Designing a High Availability Messaging Solution
using Microsoft Exchange Server 2007
Course 5054: Two days;
Instructor-Led
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Introduction
This 2-day course teaches messaging engineers to
design a high availability messaging solution using Microsoft Exchange
Server 2007. Students will create a high availability design to meet
service level agreement requirements and learn strategies for gaining
approval for the design. They will learn how to identify risks and
create mitigation plans to maintain the business continuity of the
messaging system. Students will also learn how to design a backup
strategy, disaster recovery procedures, and test plans for those
procedures.
Audience
This course is intended for
people with 3 or more years experience working with previous versions of
Exchange Server and experience implementing Exchange Server 2007. Most
students will have managed enterprise-level Exchange Server
organizations. Students are expected to be new to participating in
designing high availability solutions for Exchange Server 2007 or be
planning to design high availability solutions for Exchange Server 2007
in the near future. Students may have done some design for Exchange 2000
Server or Exchange Server 2003 deployments but want to learn how to
design Exchange Server 2007 environments. Students may have experience
in designing and managing high availability solutions for other network
services.
At Course Completion
After completing this course, students will be able
to:
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Describe foundational high availability
concepts for messaging.
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Evaluate high availability messaging
technologies for Exchange Server 2007
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Create a high availability messaging strategy.
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Design the messaging portion of a business
continuity plan.
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Design backup for a high availability
messaging environment.
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Ensure recovery readiness of a high
availability messaging environment.
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Prerequisites
Before attending this course, students:
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Must have a basic understanding of high
availability concepts. For example, how clustering works at the
operating system level (Windows clustering) and how network load
balancing works.
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Must have a basic familiarity with deriving
business requirements. For example, gathering business
requirements and understanding that business needs come from a
variety of sources (direct personnel needs, regulatory, business
operations requirements).
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Must have a basic understanding of backup
systems. For example, types of backups (disk to tape, disk to
disk, Storage Area Networks (SAN) snapshot, imaging, etc.),
backup rotation schemes, and offsite backup procedures.
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Must already know how to use:
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Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Management
tools
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Exchange Best Practice Analyzer (ExBPA)
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WinNT backup (ntbackup.exe)
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Microsoft Visio or Microsoft Office
PowerPoint 2003 (to create infrastructure diagrams)
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Must understand hardware concepts. For
example, what redundant array of independent disks (RAID) is,
what a storage area network (SAN) is, processor options, memory
requirements, how disk I/O functions and the limitations of disk
I/O, and storage options for Exchange server. The differences in
addressable memory spaces between 32 and 64 bit architectures.
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Must have extensive detailed knowledge of
Active Directory concepts and design principles. For example,
site replication, integrated authentication, schema extension,
Domain Name Systems (DNS), group and organization unit structure
and inheritance, etc.
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Must have working experience with designing
and implementing Active Directory directory services in
Microsoft Windows Server 2003.
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Must understand Exchange architecture. For
example, the purpose of server roles, functions of specific
server roles, how message routing and queuing works in Exchange,
standard messaging protocols (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
[SMTP], Internet Message Access Protocol version 4rev1 [IMAP4],
Post Office Protocol version 3 [POP3]), how Exchange replicates
data stores, client access methods, etc.
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Must have working experience with Exchange
2000 Server or Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2007.
For example, must have installed, maintained, and supported a
production Exchange environment.
|
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Must already know how to use:
|
| |
Exchange Server 2007 management tools
|
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Exchange Best Practice Analyzer (ExBPA)
|
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Microsoft Visio (to create infrastructure
diagrams)
|
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Must have familiarity and experience with a
Windows scripting or command line scripting
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Course Outline
Module 1: Foundational High
Availability Concepts for Messaging
This module explains the concept of service level
management and how it relates the maintenance of Exchange Server 2007.
As well, an overview of the high availability technologies for various
network and data center components.
Lessons
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Introduction to Service Level Management
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Overview of High Availability Technologies
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Lab: Foundational High Availability Concepts for
Messaging
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Exercise 1: Discussion: Refining the Scope of
SLA Requirements
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After completing this module, students will be able
to:
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Explain service level management.
|
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Describe high availability technologies.
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Module 2: Evaluating High
Availability Technologies for Exchange Server 2007
This module explains how to evaluate the high
availability technologies for Exchange Server 2007. Options for Mailbox
and non-Mailbox servers are covered.
Lessons
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Evaluating High Availability Options for
Mailbox Servers
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Evaluating High Availability Options for
Non-Mailbox Servers
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Lab A: Evaluating High Availability Messaging
Technologies
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Exercise 1: Configuring LCR
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Exercise 2: Configuring CCR
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Lab B: Evaluating High Availability Messaging
Technologies
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Exercise 1: Testing CCR
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Exercise 2: Discussion: Recommendations for
Using the High Availability Solutions
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After completing this module, students will be able
to:
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Evaluate high availability options for Mailbox
servers.
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Evaluate high availability options for
non-Mailbox servers
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Module 3: Creating a High
Availability Messaging Strategy
This module explains how to create a high availability
messaging strategy. This includes creating solutions for Mailbox and
non-mailbox servers.
Lessons
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Designing a High Availability Strategy for
Mailbox Servers
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Designing a High Availability Solution for
Non-Mailbox Servers
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Lab: Creating a High Availability Messaging Strategy
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Exercise 1: Designing High-Availability
Improvements for a Messaging Infrastructure
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Exercise 2: Justifying Messaging
Infrastructure Design Decisions
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After completing this module, students will be able
to:
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Design a high availability strategy for
Mailbox servers.
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Design a high availability solution for
non-Mailbox servers.
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Module 4: Designing the Messaging
Portion of a Business Continuity Plan
This module explains how to design the messaging
portion of a business continuity plan. As well, information about
identifying threats to the messaging organization and mitigating those
threats is covered.
Lessons
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Overview of Business Continuity Planning
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Identifying Threats to the Messaging
Organization
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Mitigating Threats to the Messaging
Organization
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Designing the Business Continuity Plan
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Lab: Designing the Messaging Portion of a Business
Continuity Plan
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Exercise 1: Identifying Risks to a Messaging
Environment
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Exercise 2: Discussion: Mitigating Risks to a
Messaging Environment
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After completing this module, students will be able
to:
| |
Describe business continuity planning.
|
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Identify threats to the messaging
organization.
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Mitigate threats to the messaging
organization.
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Design the business continuity plan.
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Module 5: Designing Backup for a
High Availability Messaging Environment
This module explains how to identify the backup
requirements and design the backup procedures for a high availability
messaging environment.
Lessons
| |
Identifying Backup Requirements
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Designing Backup Procedures
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Lab: Designing Backup for a High Availability
Messaging Environment
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Exercise 1: Identifying Backup Requirements
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Exercise 2: Discussion: Creating Backup
Procedures
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After completing this module, students will be able
to:
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Identify backup requirements.
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Design backup procedures.
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Module 6: Ensuring Recovery
Readiness of a High Availability Messaging Environment
This module explains how to ensure recovery readiness
of a high availability messaging environment by designing recovery
strategies and evaluating disaster recovery readiness.
Lessons
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Designing Recovery Strategies
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Evaluating Disaster Recovery Readiness
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Lab: Ensuring Recovery Readiness of a High
Availability Messaging Environment
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Exercise 1: Defining Recovery Procedures
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Exercise 2: Evaluating Disaster Recovery
Readiness
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After completing this module, students will be able
to:
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Design recovery strategies.
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Evaluate disaster recovery readiness.
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