Now that the two servers are ready to act as nodes in a Windows 2003 cluster, it's time to
create the actual Windows 2003 Server Cluster. To do so:
- Log onto EDFS07 with a domain admin account, then click Start ->
Administrative Tools -> Cluster Administrator, and select Create new
cluster in the drop-down box. Click OK and then click Next, as shown in Figure
8.41.
Figure 8.41 Creating a New Cluster. (Click on image for enlarged view.)
| Note: You can also open a command prompt and type Cluster.exe /create /wizard to start the Cluster Wizard. |
- Now specify the domain name as well as the cluster name (the name for the
Windows 2003 cluster, not the Exchange cluster name to which the clients will
connect) as shown in Figure 8.42, then click Next.
Figure 8.42 Specifying the Cluster Name and Domain. (Click on image for enlarged view.)
- If it's not already entered, type the name of the Windows 2003 server that is to be
the first node in the cluster (in this case, EDFS07), then click Next (see Figure
8.43).
Figure 8.43 Adding the First Cluster Node to the New Cluster. (Click on image for enlarged view.)
- Let the Cluster Wizard determine the cluster configuration and click Next.
| Note: You can ignore the two warnings shown in Figure 8.44, since the nodes in a cluster continuous replication-based mailbox server setup aren't going to share the same disk subsystem. |
Figure 8.44 Analyzing Cluster Configuration. (Click on image for enlarged view.)
- Now enter the IP address that the cluster management tools should use to connect
to the cluster (in this case, 10.10.1.218) and click Next (see Figure 8.45).
Figure 8.45 Specifying the IP Address to Which the Cluster Management
Tools Should Connect. (Click on image for enlarged view.)
- Enter the credentials of the cluster service account and click Next (see Figure
8.46).
Figure 8.46 Entering the Credentials of the Cluster Service Account. (Click on image for enlarged view.)
- Now click Quorum and select Majority Node Set as the resource type, then
click OK and Next (see Figures 8.47 and 8.48).
Figure 8.47 Proposed Cluster Configuration. (Click on image for enlarged view.)
| Note: The Majority Node Set resource type manages cluster configuration data that might or might not be on a cluster storage device. For example, the Majority Node Set resource type can manage cluster configuration data that is actually stored on multiple nodes in a cluster at the same physical location or in a geographically dispersed cluster. The Majority Node Set resource ensures that the cluster configuration data is kept consistent across the various nodes. |
Figure 8.48 Setting Majority Node Set as the Resource Type. (Click on image for enlarged view.)
- Now wait for the cluster to be configured, then click Next (see Figure 8.49).
Figure 8.49 Creating the Cluster. (Click on image for enlarged view.)
- When the cluster has been completed successfully, you can click Finish.
We now have a full working Windows 2003 cluster running, but since there's only one
node, it's not very fault tolerant. So let's add the second Windows 2003 server too. Do the
following:
- Right-click EDFS07 in the left pane of the Cluster Administrator, then selecting
New -> Node, as shown in Figure 8.50.
Figure 8.50 Adding a Second Node to the Cluster. (Click on image for enlarged view.)
- The Add Nodes Wizard will launch and you can click Next. Enter the name of
the server that is going to be the second node (for the purpose of this example,
EDFS08), then click Next (see Figure 8.51).
Figure 8.51 Entering the Name of the Second Node. (Click on image for enlarged view.)
- Again, let the Add Notes Wizard determine the cluster configuration, then click
Next (see Figure 8.52).
Figure 8.52 Analyzing Cluster Configuration. (Click on image for enlarged view.)
- Enter the password for the cluster service account (in this case, svc-cluster, which
we created earlier in the chapter), then click Next (see Figure 8.53).
Figure 8.53 Entering the Password for the Cluster Service Account. (Click on image for enlarged view.)
- When you are verified, you'll want to add the second node to the cluster with the
configuration shown in Figure 8.54. Click Next.
- When the cluster has been configured properly without any errors or warnings
(see Figure 8.55), click Next.
Figure 8.54 Proposed Cluster Configuration for Node Two. (Click on image for enlarged view.)
Figure 8.55 The Cluster Is Configured for the Second Node. (Click on image for enlarged view.)
- When the Add Notes Wizard has completed successfully, click Finish.
The second Windows server is now part of the cluster, as shown in Figure 8.56.
Figure 8.56 Cluster Administrator with Two Nodes. (Click on image for enlarged view.)
Installing the Necessary Windows Components
Before we move on to install the Exchange Server 2007 binaries, we need to make sure that
the required Windows components have been installed. All types of Exchange Server 2007
installations (no matter what server role we're talking about) need the Microsoft .NET
Framework 2.0 component installed.
If you have installed Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition with Service Pack 1 on
the nodes, you need to download the Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0
Redistributable Package (x86) from Microsoft.com, since it's only a standard Windows component
for Windows Server 2003 R2. If you're using Windows Server 2003 R2-based
servers, you can install the component by clicking Start -> Control Panel -> Add or
Remove Programs -> Add/Remove Windows Components, checking the Microsoft
.NET Framework 2.0 check box as shown in Figure 8.57, then clicking Next.
Since we're deploying a clustered mailbox server, we also need to install the following
IIS 6.0 components on each node:
- Enable network COM+ access
- Internet Information Services
- World Wide Web Service
Figure 8.57 Installing the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Windows
Component. (Click on image for enlarged view.)
When you have done so, you can move on to configure the File Share Witness.
Managing an Exchange 2007 Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR) setup
Part 1: Exchange 2007 Cluster Continuous Replication requirements
Part 2: Setting up Cluster Continuous Replication in Exchange 2007
Part 3: Creating a Windows 2003 cluster for an Exchange 2007 CCR setup
Part 4: Using a file share witness with Exchange 2007 CCR
Part 5: Enable the Transport Dumpster on the Hub Transport server
Part 6: Installing Exchange 2007 on the active node and passive node
Part 7: Testing clustered mailbox server functionality in a CCR setup
Part 8: Exchange 2007 Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR) setup overview
