Dell High Availability Solutions

Keeping Businesses in Business

Dell High Availability
Cluster Benefits Staying competitive in today’s 24/7 business world means staying up and running. Downtime, whether

➤ Avoid expensive, unexpected or for planned maintenance, is incredibly costly and can be potentially devastating.
business-damaging disruptions
➤ Smooth deployment of upgrades For small businesses or large enterprises alike, success or failure depends on how well your infrastructure can

➤ Flexible solutions to cost-effectively handle crisis situations—situations that jeopardize customer or client access to critical applications and data.
meet your specific requirements
Dell™ high availability cluster solutions can help protect your business from the severe impact of downtime.
➤ No single points of failure
➤ Easy to deploy and manage Dell High Availability Clusters Help Deliver Maximum Uptime
➤ Certified configurations
From around-the-clock E-commerce to high-volume financial trading, Dell’s customizable high availability
➤ Industry-standard components
cluster solutions address your specific business continuity needs simply and cost-effectively. Dell combines the
➤ Award-winning service and support
efficiency and flexibility of our Direct Model with industry-standard technology and award-winning service and

support to create reliable, easy-to-manage high availability cluster solutions. By eliminating single points

of failure, Dell clusters help assure that end users have access to a system that has been optimized for

maximum uptime.

GET MORE OUT OF CLUSTER SOLUTIONS. GET MORE OUT OF NOW.

Is a Cluster Solution Right for You?

If continuous data and application availability is crucial to your organization, a Dell cluster solution can be the

answer. Dell high availability cluster solutions help enable your business to keep running even when a server

goes down or offline for maintenance and upgrades. The solution consists of clustered systems, or nodes, linked

by a private Local Area Network (LAN). The LAN serves as a heartbeat mechanism to communicate the health

status of each node to its peers. When a system goes offline, services such as data and applications are

automatically transferred to a functioning system resulting in optimum availability.

Dell Delivers the Right Cluster Solution for You

Dell offers two high availability options allowing you to customize and build the solution that will provide data

and application protection to best match your environment:

Microsoft® High Availability Clustering

Dell SCSI and Fibre Channel cluster configurations are approved and certified by Microsoft. You can trust that

your high availability solution is backed by industry-leading expertise to keep your business up and running.

High Availability Architecture

LAN/WAN
Application Application
Server A Server B

Heartbeat
Private
Boot Drive Boot Drive
Data A Data B

Shared FC Disc System

Both servers have redundant connections to disk system(s),
but MSCS controls access. One server talks to the disks at a time.

SCSI Clusters

A SCSI Cluster solution is ideal for small to medium organizations implementing two-node cluster

configurations in a direct-attach environment. Microsoft Cluster Server with Windows® 2000 Advanced Server

or Windows Server™ 2003 Enterprise Edition supports two-node failover clusters providing industry-proven and

backed technology.

What’s more, PowerEdge™ S-Series clusters utilize PowerVault™ storage systems with PERC RAID controllers

specifically designed with clustering in mind. This gives you exceptional high availability capabilities optimized

for your clustered environment.

SCSI Cluster Architecture

PowerEdge Server

PowerVault22xS
PowerVault 22xS
LAN/WAN SCSI Storage
SCSI Storage

PowerEdge Server
Fibre Channel Clusters DELL ENTERPRISE SERVICES
By utilizing the proven advantages of our direct
Dell Fibre Channel Clusters can be implemented in direct-attach deployments or Storage Area Network (SAN).
model, including tailored service and support,
Cluster consolidations with Fibre Channel switches enable more flexibility and expandability for delivering low cost and a single point of accountability,
Dell Services can provide you with fast, effective,
configurations to meet your needs. affordable service offerings at any point in your
IT process. By doing so, we offer a combination
Fibre Channel is capable of supporting two-node configurations with Windows 2000 Advanced Server and of bundled best practices and tailored solutions
that work together to provide maximum value to
is ideal for enterprise-class servers handling robust environments. With Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition, you. Whether you need support, deployment,
training and certification programs, or professional
eight-node clustering is supported. These larger configurations help organizations to survive double or triple consulting services, individually or bundled as
a total package, Dell promises to be your single
server failures and balance workloads in consolidated server deployments.
point of accountability at all times.

Professional Services
Dell Professional Services enables Dell customers
Direct-Attach Fibre Channel Configuration
to optimize ROI by utilizing complex technology
PowerEdge Server through the design, development and deployment
of innovative, robust and scalable business-critical
solutions. With each engagement, we utilize our
Cluster proven methodology and project management
Interconnect expertise to understand your business objectives,
Dell/EMC® Fibre
LAN/WAN Channel Storage design plans that are flexible to adapt to your current
environment and then deliver the desired results.

Deployment Services
We bring you deployment assistance that delivers
PowerEdge Server true value from beginning to end. Dell can tailor
systems to our customers’ specifications by
customizing the hardware and software
Application/Data Clustering configuration during the initial system-build to
reduce redundancy and time. We can manage
Dell also provides clustering solutions delivered by the application. For instance, the Oracle10g™ Real Application the delivery, installation and disposal of your
assets with the same eye for efficiency.
Clusters (RAC) provide a powerful, reliable way to implement an Oracle® database application designed for high

availability. It allows clusters of up to eight PowerEdge servers along with four DelI/EMC storage systems. Training and Certification
Our approach to Training and Certification can help
The configuration allows for seamless software integration, incorporates scalability for future expansion and you to outsmart your competitors—not outspend
them—with industry-standard learning across
ensures failover capabilities to help provide continuous availability. Dell hardware and industry-standard software.
Dell can assist you wherever you need us,
To ensure high levels of database availability, Dell, EMC and Oracle have performed rigorous testing, whether on-site, online or in a classroom setting,
to help your organization take full advantage
including failover testing, database stress testing and storage certification of Oracle's clustering technology of information technology.

with Dell servers.

Enterprise Support Services
Technology is a significant investment, and it pays
to have a partner who can help you minimize
costly downtime. Through our Premier Enterprise
Support Services (PESS) offerings, Dell provides
tiered support service packages with the flexibility
to customize the offering to meet your specific
needs across a wide range of computing
environments. With proactive and reactive
support options which include hardware and
software support with varied response levels,
account management and remote resolution,
Dell provides support solutions that meet your
needs, cost-effectively.

Services vary by region. For more information

on the available services in your area, please
visit www.dell.com.
 Dell High Availability Products

Visit www.dell.com/clusters to view validated configurations, special offers, technical white papers,

case studies and more.

PowerEdge™ Servers

— PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller (PERC)

— Redundant, hot swap drives, power supplies, cooling fans and PCI Express™ slots for high availability

— Error Correction Code (ECC) memory for advanced data protection

— Scalable Intel® processing power

Dell/EMC and PowerVault Storage

— Dell/EMC fibre channel storage arrays provide highly available storage for a variety of workgroup,

— midrange and enterprise applications

— Multi-platform access, snapshot copy and remote mirroring capability with optional Access Logix,

— SnapView™ and MirrorView™ software for data protection

— Solutions for direct attached and storage area network (SAN) deployments

Oracle RAC

— Supports up to eight PowerEdge servers

— Provides scalability and high availability

— Dell deployment CD helps reduce the time to deploy Oracle RAC and helps automate best practices

— Visit www.dell.com/oracle for best practices and the software deliverables list (SDL)

Call your Dell sales representative to build a high availability clustering solution that will

keep your organization running smoothly. Visit www.dell.com/clusters or call 1-800-www-dell

for more information.

Dell cannot be responsible for errors in typography or photography. Dell disclaims proprietary interest in the marks and names of others. Dell, the Dell Logo, PowerEdge, PowerVault and OpenManage are trademarks of Dell Inc.
Intel is a registered trademark and Xeon is a trademark of Intel Corporation. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. EMC is a registered trademark and MirrorView and SnapView are trademarks
of EMC Corporation. Oracle is a registered trademark and Oracle9i is a trademark of Oracle Corporations. PCI Express is a trademark of PCI-SIG. Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either
the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. © Copyright 2005 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden.
For more information contact Dell. March 2005, Kolar.

GET MORE OUT OF CLUSTER SOLUTIONS. GET MORE OUT OF NOW.

Visit www.dell.com/clusters for more information.