Installing a Two Node Exchange Server 2007 Single Copy Cluster (SCC) in a Virtual Server Test

[LEFT][CODE]http://www.msexchange.org/tutorials/Installing-Two-Node-Exchange-Server-2007-Single-Copy-Cluster-Virtual-Server-Environment-Part1.html[/CODE]

[B][SIZE=3][B]Part 1: Preparing the virtual environment[/B][/SIZE][/B]


[B]Introduction[/B]

Exchange Server 2007 supports two types of cluster setups – Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR) and Single Copy Clusters (SCC). In this three part article series we’ll 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.
[INDENT] [B]Note
[/B]Exchange Server 2007 doesn’t support active/active clusters like is the case with previous Exchange versions, only active/passive.[/INDENT]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 you’ll always have a single point of failure when using this type of cluster opposite cluster continuous replication (CCR), which provides storage group fail-over via the new log file shipping and reply technology (I’ll cover CCR in another article series here on MSExchange.org).
Since most of you don’t 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.
[INDENT] [B]Note
[/B]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.[/INDENT][B]Prerequisites[/B]

In order to follow the steps throughout this article series, you need the following:

[LIST][*] One physical machine running Virtual Server 2005 R2. Since this product is free to download from the Microsoft web site, this shouldn’t 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, [B]None[/B][B] (Guest Only)[/B] is sufficient for this network.[/LIST]
[INDENT] [B]Note
[/B]In order to install Exchange 2007 Single Copy Cluster, you need to install the cluster HotFix mentioned in[URL="http://support.microsoft.com/?id=898790"][B]MS KB article 898790[/B][/URL] (at the time of this writing you need to contact Microsoft Product Support Services in order to acquire this HotFix)

[B]Warning
[/B]Since Exchange Server 2007 Beta 2 isn’t supported in a production environment, unless you’re participating in the Rapid Deployment Program (RDP) or Technology Adopter Program (TAP), you should install the Single Copy Cluster in a test domain.[/INDENT][B]Configuring the Network Settings for the Cluster nodes[/B]

When you have started the two virtual guests that are to be the nodes in the cluster, start by naming the machines [B]E2K7Node1[/B] and [B]E2K7Node2[/B] or whatever naming scheme you want to use (these names have nothing to do with the Exchange server name which your clients will connect to). Now name the two network connections [B]Public[/B] and [B]Private[/B] for the external and the internal network respectively (remember to do so on both nodes).
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0011156406254578.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 1:[/B] Network Connections[/INDENT]Click [B]Advanced[/B] > [B]Advanced Settings[/B], if it’s not already the case make sure Public is listed first on the binding order list, then [B]Private[/B] and lastly [B]Remote Access Connections[/B].
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0021156406254609.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 2:[/B] Binding order[/INDENT]Also make sure you untick [B]File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks[/B] for the [B]Private[/B] network connection.
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0031156406254609.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 3: [/B]Disabling File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks[/INDENT]Configure the [B]Public network[/B] with the respective network settings you use in your test environment.
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0041156406420296.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 4:[/B] Configuring the Public network[/INDENT]Configure the [B]Private network[/B] with an IP address and a subnet mask. Nothing else is required since this network is only used for communication (heartbeats) between the nodes in the cluster.
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0051156406420296.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 5:[/B] Configuring the Private network[/INDENT]Now click[B] Advanced[/B] then select the [B]DNS[/B] tab. Here you should untick both [B]Register this connection's addresses in DNS [/B]and [B]Use this connection's DNS suffix[/B].
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0061156406420296.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 6:[/B] Configuring DNS settings for the Private network[/INDENT]Click the [B]WINS[/B] tab. Untick [B]Enable LMHOSTS lookup[/B] and select [B]Disable NetBIOS over TCP/IP[/B].
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0071156406867984.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 7:[/B] Configuring WINS settings for the Private network[/INDENT]Click [B]OK[/B] three times and close the network connections window.
Now add both Windows 2003 Servers as member servers in your Active Directory test domain.


[B]Creating the Shared Quorum Cluster Disk[/B]

As those of you with cluster experience are aware of, a Windows cluster requires a quorum cluster disk. This quorum disk is used to store cluster configuration database checkpoints and log files which helps manage the cluster as well as maintain consistency. Since we’re dealing with a virtual environment we need to create this disk in the Virtual Server 2005 R2 web console. This is done by opening the [B]Virtual Server Manager[/B] then clicking [B]Create[/B] > [B]Fixed Size Virtual Hard Disk[/B] under [B]Virtual Disks[/B].
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image009a1156406868000.JPG[/IMG]
[B]Figure 8:[/B] Creating a fixed size virtual hard disk[/INDENT]Place the virtual hard disk file (.VHD) in the folder containing your two virtual Windows 2003 Servers, then set the size to [B]500MB[/B] (or less if you’re low on disk space). Then click [B]Create[/B].
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image011a1156406868000.JPG[/IMG]
[B]Figure 9:[/B] Specifying the virtual hard disk file name and size[/INDENT]We now need to add the virtual quorum disk to each of the two virtual Windows 2003 Servers. Let's add it to [B]E2K7SCCNode1[/B] first, we do this by clicking [B]Master Status [/B]> [B]E2K7SCCNode1[/B] > [B]Edit Configuration[/B]. Since this disk needs to be shared between the nodes, we need to click [B]SCSI Adapters[/B] then [B]Add SCSI Adapter[/B]. Under the new SCSI adapter tick [B]Share SCSI Bus for Clustering[/B] then set the [B]SCSI adapter ID[/B] to [B]6[/B] (or whatever is unused in your environment).
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image012a1156407104671.JPG[/IMG]
[B]Figure 10:[/B] Adding an additional shared SCSI adapter[/INDENT]Click [B]OK[/B].
We now need to make the new disk visible on each node, therefore click [B]Hard disks [/B]> [B]Add disk[/B] then select [B]SCSI 1 ID 0 in the Attachment[/B] drop-down menu. Finally specify the path to the virtual Quorum disk, which in this example is [B]O:\virtual\scc\shared disks\quorum.vhd. [/B]
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image014a1156407104687.JPG[/IMG]
[B]Figure 11:[/B] Adding an additional virtual hard disk[/INDENT]Click[B] OK[/B].
[INDENT] [B]Note[/B]
Remember to add the SCSI adapter as well as the quorum disk to both servers.[/INDENT]We now need to partition the Quorum disk in the Disk Management console on [B]E2K7SCCNode1[/B], therefore start the [B]virtual machine[/B] > logon using a domain admin account > click [B]Start [/B]> [B]Run[/B] and type [B]Compmgmt.msc[/B]. Under [B]Storage [/B]click [B]Disk Management[/B]. Click [B]Next[/B]three times in the appearing[B] Initialize and Convert Disk Wizard[/B], then click [B]Finish[/B].
The detected disk now needs to be partitioned, in order to do so right-click the unallocated space then select new partition.
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image016a1156407104687.JPG[/IMG]
[B]Figure 12: [/B]Partitioning the quorum disk[/INDENT]Click [B]Next[/B] three times and select the drive letter [B]Q[/B] (for quorum), then click [B]Next[/B] again. Use [B]NTFS[/B] as the file system type and type [B]Quorum[/B] in the [B]Volume label[/B] field. To speed up the formatting process it’s a good idea to tick [B]Perform a quick format[/B].
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0171156407269640.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 13:[/B] Specifying how the new partition should be formatted
[/INDENT]Now turn off [B]E2K7SCCNode1[/B] then turn on [B]E2K7SCCNode2[/B] and log on to the server with a domain admin account. Again click [B]Start [/B]> [B]Run[/B] and type [B]Compmgmt.msc[/B]. Under [B]Storage [/B]click [B]Disk Management[/B]. Mark the Quorum disk (disk 1) active and assign it the drive letter [B]Q[/B]. Now verify you can access the [B]Q:[/B] drive from Windows Explorer, also try to create a test file on each server and make sure you can see it both ways.
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image019a1156407269640.JPG[/IMG]
[B]Figure 14:[/B] Allocate the new partition to the drive letter Q[/INDENT][INDENT] [B]Note
[/B]Since we need at least one more shared disk (for the shared Exchange databases and log files), you need to go through the above steps for each virtual disk you add to the [B]SCSI 1[/B] adapter. Nope I won’t detail the steps for adding additional disks to the cluster nodes, as the process is more or less identical.[/INDENT]Okay we have reached the end of part one. In part two (which will be released soon here on MSExchange.org), we’ll go through creating and configuring the Windows 2003 Cluster.




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[LEFT][CODE]http://www.msexchange.org/tutorials/Installing-Two-Node-Exchange-Server-2007-Single-Copy-Cluster-Virtual-Server-Environment-Part2.html[/CODE][B]

[SIZE=3]Part 2: Creating and Configuring the Windows 2003 Cluster[/SIZE][/B]

[B]Introduction[/B]

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 we’ll create and configure the Windows Server 2003 Cluster.

I bet many of you are eager to get going, so let’s start right away.
[B]Creating the Windows Server 2003 Cluster[/B]

Okay now that we have the two virtual Windows 2003 Servers prepared, we can create the actual Windows 2003 cluster. In order to do so, turn off [B]E2K7SCCNode2[/B] then logon to [B]E2K7SCCNode1[/B] with a Domain admin account. Now click [B]Start [/B]> [B]Administrative Tools[/B] > [B]Cluster Administrator[/B], then select[B] Create new cluster [/B]in the drop-down box and click[B] OK [/B](alternatively you can open a command prompt and type [B]Cluster.exe /create /wizard[/B]).
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0011157547342953.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 15:[/B] Creating a new cluster[/INDENT]Click [B]Next[/B].
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0021157547342953.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 16:[/B] Windows 2003 Cluster wizard[/INDENT]If it’s not already the case, specify the domain in which the two Windows 2003 Servers are members, then type the name of the cluster (the name clients will be connecting to), then click [B]Next[/B].
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0031157547342953.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 17:[/B] Specifying the domain and cluster name[/INDENT]If it’s not already the case, type the name of the Windows 2003 Server, which will be the first node in the cluster, then click [B]Next[/B].
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0041157547522406.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 18:[/B] Specifying the name of the first cluster node[/INDENT]The cluster wizard will now determine the cluster configuration, and after a while you should hopefully get a checkmark in each checked configuration step. We can now click [B]Next[/B].
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0051157547522406.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 19:[/B] Analyzing cluster configuration[/INDENT]Now enter an IP address that cluster management tools will use to connect to the cluster, then click [B]Next[/B].
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0061157547522406.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 20:[/B] Specifying the IP address used by the cluster management tools[/INDENT]You should now enter the cluster service account and password, then click [B]Next[/B].
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0071157547628515.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 21:[/B] Entering the username and password of the cluster service account[/INDENT][INDENT] [B]Note[/B]
Since we’re installing the Windows 2003 cluster in a test environment, we’ll use the administrator account. But please bear in mind that you should always create a dedicated cluster service account when speaking about production environments.[/INDENT]You now see a screen with the proposed cluster configuration, click the [B]Quorum[/B] button and make sure that the cluster configuration quorum is set to [B]Disk Q[/B]. Then click [B]Next[/B].
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0081157547628515.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 22:[/B] Proposed cluster configuration[/INDENT]The cluster will now be created, again you need to wait for each step to complete, then click [B]Next[/B] > [B]Finish[/B].
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0091157547675046.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 23:[/B] Creating the cluster[/INDENT]We have now created the cluster itself but since it only consists of one node, we’ll need to add the other Windows server as well. In order to do so turn on [B]E2K7SCCNode2[/B] and login with a domain admin account. Now click[B] Start [/B]>[B] Administrative Tools [/B]> [B]Cluster Administrator[/B]. Select [B]Add nodes to cluster[/B] in the drop-down menu then specify the cluster name in the Cluster or server name box and click [B]OK[/B].
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0101157547791328.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 24:[/B] Adding a node to the cluster[/INDENT]Click [B]Next[/B] in the [B]Add Nodes Wizard[/B].
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0111157547791343.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 25:[/B] Add notes cluster wizard[/INDENT]Type [B]E2K7SCCNode2[/B] (or whatever you named the second Windows server), then click [B]Add[/B] and [B]Next[/B].
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0121157547791343.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 26:[/B] Specifying the second cluster node[/INDENT]When the configuration has been analyzed click[B] Next.[/B]
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0131157547929046.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 27:[/B] Analyzing cluster configuration[/INDENT]Enter the password for the cluster service account (in this case the administrator account), then click [B]Next[/B].
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0141157547929046.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 28:[/B] Entering the username and password of the cluster service account[/INDENT]Verify that you want to add the node to the cluster with the configuration shown in [B]Figure 29[/B] below, then click [B]Next[/B].
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0151157547929062.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 29:[/B] Proposed cluster configuration[/INDENT]After a short period the node would have been added to the cluster, if not you might want to expand the respective task as well as view the log. If each task has completed successfully, click [B]Next[/B] > [B]Finish[/B].
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0161157548181812.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 30: [/B]Configuring the cluster with the second node[/INDENT]There’s one last this you want to do before we move on and that is to right-click and select [B]Properties[/B] for the [B]Private network [/B]in the left pane in [B]Figure 31 [/B]below.
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image018a1157548181812.JPG[/IMG]
[B]Figure 31:[/B] Cluster administrator will cluster resources listed and online[/INDENT]Since the sole purpose of the [B]Private network [/B]is to be used for communications between the internal cluster nodes, you should select [B]Internal cluster communications only (private network)[/B], then click [B]OK[/B]. Do the same for the [B]Public network[/B] but set it to [B]Client access only[/B] [B](public network).[/B]
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0191157548181828.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 32:[/B] Changing the cluster role for the private network [/INDENT]Alright we now have a fully operational 2 node Active/Passive Windows cluster up and running.


[B]Installing the necessary Windows Components[/B]

Before we move on and try to install the Exchange Server 2007 Beta 2 bits, we need to make sure the required Windows components have been installed. All types of Exchange Server 2007 installations (no matter what server role we're talking about) needs the [B]Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 component[/B] installed.
[INDENT] [B]Note[/B]
If you have installed Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition with Service Pack 1 on the nodes, you need to download the [URL="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0856eacb-4362-4b0d-8edd-aab15c5e04f5&displaylang=en"][B]Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package (x86)[/B][/URL], since it’s only a standard Windows component when speaking about Windows Server 2003 R2.
[IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0201157548181828.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 33:[/B] Installing the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Windows Component[/INDENT]Since we’re installing the Mailbox Server role in the cluster, we also need to install the below IIS 6.0 components:

[LIST][*][B]Enable network COM+ access [/B][*][B]Internet Info[/B][B]rmation Services [/B][*][B]World Wide Web Service [/B][/LIST]
[INDENT] [B]Note[/B]
Remember to install these components on both cluster nodes.[/INDENT]Alright we have reached the end of part two. In the next, last part of this series, we’ll go over the most exciting part, and that is to install Exchange Server 2007 and last but not least verify cluster functionality.



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[LEFT][CODE]http://www.msexchange.org/tutorials/Installing-Two-Node-Exchange-Server-2007-Single-Copy-Cluster-Virtual-Server-Environment-Part3.html[/CODE]

[B][SIZE=3][B]Part 3: Installing Exchange Server 2007 and verifying Cluster Functionality[/B][/SIZE][/B]


[B]Introduction[/B]

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 we’ll install Exchange Server 2007 and verify cluster functionality.

Since this is the partwe’ve all been waiting for (where we finally install and play with Exchange Server 2007), let’s get going.
[B]Installing the Exchange Server 2007 Single Copy Cluster[/B]

It’s time to install the Exchange Server 2007 Beta 2 bits on each node, we’ll start with [B]E2K7SCCNode1[/B]. First, if you haven’t already done so, I recommend you copy the Exchange Server 2007 Beta 2 binaries to a drive locally on each node. When you have done so double-click [B]Setup.com.[/B]
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image001a1158571885437.JPG[/IMG]
[B]Figure 34:[/B] Launching Exchange Setup[/INDENT]The Exchange Server 2007 Installation Wizard will start, and as you can see [B]Step 1: Install .NET Framework 2.0[/B] and [B]Step 2: Install Microsoft Management Console (MMC)[/B] have already been completed.
[INDENT] [B]Note[/B]
If you have installed Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 on each node, you need to download Microsoft Management Console (MMC) 3.0 and install it manually (by following the link in [B]Step 2[/B]). But since I’m using Windows 2003 R2 Servers in my test environment, the MMC 3.0 is installed by default. [/INDENT][INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image002a1158571885468.JPG[/IMG]
[B]Figure 35:[/B] Exchange Server 2007 Installation menu[/INDENT]As you can see we still need to complete [B]Step 3: Install Microsoft Command Shell (MSH)[/B], before we can start installing Exchange. Therefore click the link to download MSH then unzip and install it.
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image0031158571885468.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Figure 36:[/B] Installing Microsoft Command Shell (MSH)[/INDENT]The Exchange Server 2007 Installation Wizard should refresh automatically, so now click [B]Install Microsoft Exchange[/B]. Click [B]Next[/B] then accept the [B]License Agreement[/B] and then [B]Next[/B] once again. Decide whether you want to enable Error Reporting or not (a good idea to enable this functionality since the Exchange Product Group will receive any obscure errors you should experience in your cluster setup) then click [B]Next[/B].
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image004a1158572376515.JPG[/IMG]
[B]Figure 37:[/B] Enabling Error Reporting[/INDENT]Now select [B]Custom Exchange Server Installation[/B] then click [B]Next[/B][B].[/B]
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image005a1158572376531.JPG[/IMG]
[B]Figure 38:[/B] Selecting a custom Exchange Server installation
[/INDENT]Tick [B]Active Clustered Mailbox Role[/B] and click [B]Next[/B].
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image006a1158572376531.JPG[/IMG]
[B]Figure 39:[/B] Selecting to install an Active Clustered Mailbox Role[/INDENT]Now select [B]Single Copy Cluster[/B] then specify a name for the mailbox server (the name you want your Outlook clients to connect to) and a unique IP address on your public network. Finally, specify the path for the clustered mailbox server database files (the virtual shared database disk you created earlier on), then click [B]Next[/B].
[INDENT] [B]Note
[/B]In order to set the path for the clustered mailbox server database files, it’s important the cluster group containing the shared disks is owned by [B]E2K7SCCNode1.[/B] The reason for this is that you aren’t allowed to use the shared disks if the cluster group is currently owned by [B]E2K7SCCNode2[/B].
[IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image007a1158572750171.JPG[/IMG]
[B]Figure 40:[/B] Selecting to install a single copy cluster and specifying name and IP address of the clustered mailbox server [/INDENT]Let the readiness check complete, and if no issues are found click [B]Next[/B] to begin the installation.
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image008a1158572750187.JPG[/IMG]
[B]Figure 41:[/B] Exchange Server 2007 Clustered Mailbox Role Readiness Check[/INDENT]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 [B]Exit Setup and open Exchange System Manager [/B](yes this will be corrected in a later build), then click [B]Finish[/B]. We don’t want to open the Exchange Management Console just yet, we’ll install Exchange on the second node first.
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image009a1158572750187.JPG[/IMG]
[B]Figure 42:[/B] Installation of the Exchange 2007 clustered mailbox role completed successfully[/INDENT]Log on to [B]E2K7SCCNode2[/B] with a domain admin account and perform the exact same steps as we did when installing Exchange Server 2007 on [B]E2K7SCCNode1[/B]. Only difference is you should tick Passive Clustered Mailbox Role instead of [B]Active Clustered Mailbox Role[/B] as shown in [B]Figure 43[/B] below.
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image010a1158572955484.JPG[/IMG]
[B]Figure 43:[/B] Installing the passive clustered mailbox role on the second node[/INDENT]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.


[B]Testing the functionality of the Single Copy Cluster[/B]

It’s time to verify that Exchange 2007 clustered mailbox server is working as expected. Let’s first open the [B]Cluster Administrator [/B]and check whether the respective Exchange Resources have been created. If you take a look at [B]Figure 44[/B], it looks good, we have both nodes listed in the left pane and all Exchange resources have been created and are currently owned by [B]E2K7SCCNode1[/B].
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image011a1158572955484.JPG[/IMG]
[B]Figure 44:[/B] Listing all Exchange cluster resources in the cluster administrator[/INDENT]Now try to open the Exchange Management Shell by clicking [B]Start[/B] > [B]All Programs[/B] > [B]Microsoft Exchange Server 2007[/B] > [B]Exchange Management Shell[/B] on one of the nodes, then type [B]Get-ClusteredMailboxServerStatus[/B]. As you can see in [B]Figure 45[/B] below the status of the clustered mailbox server is Online, and [B]E2K7SCCNode1[/B] is currently the active node. This just keeps getting better and better doesn’t it?
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image013a1158572955484.JPG[/IMG]
[B]Figure 45:[/B] Requesting the online status of the clustered mailbox server
[/INDENT]Now that we have verified that the clustered mailbox server is online, let’s try to move the Exchange resources from node one to node two using the [B]Move-ClusteredMailboxServer[/B] CMDlet. In the test environment used in this article, we do so by issuing below CMDlet:
[INDENT] [LEFT][I]Move-ClusteredMailboxServer -Identity:MailboxServer -TargetMachine:E2K7SCCNode7 -MoveComment:"Testing functionality!"[/I] [/LEFT][/INDENT]You’re then asked to confirm this action, type [B]Yes[/B]then hit [B]Enter[/B]. After a while the clustered mailbox resources would have been moved to the second node.
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image014a1158573141890.JPG[/IMG]
[B]Figure 46: [/B]Moving the clustered mailbox resources to the second node[/INDENT][INDENT] [B]Note
[/B]Although it’s possible to move the cluster resource groups between nodes using the Cluster Administrator console, you should always do so using the [B]Move-ClusteredMailboxServer[/B] CMDlet as the [B]Move Group[/B] task in the Cluster Administrator console isn’t Exchange 2007-aware.[/INDENT]
Let’s also take a look at the clustered mailbox server in the Exchange Management Console. To do so click [B]Start[/B] > [B]All Programs[/B] > [B]Microsoft Exchange Server 2007[/B] > [B]Exchange Management Console[/B], then drill down to [B]Server Configuration[/B] > [B]Mailbox[/B]. Notice the clustered mailbox server which we named [B]MailboxServer[/B] is listed in the [B]Result pane[/B] and that it’s recognized as a cluster server. Also notice that the Mailbox Database for this server points to the [B]S:[/B] drive exactly as we specified during the installation of the [B]Active Clustered Mailbox Role[/B].
[INDENT] [IMG]http://www.msexchange.org/img/upl/image016a1158573141890.JPG[/IMG]
[B]Figure 47: [/B]Viewing the clustered mailbox server in the Exchange Management Console[/INDENT][B]Conclusion[/B]

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, you’ll 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, I’ll 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!

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