i want to say this is a quick question, but it is probley not.

we have one high end server (4 cpu dual core), and are considering a
failover configuration.

do both servers have to be high end servers, or can we use a lesser
class of server ?

i would like to any coments on this thanks

How are you going to failover?
If you are using clustering you must have like hardware.

If you are using some other solution (replication, log shipping, database
mirroring) you can use different equipment. However, if your application
stresses your high end box it will really put a load on a lower end machine.
If you can limp along on your backup server until the production box has
been fixed (and that scenario is ok with management) then you should be able
to use a lesser class machine as a backup.

--
Keith Kratochvil


<wile2u@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1158338330.256284.266830@h48g2000cwc.googlegr oups.com...
>i want to say this is a quick question, but it is probley not.
>
> we have one high end server (4 cpu dual core), and are considering a
> failover configuration.
>
> do both servers have to be high end servers, or can we use a lesser
> class of server ?
>
> i would like to any coments on this thanks
>

Short answer is "It depends.".

Clustering (MS) requires virtually identical hardware. Real High
Availability solutions, like SteelEye's LifeKeeper will work with the
failover machine being lesser hardware. Our Exchange 5.5 setup, for
example, had a Dell Dimension workstation as the standby machine.

When you consider solutions, be sure to factor in the annual support
costs. They can, depending on the vendor, be considerable....

Regards,
Hank Arnold

wile2u@gmail.com wrote:
> i want to say this is a quick question, but it is probley not.
>
> we have one high end server (4 cpu dual core), and are considering a
> failover configuration.
>
> do both servers have to be high end servers, or can we use a lesser
> class of server ?
>
> i would like to any coments on this thanks
>

well from what i have learned, i think a failover node (not cluster) in
a mirrored setup would be my best bet, i dont need 2 50,000 dollar
servers, basicallly this is my proposed setup. primary server dell
poweredge 6850 4 3.4ghz dual core xeon processors 16 gig of ram, backup
server in mirror configuration dell power edge 2950 dual 3.06 xeon
processors, with 8 gigs of ram. both will have about a TB of storage

what do you think