Building Blocks V9.0 and NetApp Snap Mirror replication

[AllyT]

We are designing Enterprise Vault V9.01 for a customer.  We need the site to be available in a DR situation but not HA so we don't need to deploy clustering.  My question is around Building Blocks configuration, there is little documentaion on configuring this and teh only information I have read is that you need a minimum of three EV servers in the configuration for this?  I was hoping to deploy just two servers: A single site with a single server at data centre 1 with databases located on an SQL cluster and vault storage indexes etc on a NetApp Fas3140.  In the DR site I was proposing that we have a second EV server with no tasks configured just sitting passive. This would be a VM and connected to a NetApp2050.  The Vault stores are replicated using NetApp Snap Mirror from the FAS3140 to the FAS2050. If we decide to envoke DR then the assumed process would be the following:

1. Ensure that SQL server databases for Ent Vault are accessable in Aldwych

1. Ensure that the NetApp Snap Mirror between sites has been replicated to the latest valid version
2. Make the Break the Snap Mirror for the EV volume’s on the FAS
3. Make the EV Volumes Active
4. Ensure Exchange Servers mailboxes are accessable in Aldwych
5. Present the volumes to VMWare
6. Present the volumes to the Virtual Enterprise Vault Server (ALNMCMENTV01) with same drive letters
7. Logon to the EV server at Aldwych (ALNMCMENTV01)  as the EV Service Account
8. On a domain controller with DNS  (S-INF-PDC-P03) Change the DNS alias of the failed Enterprise Vault server so that it maps to the  (ALDNMCMENTV01) working server. You must make this change on all the remaining servers in the Enterprise Vault site.
9. Start the Administration Console on any of the ALNMCMENTV01 server in the Enterprise Vault site.
10. In the left pane, expand the tree until the EnterpriseVaultServers container is visible.
11. Right-click the Enterprise Vault Servers container and, on the shortcut menu, click Update Service Locations.
12. You are prompted for the password for the Vault Service account.
13. Enter the password for the Vault Service account and click OK.
14. Enterprise Vault updates the service locations and creates new services as necessary.
15. At the end of the update a summary screen appears, listing the services on each computer in the site.
16. If the Update Service Locations has created any services, start them.

[WiTSend · Accepted solution]

What you have described is an appropriate design process.  If you want to resume archiving in the DR site you may need to create a new archiving task pointing to the failover Exchange server.