Even with typical fault tolerant feature found in
the latest high-end server hardware, such as redundant power supplies and mirrored or RAID 5 disk arrays, failed devices must be identified and replacement components must be procured and installed. These failures can bring down a server for hours, if not days. Furthermore, during regularly scheduled software maintenance functions, servers need to be rebooted or brought off-line for an extended period. For customers who need 100% uptime, the only solution is to deploy a clustered server configuration that provides fully redundant servers for a single application.
A server cluster is a group of independent computers that work together to provide a common set of services. Windows 2003 provides this high-availability solution with the Cluster service. If a cluster node (a computer in a cluster) fails, other nodes in the cluster assume the functions of the failed node. Server clustering is an essential piece of any fault-tolerant architecture, and making large investments in communication infrastructure redundancy without providing for server redundancy defeats the value of that investment.
Progent offers Windows 2003 Server consulting to help your company implement clustered server configurations that can potentially provide 100% uptime, even for normal maintenance functions. This high-availability is possible because a single server in a cluster can be brought off-line for maintenance work without affecting users. Clustering also allows IT personal to perform critical security updates during regular business hours without reducing user productivity.
Microsoft Windows 2003 Server offers mature clustering technology. This is the third major release of Microsoft clustering technology, which was first released in 1997. Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition, and Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition, present a single view of the server to users, applications, and the network and both versions of Windows Server 2003 support up to eight-node clusters. Failover clustering configurations can be built around Microsoft technologies for mission-critical and collaborative applications such as Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SQL Server file and print services.
Host Clustering with Microsoft Virtual Server
Virtual Server host clustering is a technique for enhancing the capability of Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 with the server cluster support incorporated in Microsoft Windows Server 2003. By means of Virtual Server host clustering, your network can benefit from an array of services via a minimum number of actual hardware servers and, simultaneously, ensure the high availability of the provided services. In case one server requires scheduled or unscheduled downtime, another server can immediately take its place and begin supporting services. As a result, your clients experience minimal service disruption. Progent's Microsoft-certified network engineers have in-depth experience deploying and supporting Microsoft Virtual Server. For more information, refer to Consulting Services for Microsoft Virtual Server.
Server Clustering and Storage Area Networks
A storage area network (SAN) is a set of disks, tapes, and servers connected to a common infrastructure, or storage fabric, such as Fibre Channel. A SAN allows multiple servers to access a common pool of storage. This allows storage to be assigned dynamically from the pool whenever it is required. Storage on a given server can be increased or decreased as needed without complex reconfiguring or re-cabling of devices. SAN technology is a good way to build clusters where shared access to a data set is required. By deploying multiple clusters onto a single storage area network, all of the benefits of SAN technology can be brought to the cluster environment. Progent’s Microsoft certified engineers can show you how to combine Microsoft’s server cluster technology with storage area networking to make your network more fault tolerant and easier to manage.
Server Clustering with Microsoft Exchange
Messaging systems based on Microsoft Exchange are vital for many businesses. Unfortunately, this crucial function is vulnerable to component failure, power loss, operator errors, and natural disasters. By allowing the failover of resources, server clustering provides fault tolerance for an Exchange environment. Server clusters that use the Microsoft Cluster Service can maintain data integrity and provide failover support and high availability for mission-critical applications and services on your back-end servers, including messaging systems, databases, and file and print services.
This figure shows an example of a four-node Exchange cluster with three active nodes and a passive standby node:
Progent's Microsoft-certified Exchange experts have proven, world-class skills in designing high-availability Exchange environments and can show you how to configure an Exchange Server cluster with shared data access to data and automatic failover capabilities. For details about Exchange consulting services available from Progent, visit Microsoft Exchange Consulting Support.
Other High Availability Solutions Provided by Progent's Experts
Progent's Microsoft and Cisco-certified consulting experts can assist your company build an affordable, fault-tolerant IT architecture that addresses critical challenges covering a broad array of networking solutions and operations such as:
Business Continuity Planning
Progent's business continuity engineers can show you how to create a business continuity strategy so you can restore IT functionality in the event of an IT system disaster. Progent can assist you to define a comprehensive disaster recovery strategy that incorporates scheduled disaster recovery evaluations and testing. Progent's Microsoft and Cisco-certified professionals can also help you create an affordable, high-availability network solution that takes into account availability issues involving a broad array of infrastructure technologies and processes. To read more, see Disaster Recovery Consulting Services.
Fault Tolerant Internet Connectivity
Progent's Cisco-authorized IT professionals can help you design an economical, fault tolerant Internet connection architecture that can achieve 24x7 Internet access via a broad array of fault tolerant Internet access technologies including fault tolerant BGP, automatic fail-over, and redundant Internet Service Providers. Progent can provide CCIE professionals to help you apply the most current technology for fault tolerant Internet connectivity to build an economical, completely redundant Internet interface with automatic failover and other features to deliver fault tolerant Internet availability. To read more, see Non-stop Internet Access Architecture.
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Failover Clusters
The clustering technology incorporated into the high-end editions of Microsoft Windows Server 2008 is dramatically redesigned to simplify the installation, setup, and management of server clusters that provide greater levels of network dependability, protection, performance, and versatility. New or enhanced features include automated cluster verification, revamped configuration and deployment, improved cluster management, new cluster architecture for increased availability, better security and quorum structure, elimination of failure points, more disk and RAM capacity, and enhancements for geographically dispersed clusters. To read more, go to Windows Failover Clustering Support.
Non-stop Load Balancing
Progent offers fault tolerant load balancing support that addresses system load balancing, load balanced applications, LAN/WAN infrastructure routing, and content delivery products such as F5 Networks 3DNS. High availability load balancing technologies for which Progent can provide consulting expertise include Windows Server 2003 and 2008 Network Load Balancing Manager, Citrix Metaframe and Presentation Server, Cisco Content Services Switch, Cisco Content Engine and LocalDirector 400 series, and F5 Networks 3-DNS. For more information, see High Availability Load Balancing.
Fault Tolerant Colocation
Progent's Data Center engineers can show you how to select fault-tolerant data centers that meet the particular needs of your company. Fault tolerant collocation sites are especially attractive to small businesses due to of their affordability and simplified logistics compared to taking a do-it-yourself approach. Attempting to design an in-house data center that offers even a minimum level of fault tolerance is financially prohibitive for typical small companies. Progent is ready to show you how to reap all the advantages of 24x7 Internet data centers by providing a complete range of consulting and maintenance services. For more information, see High-Availability Internet Data Centers Expertise.
Failsafe Inter-office Connectivity
Progent’s inter-site network infrastructure engineers can help small organizations achieve non-stop branch office connectivity by means of fully redundant system architectures featuring automatic failover. Progent’s Cisco-certified CCIE engineers can plan and deploy fault-tolerant Inter-office networks supported by non-stop EIGRP network routers or non-stop OSPF deployment of Cisco routers. Progent can show you how redundant connectivity and automatic fail-over offers economical 24x7 interoffice networking. For more information, see Non-stop Interoffice Connectivity.
System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM) Data Recovery Consulting Experts
Progent's certified Data Protection Manager consultants can help your company to create an effective disaster recovery strategy, implement a cost-effective non-stop IT architecture, configure a DPM-based recovery system, thoroughly validate your DPM system, educate your IT personnel or local consultants how to maintain Microsoft Data Protection Manager, or provide complete IT outsourcing such as off-site hosting of DPM machines in Progent's data center facility. To read more, go to Microsoft DPM Consulting and Support Services.
Why Choose Progent for Disaster Recovery Planning and Fault-tolerant Networking Consulting?
Because Progent is a Microsoft Gold Partner and offers high-level application support for a wide range of small business software programs, Progent can help clients to arrive at efficient information technology solutions that optimize the business value of your network. As a Registered Partner with Cisco Systems, Progent offers the support of qualified consultants and specialists with expertise in architecting, configuring and maintaining networking solutions based on Cisco Systems technology. The breadth of Progent's IT experience and Progent's familiarity with the needs of small companies make Progent a great partner for creating and running a cost-effective, high-availability information system.
How You Can Access Progent's Engineers for Non-stop Network Services
In order to ask Progent about engineering support for high availability LAN design, phone 1-800-993-9400 or email fault-tolerant-help@progent.com.
