f t he scr een says t he wizar d com plet ed successfully, click Fin ish .

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Figu r e 2 1 : You w ill n ow se e t h e n e w ly a dd e d copy in t h e list of D a t a b a se Copie s for t h a t pa r t icu la r da t a ba se .

Figu r e 2 2 : Click Fin ish . You can do t he sam e pr ocess all over again t o creat e addit ional copies for t he sam e dat abase or creat e copies for anot her dat abase. Again, y ou st ar t by right - clicking t he dat abase y ou want t o copy and t hen select ing Add M a ilbox D a t a ba se Copy in t he cont ext m enu. I n our case, w e creat ed anot her copy of t he sam e dat abase on t he Chicago m ailbox ser ver ( EX2K10CHMB) , so t his is what we have:

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Figu r e 2 3 : Th is is w h a t it sh ou ld look lik e so fa r . I f you scroll t o t he r ight , you ll see t he Act ivat ion pr eference num bers you assigned for t hose dat abase copies. To see what would happen if an act ive ser ver goes down, y ou can sim ply go and shut down y our curr ent ly act iv e m ailbox ser ver and m onit or t he ent ire event on one ser ver s Exchange Managem ent Console. Heres how it looked like when w e had t wo copies of t he dat abase ( EX2K10MB2 and EX2K10CHMB) and we shut down EX2K10MB2, which init ially had t he act iv e copy .

Figu r e 2 4 : Sh ow s h ow it look s w h e n t h e r e a r e t w o cop ie s of t h e d a t a ba se . This happens so fast , t hat users would not ex per ience any lack of availabilit y. Well, t hat ends our discussion on High Availabilit y and Configur ing Dat abase Availabilit y Gr oups.

Su m m a r y
I m sur e you found t his ar t icle quit e long. St ill, I hope you found it all wor t h t he r ead. Ensur ing High Availabilit y for y our Exchange Ser ver is well wort h t he w or k. See you again next t im e. Re la t e d Ar t icle s Check Exchange 2000/ 2003 Ser ver Dat abase I nt egrit y Configure High Availabilit y for Non - Mailbox Ser vers Daniel Pet ris MCSE & Sy st em Adm inist r at or Job I nt er view Quest ions Par t 5 Exchange Ser ver 2007/ 2010 New ! Ex change Serv er 2010 Training Cour se fr om Tr ain Signal

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