Ahh info makes more sense. There are a number of other variables, but as long as users at site1 can talk to site2(assuming GC, DNS, etc) then they can login and connect to that mailbox. Exchange on that side will handle flowing mail out its local SMTP connector.
If you are using RPC/HTTP then that has to be reconfigured to connect to the new server. As to DR/Backup site, this will not allow you access to your old mail or other mailbox if the server is down. You can do a backup of the store on site1 and then copy the backed up file down to site2. DFS Replication in R2 or robocopy etc during off hours would do this nicely(Assuming the bandwidth is there) Even then you will have to perform a recovery of the IS to a recovery storage group and exmerge the files out to pst manually. As to the specific errors about exchange offline, did you move any replicas of system or public folders to siteb? If you "just" added it as a member and didn't move any mailboxes over or setup replicas then there should be nothing on the server at site2 that would cause users at site1, homed to that server in site1 for that error to occur. From: G.Waleed Kavalec [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2008 8:48 AM To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues Subject: Re: step 1 Nothing complicated: I *don't* expect to failover. 1. If site1 is down due to hurricane/disaster site2 has separate mailboxes, site1 outlooks won't be in the picture. 2. If ONLY site1's e2k3 is down, a few operators will need to log on with alternate ID's to connect to site2 Please note that - in terms of staff - we are a very small shop so that part is very manageable. But the data load is very large. MOST of the time the two sites are expected to act as one domain (which they are) and the two e2k3 servers are only intended to replicate some public folders and operate almost independently. On Feb 19, 2008 7:27 AM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: What I don't understand is how you plan to fail over Outlook to Site2's Exchange. Outlook is setup to connect to a specific server and AD links that user to that Mailbox. There is not a way for Exchange/AD to failover a user to another mailbox store automatically when its primary server is offline. To do this manually you would have to disconnect the user from their mailbox on Site1 and reconnect a mailbox on site2 in order for this to work, and I have never seen anyone do such a thing except when recovering from a DB failure, not as part of a multi-site DR model Your response, "We need site2 to be usable as a back-up / disaster recovery site, even though it is already up and running production (not my design); the idea was to have a second set of mailboxes there with alternate email addresses and a second smtp outgoing channel." E2k7 can do standby continous replication to handle this specific requirement. Here is something from the ExchangeTeam http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/06/28/445538.aspx Greg M.S, Andy throw in here if I am missing something but I just done see how this scenario could work without a lot of manual disconnecting/reconnecting etc.. From: G.Waleed Kavalec [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, February 18, 2008 3:54 PM To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues Subject: Re: step 1 I am not looking for automatic failover. I know that will take 3rd party software to do with e2k3.* * All I want is to be able to notify a few key clients: "hey, hurricane! Per plan A please use [EMAIL PROTECTED] instead of [EMAIL PROTECTED]" (and yes we have both our domains registered) While a hurricane is NOT in town I need site2 to be able to send via site2's e2k3, and site1 via site1's. MOST of the time both sites are up just fine, running production, no problem. But up thru a month ago site2 needed site1 to do email (including automatic emails), and as of my little oops BOTH sites' need to be up. Replicating the GC *may* have fixed that. I will know soon. * It seems e2k7 can do failover though. Is this correct? On Feb 18, 2008 2:17 PM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: What you have envisioned is not a designed way for Exchange 03 to function. A second set of mailboxes and emails is another database. Outlook doesn't fail over to another database in the event of server1 failure. To do what you are thinking about takes a secondary software like Doubletake to create a replication/fail over scenario. b. Is the new Exchange server in site 2, a DC/GC or is it just a member server? B1. Did you create 2 sites in AD or is it just one Domain and AD doesn't see one site different from the other(Just one big cloud) Greg From: G.Waleed Kavalec [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, February 18, 2008 2:47 PM To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues Subject: Re: step 1 a) We need site2 to be usable as a back-up / disaster recovery site, even though it is already up and running production (not my design); the idea was to have a second set of mailboxes there with alternate email addresses and a second smtp outgoing channel. b) at site2 I simply installed E2k3 and checked "this is an additional server". c) GC was likely most of my problem, so you were far less clueless that I Thanks On Feb 18, 2008 12:09 PM, Carl Houseman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: We are clueless here because you've said nothing about: a) why and for whom you thought a second E2K3 would create reliability b) the steps you took in bringing up the E2K3 at site 2 b) what the topology of DCs and GC's happens to be, before and after Generally speaking, when you document the history and configuration to the extent that those who know nothing about it will understand it, you will end up understanding it better yourself, and in so doing you might even figure out the problem. Carl ________________________________ From: G.Waleed Kavalec [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, February 18, 2008 12:46 PM To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues Subject: step 1 OK, I admit I am powerless over Exchange and my life has become unmanageable. My dumbest move of 2008 (and it's only February)... We have Ex 2K3 running at Site1 and are connected to Site2 via a 3mb MPLS connection. One domain over both. I brought up a second Ex 2k3 server at Site2, thinking I was creating some reliability. RIGHT...! Now, when the Site2 Ex 2k3 server is down, Site1 users get "Exchange is off-line" messages. 1. Where did I go wrong (aside from not testing this under virtualization we don't have)? 2. And is there a path out of the quicksand? Thanks in advance G. Waleed Kavalec -- -- -- -- G. Waleed Kavalec ------------------------- "In religion and politics people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing." -- Mark Twain -- -- -- -- G. Waleed Kavalec ------------------------- "In religion and politics people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing." -- Mark Twain -- -- -- -- G. Waleed Kavalec ------------------------- "In religion and politics people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing." -- Mark Twain ~ Ninja Email Security with Cloudmark Spam Engine Gets Image Spam ~ ~ http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Ninja ~
