system drive (c) and transaction logs

system drive (c) and transaction logs

Hi;

I currently administer an exchange 2000 server at a school board. Management 
wants it virtualized. The san its to be migrated to has 2 disk groups. I am 
currently thinking about the aspect of redundancy. Full Backups are done 
every night (M-F). One disk group is more limited in space than the other.

Here's the Scenario I'm thinking about:

I place the system partition and exchange databases on the same disk group 
and transaction logs on another. If I lose the disk group with the system and 
dB, are the transaction logs still useful? Can I restore the system, than the 
dB and than replay the transaction logs(which are still intact on other disk 
group)?

I can't think of why this would not be possible to do. So long as I have all 
the transaction logs from the last full backup(uncorrupted), I would think I 
should be able to play them in to the dB.

I have read in a vmware exchange best practises document that under this 
scenario the transaction logs would not be useable. 

Paul

date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:22:02 -0700 author: Paul

Re: system drive (c) and transaction logs

You are going to need plenty of Server if you go Virtualization for a 
school.  How many mailboxes are you talking about?  Are they considering 
upgrading to Exchnange 2007 at some point?

-- 
John Oliver, Jr
MCSE, MCT, CCNA
Exchange MVP 2008
Microsoft Certified Partner


"Paul"  wrote in message 
news:23A6A232-D4C2-409D-B3B4-8474B58A3156@microsoft.com...
> Hi;
>
> I currently administer an exchange 2000 server at a school board. 
> Management
> wants it virtualized. The san its to be migrated to has 2 disk groups. I 
> am
> currently thinking about the aspect of redundancy. Full Backups are done
> every night (M-F). One disk group is more limited in space than the other.
>
> Here's the Scenario I'm thinking about:
>
> I place the system partition and exchange databases on the same disk group
> and transaction logs on another. If I lose the disk group with the system 
> and
> dB, are the transaction logs still useful? Can I restore the system, than 
> the
> dB and than replay the transaction logs(which are still intact on other 
> disk
> group)?
>
> I can't think of why this would not be possible to do. So long as I have 
> all
> the transaction logs from the last full backup(uncorrupted), I would think 
> I
> should be able to play them in to the dB.
>
> I have read in a vmware exchange best practises document that under this
> scenario the transaction logs would not be useable.
>
> Paul
>
>
>

date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:51:12 -0400 author: John Oliver, Jr. [MVP]

Re: system drive (c) and transaction logs

There are 750 mailboxes. At this time, there is no talk about upgrading 
exchange. The hardware its going to is significantly more powerful than what 
its on right now. Going to an hp blade chassis with 3 blades currently(each 
with dual processors) and more than enough ram. The san its going to is more 
powerful as well. Going from an EVA3000 to an EVA4100. I do understand IO is 
a concern. 

Lets ignore the virtual component for the time being. If a system were to be 
set up as the scenario i described, would the transaction logs be useless?

TY

"John Oliver, Jr. [MVP]" wrote:

> You are going to need plenty of Server if you go Virtualization for a 
> school.  How many mailboxes are you talking about?  Are they considering 
> upgrading to Exchnange 2007 at some point?
> 
> -- 
> John Oliver, Jr
> MCSE, MCT, CCNA
> Exchange MVP 2008
> Microsoft Certified Partner
> 
> 
> "Paul"  wrote in message 
> news:23A6A232-D4C2-409D-B3B4-8474B58A3156@microsoft.com...
> > Hi;
> >
> > I currently administer an exchange 2000 server at a school board. 
> > Management
> > wants it virtualized. The san its to be migrated to has 2 disk groups. I 
> > am
> > currently thinking about the aspect of redundancy. Full Backups are done
> > every night (M-F). One disk group is more limited in space than the other.
> >
> > Here's the Scenario I'm thinking about:
> >
> > I place the system partition and exchange databases on the same disk group
> > and transaction logs on another. If I lose the disk group with the system 
> > and
> > dB, are the transaction logs still useful? Can I restore the system, than 
> > the
> > dB and than replay the transaction logs(which are still intact on other 
> > disk
> > group)?
> >
> > I can't think of why this would not be possible to do. So long as I have 
> > all
> > the transaction logs from the last full backup(uncorrupted), I would think 
> > I
> > should be able to play them in to the dB.
> >
> > I have read in a vmware exchange best practises document that under this
> > scenario the transaction logs would not be useable.
> >
> > Paul
> >
> >
> > 
> 
> 
>

date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:19:13 -0700 author: Paul

Re: system drive (c) and transaction logs

On Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:22:02 -0700, Paul
 wrote:

>Hi;
>
>I currently administer an exchange 2000 server at a school board. Management 
>wants it virtualized. The san its to be migrated to has 2 disk groups. I am 
>currently thinking about the aspect of redundancy. Full Backups are done 
>every night (M-F). One disk group is more limited in space than the other.
>
>Here's the Scenario I'm thinking about:
>
>I place the system partition and exchange databases on the same disk group 
>and transaction logs on another. If I lose the disk group with the system and 
>dB, are the transaction logs still useful? Can I restore the system, than the 
>dB and than replay the transaction logs(which are still intact on other disk 
>group)?

Yes, that's how it works. Restore the box (it matters not how),
restore the DB and then play the logs.

>
>I can't think of why this would not be possible to do. So long as I have all 
>the transaction logs from the last full backup(uncorrupted), I would think I 
>should be able to play them in to the dB.
>
No. the transaction logs from a backup aren't much good in that
scenario.
You can't take a current database and then play old log files into it.

>I have read in a vmware exchange best practises document that under this 
>scenario the transaction logs would not be useable. 

>
>Paul
>
>

date: Fri, 21 Mar 2008 04:30:54 -0400 author: Mark Arnold [MVP]