Some features of the solution contribute to the reliability of failover:
Simplifying installation, configuration, and maintenance, these will reduce the burden of time for IT staff and expertise when reducing the risk of errors.
Avoiding scripting or failover policies can reduce conversion errors
Detect current hardware and software errors in lieu of detecting errors based on timeout time.
Booking a guaranteed resource for algorithms can be risky.
Protection against data loss and errors
There are many problems with data loss and errors that require solutions far beyond hardware redundancy and failover. Errors in application logic or errors caused by users or IT staff may be due to the accident that deleted files or logs, wrong data and other data loss and integrity issues . Certain types of hardware or software errors can lead to data errors. Geographical problems or natural disasters may also cause loss of data access or loss of data, Beyond the need for current data protection, enterprise requirements as well. Common requirements are added as demand to perform and retrieve previous data, often lasting for a few years and multiple data types. Full protection for data loss and error requires a comprehensive backup and a recovery strategy, along with an accompanying disaster recovery plan.
Previously, backups and recovery strategies were developed based on writing data to the tape device to be stored off-site. However, this method has several weaknesses:
Backup operations require storage and resource processing can interfere with production and may require some applications to stop during the backup process.
Backup intervals usually take from a few hours to a full day, while there are risks of losing data updates for a few hours between backups.
Using tape backup for disaster recovery can cause multiple recoveries that can count up to several days, unacceptable levels of machine downtime for many organizations.
Using data copies will be a better solution for both disaster protection and disaster recovery. Data copying solutions will capture changes of data from the main production system and send them to a system at the location of the remote disaster or at a local or both location in real time. . There are still cases where system errors may occur before data changes are copied, but this exposure can take place in seconds or minutes instead of hours or days. Data replication can be combined with error detection and automated failover tools to help disaster recovery and run in minutes or hours instead of days. Internal data copies can be used to reduce tape backup requirements and to separate backup tape storage from production system operations to eliminate resource conflicts and remove door restrictions. backup window.
Consider issues that may cause the system to be discontinued in advance
Hardware and software reconfiguration, hardware upgrades and software hotfixes, as well as new service packs and software releases all require a planned discontinuation of the system. This planned disruption can be scheduled at night or on weekends when actions on the system decrease, but there are still issues to consider here. The spirit of IT staff may not be comfortable if the 'off-hour' action takes place regularly. Companies may need to pay overtime costs for this job. However, stopping the application even at night and on the weekend can still cause problems for many companies using their system 24/7.
The use of standby servers in an available solution may allow reconfiguration and upgrade to be applied to a server while Exchange continues to run on another server. After reconfiguration or upgrade is completed, Exchange can be transferred to an upgraded server with minimal downtime. Most jobs can be done during normal working hours. Virtualization-based solutions that can transfer applications from one server to another without downtime can also greatly reduce downtime. However, it is important to know that changes to the application data structure and format may not be for this type of upgrade.
Other benefits of virtualization
The latest server virtualization technologies today, not only do not require Exchange protection, but also provide many unique benefits that can make Exchange protection easier and more efficient.
Virtualization makes it easy to set up evaluation, test, and development environments without the need for additional specialized hardware. Many companies cannot afford the hardware that needs to supplement Exchange testing in a traditional physical environment, but effective testing is one of the keys to avoiding problems when creating structural changes. image, install the hotfix, or switch to a new upgrade. Virtualization allows resources to be dynamically adjusted to deliver at peak load times. How to buy enough expansion capacity to be able to respond when the peak load can consume a lot of expensive costs. Meanwhile, if configuring the size only for certain conditional load requirements will reduce performance and eventually lead to spoil the link with upgrading and replacing production hardware.