(Note: Microsoft has terminated support for Windows Server 2003 and it is advisable to consider upgrading from this legacy OS to an up-to-date version of Windows Server. If your organization is considering moving up to Windows Server 2019 or Windows Server 2016, Progent can provide online and onsite Windows Server 2019 planning and configuration consulting services or Windows Server 2016 disaster recovery consulting to ensure your project finishes on time and within budget. In addition, Progent's Windows Server Failover Clustering Consultants can help you a configure and troubleshoot a high-availability clustering solution based on Microsoft's latest technology.
Even with typical fault tolerant feature found in 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.
Fault Tolerant Technologies Supported by Progent's Experts
Progent's Microsoft and Cisco-certified consultants can assist your company to create a sensible, high-availability environment that resolves key challenges covering a wide range of infrastructure technologies and processes including:
Workplace Recovery Planning
Progent's business continuity professionals can show you how to design a business continuity strategy that will allow you to restore network functionality in the event of an IT system disaster. Progent can help you to create a comprehensive disaster recovery plan that incorporates scheduled disaster recovery assessments and testing. Progent's Microsoft and Cisco-authorized professionals can also help you build an affordable, high-availability system architecture that takes into account availability issues involving a wide range of network technologies and procedures. To learn more, go to Workplace Recovery Consulting and Support Services.
CRISC-Premier IT Risk Management
The CRISC certification program was established by ISACA in 2010 to validate an IT professional's skills to plan, implement, and maintain information system controls to reduce risk. Progent can provide the services of a CRISC-certified engineer to help you to develop and carry out a workplace continuity or disaster recovery strategy based on leading practices identified by CRISC and geared to align with your organization's risk tolerance, business goals, and IT budget. To learn more, visit CRISC-Premier IT risk mitigation specialists.
Microsoft Windows Server 2019 Fault-tolerant Failover Clustering
Microsoft Windows Server 2019 incorporated significant enhancements in scale, performance, management, cybersecurity, application compatibility, Linux support, Kubernetes technology, and hybrid integration of on-premises and cloud-hosted assets. Top new features of Microsoft Windows Server 2019 are Windows Admin Center for centralizing the management and monitoring of hybrid local/cloud resources, System Insights for taking advantage of advance predictive analytics to control local networks, Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection Exploit Guard for host-intrusion prevention, container networking using Kubernetes, Cluster Sets technology for building and managing large high-availability scale-out clusters, and Microsoft's Storage Migration Service for streamlining the migration from outdated releases of Windows Server. For more information, go to Windows Server 2019 High Availability Failover Clustering Support.
Windows Server 2016 Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
Progent's Windows Server 2016 disaster recovery/business continuity experts can assist your organization to design a disaster recovery system built around Microsoft's most advanced Failover Clustering technologies including Cluster OS Rolling Upgrade for non-disruptive migration to Windows Server 2016, Storage Replica for zero-data-loss recovery, Storage Spaces Direct for high-performance network-attached storage using industry-standard equipment, VM Load Balancing for improving the speed and resilience of Failover Clusters while minimizing TCO and operational expenses, and Cloud Witness for easy, economical deployment of a failover cluster quorum arbitration point. To learn more, go to Windows Server 2016 Disaster Recovery Support.
VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) Disaster Recovery Solutions
VMware's Site Recovery Manager (SRM) is an extension to VMware vCenter that allows you to define, automate and test a repeatable workflow for restoring applications and services rapidly after an outage. Site Recovery Manager provides centrally managed and automated disaster recovery, application mobility, plus non-intrusive site relocation, failback and re-protect. SRM also supports non-disruptive testing for disaster recovery, upgrades and fixes and can generate reports to confirm full service restoration, validate Service Level Agreements and demonstrate disaster recovery compliance. Progent can provide the support of a VCDX certified VMware Site Recovery Manager consulting expert to assist your organization to plan, configure, test and manage a disaster recovery solution powered by VMware Site Recovery Manager.
NetApp MetroCluster High Availability and Disaster Recovery Software
NetApp MetroCluster is a disaster recovery platform that uses failover storage clustering along with replication to provide fast, zero RPO disaster recovery (DR) between datacenters that are up to 185 miles (300km) apart from each other. Progent offers the skills of a certified NetApp MetroCluster expert who can assist your business to design, configure, manage, upgrade, test and repair a disaster recovery solution built around NetApp MetroCluster. Progent can help you to choose a topology for your MetroCluster environment that aligns with your technical requirements and budget. Progent can ensure you adhere to best practices for configuring your MetroCluster solution by providing help with procedures like assigning disk pools and shelf IDs, arranging aggregate layout, provisioning volumes, setting up Data ONTAP configuration replication service, provisioning switches, designing a tiebreaker mechanism, setting up a TCP/IP configuration replication network between your storage clusters, and testing your DR system to verify compliance with industry standards and government requirements.
Network Load Balancing
Progent provides high availability load balancing consulting covering system load balancing, load balanced applications, LAN/WAN infrastructure routing, and content dispatching technology including F5 Networks 3DNS. High availability load balancing solutions for which Progent offers consulting services include Microsoft Windows 2003 and 2008 Server Network Load Balancing Manager, Citrix Metaframe and Presentation Server, Cisco Content Services Switch, Cisco Distributed Director and LocalDirector 400 series, and F5 Networks 3-DNS. For details, see Fault Tolerant Load Balancing.
Zero Downtime Internet Data Centers
Progent's Data Center consultants can show you how to select high availability data centers that meet the specific requirements of your business. Fault tolerant Internet Data Centers are particularly attractive to small and mid-size companies due to of their low cost and convenience in comparison to pursuing a do-it-yourself approach. Trying to create an on-site data center with even a basic level of fault tolerance is too costly for the majority of small companies. Progent is ready to show you how to get all the advantages of 24x7 colocation facilities by providing a complete range of consulting and maintenance services. To read more, go to Non-stop Colocation Expertise.
Failsafe Branch Office Networking
Progent’s branch office connection engineers can help businesses achieve zero-downtime interoffice connectivity solutions by means of fully redundant system architectures with transparent failover. Progent’s Cisco-premier CCIE engineers can design and implement high-availability Inter-office networks based on fault tolerant EIGRP network routers or non-stop OSPF deployment of Cisco routers. Progent can show you how multi-path connectivity and transparent fail-over offers economical 24x7 interoffice connectivity. To read more, visit Failsafe Interoffice Networking.
24x7 Internet Connectivity
Progent's Cisco-certified IT consultants can help you design an economical, high availability Internet configuration architecture that can achieve 24x7 Internet connectivity via a broad range of fault tolerant Internet access solutions including non-stop BGP, transparent fail-over, and redundant Internet Service Providers. Progent offers CCIE engineers to help you utilize the most advanced techniques for fault tolerant Internet connections to create an affordable, fully redundant Internet network with automatic failover and other features to create fault tolerant Internet availability. For more information, go to 24x7 Internet Connectivity Solutions.
Backup and Recovery Solutions Consultants
Progent offers affordable remote access to IT engineers skilled in a broad array of products and services that deliver solutions for backing up Windows, Mac, and Linux physical and virtual servers and workstations as well as laptops and handhelds. Progent offers consulting support for all major data protection products such as Acronis Backup and Recovery, Backup Exec, BackupAssist, CrashPlan, Double-Take Backup, MozyPro, Retrospect for Macintosh, Time Machine, VMware vSphere Data Protection (VDP), and FLARs. Progent can help you to deploy, upgrade, or troubleshoot backup systems for a variety of topologies including local, remote, cloud-based, or a mix. For details, go to Backup and Recovery Solutions Consulting.
System Center Data Protection Manager Data Recovery Consulting Services
Progent's certified Microsoft SCDPM support professionals can help your company to develop a practical workplace recovery plan, implement a cost-effective fault-tolerante network infrastructure, install a SCDPM-based backup and recovery solution, comprehensively test your DPM system, train your administrative staff or regular service providers how to maintain Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager, or provide complete IT outsourcing including off-site housing of virtual or physical SCDPM servers in Progent's data center facility. To read more, go to Microsoft SCDPM Consulting and Support Services.
Barracuda Backup Multi-site and Cloud Data Backup and Disaster Recovery
Barracuda Backup is a low-cost, subscription backup and disaster recovery platform for small and mid-size organizations. A Barracuda Backup solution can include a custom-designed hardware storage device built by Barracuda or a virtual appliance with similar functionality but which utilizes your existing storage infrastructure. Barracuda Backup safeguards vital company data generated on-premises, at one or more remote sites, or in the cloud. For disaster recovery, you can replicate data to the Barracuda Cloud, to Amazon Web Services (AWS), or to any site with a Barracuda appliance. Progent is a certified Barracuda partner and Progent's Barracuda Backup consulting experts offer a broad range of consulting support services to assist your business to plan, configure, manage and troubleshoot a backup and disaster recovery solution built on Barracuda Backup. For additional information, go to Barracuda Backup and disaster recovery consultants.
ProSight DPS Altaro VM Backup Software for Backup and Disaster Recovery
Altaro VM Backup offers small businesses a reliable and affordable platform for backing up and restoring Hyper-V and VMware-powered virtual machines (VMs). Altaro VM Backup can be used for on-premises, remote, distributed, and cloud-hosted architectures and also enables low-cost backup to Azure Block Blob storage. Progent is a certified Altaro partner and offers a broad array of remote or on-premises services to assist you to plan, install, manage and debug a modern backup and disaster recovery system powered by Altaro VM Backup. With ProSight Data Protection Services Altaro VM Backup, Progent offers a managed backup/restore service based on Altaro VM Backup. To learn more, visit Altaro VM Backup consulting.
ProSight Data Protection Services Altaro O365 Total Backup Solutions
Microsoft 365 (previously branded Office 365) provides rudimentary archiving but does not include integrated support for key data protection capabilities like Exchange Online backups or greater than 30-day point-in-time data recovery for OneDrive or SharePoint Online. Altaro O365 Total Backup provides a feature-rich BDR solution for automatic backup and quick restoration of all your organization's O365 mailboxes, Teams Chats, SharePoint documents, and OneDrive data. Progent is a certified Altaro partner and has designed ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS) O365 Total Backup to deliver end-to-end managed services for Altaro's O365 back/restore product. ProSight DPS O365 delivers a low-cost backup-as-a-service solution that guards O365 apps against data loss or corruption caused by user or software error, malicious deletion, and malware attacks such as ransomware. To learn more, visit ProSight Data Protection Services Altaro O365 Backup solutions.
Fully Managed Cloud Backup: ProSight Data Protection Services ECHO
ProSight Data Protection Services ECHO offer small and medium-sized organizations a low cost and fully managed solution for secure backup/disaster recovery (BDR). Available at a low monthly rate, ProSight DPS ECHO automates your backup processes and allow rapid recovery of critical files, applications and VMs that have become unavailable or corrupted due to hardware failures, software bugs, natural disasters, human mistakes, or malicious attacks like ransomware. ProSight Data Protection Services ECHO can help you protect, retrieve and restore files, folders, apps, system images, plus Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware images. Important data can be protected on the cloud, to an on-promises storage device, or to both. Progent's backup and recovery specialists can provide world-class support to set up ProSight Data Protection Services ECHO to be compliant with government and industry regulatory requirements like HIPAA, FINRA, PCI and Safe Harbor and, when necessary, can assist you to restore your business-critical information. Read more about ProSight Data Protection Services ECHO managed cloud backup and recovery.
ProSight DPS 360 Backup Services
Progent can help you to create, implement and troubleshoot a backup solution based on MSP360 technology. MSP360 enables file/folder or image-based backup/restore for VMs and physical computers, works with all leading public clouds, and permits you to create a backup solution with a low RTO and a defined Recovery Point Objective (RPO). With ProSight DPS 360 Backup, Progent can provide comprehensive monitoring and remote management of your backup system to prevent data loss caused by user mistakes, computer glitches, malicious users, and external assaults like ransomware. For more information, go to ProSight DPS 360 Backup services.
Consulting for Double-Take Solutions for Data Backup and Recovery
Double-Take Software publishes a family of tools intended to provide small and midsize businesses a variety of cost-effective alternatives for backing up and recovering vital applications such as Exchange Server, Microsoft SQL, RIM Blackberry, and Microsoft Office SharePoint. Progent’s business continuity planning experts have in-depth backgrounds incorporating Double-Take products into small business IT systems to achieve a high level of availability and disaster recovery capability at an affordable cost. For more information, go to Consulting for Double-Take Solutions for Data Backup.
Why Choose Progent for Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity Planning Solutions?
Since Progent is a Microsoft Partner and offers high-level application support for a broad range of small business applications, Progent is able to assist customers to arrive at comprehensive information technology solutions that optimize the business value of your network. As a Registered Partner for Cisco, Progent can provide the services of certified consultants and specialists with experience in designing, deploying and maintaining infrastructure environments based on Cisco technology. The depth of Progent's technical experience and Progent's familiarity with the requirements of small businesses make Progent the perfect partner for building and running an affordable, fault-tolerant network.
How You Can Get Help from Progent's Consultants for Help with High Availability Computer Networks
If you wish to ask Progent about engineering expertise for fault tolerant infrastructure, phone