OK boys and girls, here's the situation . . . We have recently been asked to consult on a project whereby we would be looking at installing IMail onto a Windows 2000 Server - Advanced Edition with LOAD BALANCING - ie: multiple servers in multiple physical locations.
This would be done because we will have servers co-located in secured facilities with multiple copies of the IMail product loaded onto multiple servers. We do this for the following reasons: HOT READY On-Line Backup Load Balancing Security If you are not aware of the way W2K Enterprise works, it uses a SINGLE IP address per machine or function to access multiple machines that handle the work. In the case of IMail, this will be configured to provide multiple hot standby that are updated with everything that takes place on the main server. As the mail comes into the main server, it will be replicated, continuously, to the backup servers - a built-in feature of W2K Enterprise. The MX record points at the published IP address which references a server that sends the data to the correct machine. The reference server is also HOT READY in case the main one goes down. As far as the world is concerned, there is only ONE single IP address for the MX record and the machines associated with it. The reference server(s), which can also be the HOT READY servers translate the traffic to the appropriate address and, as far as the users are concerned, the mail server is ALWAYS up, whether they hit the server in Chicago, Boston, Arlington Heights, Los Angeles or Dallas. The data is always kept synchronized between all of the servers. We have T-3 and OC3 pipes to handle the traffic between all of the centers on four different backbones. Each center has multiple power grids and monster battery and diesel power backups and multiple tons of AC per location. So, again, my question, after a somewhat simplified and drawn out explanation is: Has anyone else done this? Thanks in advance for your input. Bruce Barnes ChicaogNetTech Inc To Unsubscribe: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/mailing-lists.html List Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/imail_forum%40list.ipswitch.com/ Knowledge Base/FAQ: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/IMail/
