[Brendan42]

Exchange 2003/2007, 1000+ users, spread across european mail servers.
BES machine are Virtual on VMWare.

It has been proposed that we set up BES v5 as follows:
2 Standalone BES servers, each with a copy of SQL 2008 installed. Then use SQL-mirroring and BES-HA to take care of the rest. ie. BES-A with all 1000 users on it, running all the BB services and using a Config DB located on BES-A. BES-A fails and it switches to BES-B, which should, in theory, be a copy of BES-A

My thinking is:
Two BES servers, pointing to a SQL 2008 Config DB on a seperate 3rd server. Split the users across the two BES servers.

My question:
Can anybody give some advice, pros or cons, or alternatives please. Our experience is limited to a single BES, so anybody supporting multiple servers would know more than we do at the moment.

[Brendan42]

A record? 59 views and no responses.

[Brendan42]

Well, OK, now theres two responses, but my own don't count...

[kjarrodc]

2 servers with 2 sql instances is good from a HA point of view but may not be best for performance. SQL will eat up as much ram as you throw at it. I'm a fan of dedicated SQL servers and it's how we've designed our 5.0 environment.

[besadmin23]

Quick reply to quite an interesting setup...

This is NOT a good idea at all and quite frankly may not work and won't work the way you have described necessarily. When if BESA fails to server B, this doesn't mean that it will use the mirrored db on the second box. It would still use the db on BESA assuming the box itself was still up and that SQL is running. BES HA and SQL Mirroring are completely separate from a failover perspective unless the box itself goes down.

That aside, this still is putting too many eggs in one basket, especially for 1000 users. You may not have the luxury of 2 additional boxes for Mirrored SQL but assuming you do it would be best, based on what you described, to put SQL there and have BES boxes dedicated.

Now, one other point you mentioned about your thoughts would be to put SQL on 3rd and split the users across the 2 BES servers.... If you do this, keep in mind that you won't be in HA mode for BES but you will have the ability to move users to the other BES if one goes down. This is a manuall process however as it involves you determining there is a problem and then logging in to move them. Also, it means you would need to SRP's.

Based on the #'s you have mentioned, I think you should put SQL on 3rd box then install BES in HA mode on the 2 additional boxes. This takes advantage of RIM's auto-failover mechanism if there is a problem with the primary BES and automatically fails it over to the other machine. You only need 1 SRP and you get the automatic protection provided by the new HA functions. All 1000 users are on the one BES but 1000 users is an absolutely fine load for a BES. The limit is 2000 but most of us admins stay around 1500 give or take...

Hope this helps.

[Brendan42]

Thanks besadmin23. That's just what I was looking for. I'll push for the 2 BES in HA mode, with SQL on a 3rd server. At least that way, we can always add another BES as resources become available and point it to the Config DB on the dedicated SQL server.

[CanuckBB]

You also mentions mail servers.

Does this mean multiple locations? if yes, RIM recommends the BES be local to the mail server it serves.