As far as hardware vendor goes...I'd choose whatever you're most familiar with, unless you have an extended software support contract through the vendor or VAR (i.e. Dell Platinum or the equivalent support agreement that provides assistance for wherever in the stack the problem resolution will live in). Such agreements are (supposed to) take away some of the finger pointing that you get into with a network or FC problem or software problem that is hard to diagnose.
The hardware itself...for an Intel box, I think most of them are created equal now. We have a mix of IBM, Dell and HP - conventional and blades. We try to stick to the same NIC and HBA cards throughout so drivers are the same, but aside from the specific flavor of ILO/hardware monitoring, you're going to see about the same from any of them. But I would suggest one vendor for the entire Exchange landscape. That's all I'm going to say on THAT subject, since just about anything else is just flame-bait. Maybe I've already said too much ;) --James p.s. Go Windows Server 2008, unless you REALLY have a rule about waiting for the first service pack on major releases. Your hardware should be lasting 3-5 years on its support contracts, and Windows 2003 R2/SP2/3/4 will be getting pretty old by the time you get halfway through that lifecycle... -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Chee Lam Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 7:46 PM To: Exchange Discussions Subject: Re: Exchange Design Best Practices Questions Thanks James, Those information is very helpful to begin with. Now it actually provides me with better path and knowing the core base systems requirements itself. Does anyone has any favorite hardware vendor (server) that you guys prefer to work with and why? I'd think HP maybe good idea although I am a long time Dell fan. Chee On Tue, May 20, 2008 at 3:03 PM, Wells, James Arthur <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Given those numbers - I'd start with the Exchange 2007 storage calculator. > Depending on whether or not the mailbox SIZE is actually 2GB (versus a > quota), you're going to be spending a LOT of money and disks on IOPS delivery > instead of capacity delivery. Not that it's a bad thing -- just an > expensive thing in money, power and footprint for your SAN. > > Microsoft is also pushing direct-attached storage again for Exchange. There > are some good Microsoft IT whitepapers on the topic. This is to reduce > complexity and to deliver those all-important IOPS for cheaper. > > I'd also go to CA/XOSoft and ask them for a justification over Exchange 2007 > SP1 SCR. MessageOne certainly still has better features, but I haven't > looked at XOSoft yet (and we're even an XOSoft shop for Exchange 2003, today). > > Don't forget to add IOPS for BES users. Because BES isn't a cached mode > connection, and the service account is making so many MAPI calls to the > mailboxes, it can easily require 3-6 time the IOPS as a cached mode Outlook > 2007 client. The calculator has a spot for 'extra IOPS' to build some in. > > You can download the calculator here: > > http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/01/15/432207.aspx > > > This is the same sizing tool that any (and every) consultant or services > group will be using...so it should be very helpful to tell you what you're > dealing with for hardware and storage requirements. > > > For backup strategy - I highly recommend looking at DPM 2007 from Microsoft. > > > --James > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Chee Lam > Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 9:12 AM > To: Exchange Discussions > Subject: Exchange Design Best Practices Questions > > Dear List: > > Given scenario of 1500 - 2000 users with mailbox size of 2GB each > spread all over north america. There will be BES in place too. > How would one design an Exchange environment that covers high > availability, redundant with failover and good backup strategy? > Need to pick some ideas from the real world experts :) > things I am considering: SAN, redundant WAN links, second site with > third party failover (XO soft?) at least 2-4 servers per site? > > Any comments appreciated. > Thanks. > Chee > > _________________________________________________________________ > List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm > Web Interface: http://intm-dl.sparklist.com/read/?forum=exchange > To subscribe: http://e-newsletters.internet.com/discussionlists.html/ > To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe via postal mail, please contact us at: > Jupitermedia Corp. > Attn: Discussion List Management > 475 Park Avenue South > New York, NY 10016 > > Please include the email address which you have been contacted with. > > _________________________________________________________________ > List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm > Web Interface: http://intm-dl.sparklist.com/read/?forum=exchange > To subscribe: http://e-newsletters.internet.com/discussionlists.html/ > To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe via postal mail, please contact us at: > Jupitermedia Corp. > Attn: Discussion List Management > 475 Park Avenue South > New York, NY 10016 > > Please include the email address which you have been contacted with. > > _________________________________________________________________ List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm Web Interface: http://intm-dl.sparklist.com/read/?forum=exchange To subscribe: http://e-newsletters.internet.com/discussionlists.html/ To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe via postal mail, please contact us at: Jupitermedia Corp. Attn: Discussion List Management 475 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10016 Please include the email address which you have been contacted with. _________________________________________________________________ List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm Web Interface: http://intm-dl.sparklist.com/read/?forum=exchange To subscribe: http://e-newsletters.internet.com/discussionlists.html/ To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe via postal mail, please contact us at: Jupitermedia Corp. Attn: Discussion List Management 475 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10016 Please include the email address which you have been contacted with.
