Hi All

I'm looking at rolling out Exchange 2013 and have run different scenarios using the exchange calculator.

What I am looking to do is a four node deployment.

two datacentres with two nodes each

(DC1 - 2 physical servers)

(DC2 - virtual servers in a hyperv cluster - passive only)

single DAG in active/passive deployment

Number of HA db copy instances in DAG = 3

Number of lagged copies in the dag = 1

number of HA db copies in secondary DC = 1

number of lagged db copies in secondary DC = 1

activation blocked on secondary DC

Utilizing exchange native protection.

Custom number of databases/DAG set to 4

Now for a RAID configuration this seems fine and there are no warnings.

When I switch to JBOD, I cant set a custom db/dag limit.  Yellow warning on the storage if I do.

For JBOD it tells me I need 32 databases, 4 mailboxes per database, 16 volumes with what looks like two database and log sets per volume.

To my mind this isn't cheaper than using RAID nor offer the same level of protection.

Can someone explain this to me?

End result, I have four servers, must utilize exchange native protection, two of the servers will be virtual with a shared storage space - whether this is some sort of storage array or using local disks isn't known.

I realize exchange 2013 has been out long enough and there is a lot of information out there.  I've read and re-read the preferred architecture and other documentation.  I'm just trying to work out the best solution for this scenario and getting my head around the JBOD requirements for exchange native protection.

Thanks

Sultan.

Hi Sultan,

Using DAG over RAID would give you more control over the Exchange data, multiple re\seed options.

Most of the time it will be in less time\space rather than full disk RAID.

4 mailboxes per database, might be due to the user profile that you are using, ultimately causing large Volume count.

databases/DAG set to 4 = 4/1=4DBs, then how is it suggesting you need 32 databases.

Need more info on the configuration.

Here are some articles on RAID Vs JBOD:

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/exchange/en-US/48cdccd2-3ccf-469a-8aaa-841afbb38190/storage-raid-v-jbod?forum=exchange2010

http://eightwone.com/2010/03/05/job-versus-raid/

Best practices for supported storage configurations:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee832792(v=exchg.150).aspx#Best