Configuring a backup Unity Server

[bodav]

Customer is Unified Messaging with One Unity server and one existing Exchange server where the message store is. All 2000.

Customer has a spare server they want configured to be a backup for the existing Unity server. They don't want "failover" mode. What they want is to have the second server standby, different IP Address, different computer name, but same domain. If the primary Unity server fails they want to be able to move the dongle to the backup server and restart. Not as clean as failover but cheaper. Any problems with this? I tried normal install but when I got to the second part of the Unity intall wizard, it couldn't find the message store.

Although I could see all of the Active directory information and had no problem joining the domain. Also could see my new server from the Exchange server and the existing Unity server.

Thinking maybe I strayed during the install. Help.

[ksilva]

your better off letting the box go into UMR mode, just the administrative tasks of all the configuration, plus greetings, it would be virtually impossible to keep the two boxes configuration in sync.

[bodav]

But they're not trying to compensate for the message store being unavailable. They're trying to insure they've got something they could put in place of the Unity server failing, even if the subscriber greetings, etc aren't current. The thought is that the message store is still there, but Unity isn't.

They just want something to carry the message proceesing until the primary can be restored.

[lindborg]

I've had several sites use DiRT for this type of thing... they configure DiRT to do backups of everything but messages and have a dormant version of Unity that's the same version as their running Unity box. If the running Unity box goes down they apply the key do the secondary server, do a DiRT restore (which takes just a few minutes without messages involved) and then brings up the dormant box. Total downtime is kept to a minimum.

Not as slick as failover, of course, since it does involve manually interveneing and you will lose information that was updated since the last backup but if you're off box message store is up to speed this shouldn't be a huge hit.

[bodav]

Thanks for the response. That is exactly the scenario we intend to pursue. But any insight as to the install problems I'm having with the second Unity install?

[lindborg]

not a lot of detail to go on here... there should be no problem installing Unity and pointing it at the same Exchange server another Unity box is using - based on the info I have here (basically it ain't working) I'd try installing again from scratch.