Specifications

Best Practices for Virtualizing and Managing Exchange 2013
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Figure 23: Cluster Shared Volumes
Best Practices and Recommendations
To provide high availability, use at least one separate CSV for Exchange 2013 databases/logs so
that each mailbox database copy of a particular mailbox database is stored on separate
infrastructure. In other words, in a four-copy deployment, a minimum of four CSVs should be used
to isolate database copies, and the storage and networking infrastructure used to provide access
to those CSVs should be completely isolated, as well.
The following guidelines are recommended for deploying a SAN with a failover cluster:
 Confirm with the manufacturers and vendors whether the storage (including drivers,
firmware, and software) being used is compatible with failover clusters in Windows Server
2012. The Windows Server Catalog can be a useful source of guidance for this
information.
 Isolate the LUN used for one set of cluster servers from all other servers through LUN
masking or zoning.
 Use multipath I/O software for the highest level of redundancy and availability when
connecting your hosts to iSCSI or FC storage.