EV in a DAG DR site.

[John_Huber]

Hello Everyone,

We have installed, in an Exchange 2010 SP1 environment a DAG for DR purposes only.  The secondary site in the DAG will remain dormant until it is needed.  We are running EV 9.0.1.1073. The DAG is an addition to an already running Exchange 2010 and EV environment.  I have read that in order to bring the Exchange server in the DR site into EV, the DR exchange box has be turned up with a live database that contains the EV service account. Our plan is to create a new database, move the EV service account to it: bring the new database up in the DR site and bring the DR exchange sever into EV.  Then move it back to the everyday production site and move the EV service account mailbox back to its original exchange database. .

On the Exchange server in DR site I have added the EV service account to the local admin group. 

Does anyone see any problems in way we are planning to bring the DR exchange server into the EV site.  Is there any additional configuration I need to do to the DR exchange server to make EV functional if we need to bring up the DR site.

I would appreciate any help and comment on the plans

Thanks

[WiTSend]

Rather than moving the service account around you should create an EV System mailbox on a non-DAG database on the DR server.  Then you can create an archiving task using that system mailbox and the system mailbox will not move from server to server.

[AKL]

Hello

I was reading the forum and trying to understand the need of new database. Purpose of DAG is that if production datacenter goes down, exact replica is in DR site goes active.

To add DR Exchange Server (member of DAG) - You can move database active copy to those server for a while - Add the server to Enterprise vault OR create EV task for it. - Move active database back to production data center - Stop & Disable the task for DR Server since it won't be used until it is active.

This way you don't need new mailbox database and you can do this activity in off hours easily if things are setup properly on Exchange side (Cross data base failover doesn't takes more than 30 seconds for single database if DB copies are in sync)

Still trying to understand how new database will be used in DR scenario, but I am sure there would be some background to it....

Reference: http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=HOWTO49499

Note:

If you use database availability groups (DAGs) in your Exchange Server 2010 environment, you must create each Enterprise Vault system mailbox in a database that is replicated across the DAG

[John_Huber]

Sorry I should have put this is the original post.  We cannot move a live database with users on it as well because mail will come in that will not be journaled.  For reasons I cannot go into we cannot have that happen at this point in time.  I need to put the server in EV without loosing any mail that may come through the system.  Even though the journal mailbox will be in place and should catch all the mail, I was ask if there was a way to do it without moving all the users over.

[John_Chisari]

As Witsend says, just create a non replicated DB on each of DR exchange servers and place the EV system mailbox in it.  I do that for every customer I have, just makes it so much simpler that you know where the EV system mailboxes are and you don't need any failovers to make EV work.

[Ksimir · Accepted solution]

Your initial plan is good:

1. move EV system mailbox on a newly created replicated DB
2. failover the DB on the DR site
3. activate the DR Exchange servef in EV
4. create an Exchange mailbox archiving task for DR node
5. failback the new DB into production site
6. move back EV system mailbox to its initial DB and delete the new DB

This is actually Symantec procedure to archive an Exchange 2010 DAG (Doc. Setting Up Exchange Server Archiving p28)

Ref: http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=DOC5458

[WiTSend]

It has been my experience that if the EV System mailboxes are placed in DAGs that replicate that occasionally the system mailbox will be failed-over to a different server which impacts archiving performance.  We have mitigated this problem by placing  the EV system mailbox for each Exchange server in  a non-replicating DAG, thus it is always on the proper server.  We also put a system mailbox on every server that can be archived and create an archiving task to that server.  In this configuration no matter what DAGs failover, or where they failover to we can continue to archive efficiently.

[John_Huber]

Thanks for all the  advice and I appreciate everyone taking the time to answer.  I have recieved some sound advice.