Application workload protection requirements

The Application Manager will run from any client (or server) on any Microsoft Windows operating system that has access to the domain in which the servers are located.

Note:

Double-Take Availability Application Manager should be run on a machine that is not a domain controller. Double-Take Software recommends that you run Application Manager from either a third "administrative" client that is running a supported operating system or from the Double-Take Availability target. If you attempt to run Application Manager on a domain controller, the following errors may occur: Application Manager could not verify credentials when connecting to the server x.x.x.x. Due to technical restrictions, credentials cannot be verified when used to connect to a local machine. GetWbemScope: Attempting connection to WBEM server (using specified credentials): x.x.x.x: <domain>\<user>: root\microsoftdns

The source and target servers must meet the base Double-Take Availability requirements. In addition, in order to run the Application Manager, your source and target servers must meet the following requirements:

• Two servers that meet one of the following operating system requirements:
• Microsoft Windows 2003 with Service Pack 1 or later
• Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or later
• Microsoft Windows Vista
• Microsoft Windows 2008

Note:

Windows 2008 Server Core installation option is not supported. Microsoft Windows 2008 can only be used with the following application versions: Exchange 2007 SQL 2005 and SQL 2008 File Server SharePoint If you select a clustered source or target server and the machine running the Application Manager does not have the Failover Clustering feature (Windows 2008) or the Windows Server 2003 Administration Tools Pack installed, an error message will appear that states "An error has occurred while verifying access credentials for server <server name>. Please enter valid credentials for a user that is in the Double-Take Admin group on the server <server name>." You will not actually need to enter credentials; however, you will need to install the admin pack for your version of Windows.

• If you are using the Target Data Verification feature, you will need to install the Volume Shadow Copy Service SDK (Vshadow.exe) in the windows\system32 directory on the target server. This tool is available for download from the Windows Download Center on the Microsoft website (www.microsoft.com).
• The target must have drive letters that match the drive letters where the protected application stores data.
• Application Manager does not support single-label DNS domain names (that is, domain names that do not include a suffix such as .com, .corp, .net, and so on).
• In environments where the FIPS security policy is enabled, you must use impersonation. This requires that: 
• The user running the Application Manager must have all appropriate rights to update the domain (that is, only impersonation is supported).
• You must manually verify DNS rights (required for DFO updates). This can be accomplished by running the DFO utility with the /test parameter.

In addition, your environment must adhere to requirements specific to the application you are protecting.

Note:

The program files for your application must be installed in the same location on the target and the source.

If you are using the Application Manager for Exchange, your system must meet the following requirements.

• The source and target servers must each be running a licensed copy of Microsoft Exchange Server. Supported versions include:
• Exchange Server 2003
• Exchange 2007

Note:

Double-Take Software recommends that the Exchange version be the same as the operating system version (for example, Windows Server 2003 running Exchange 2003). Only Exchange 2007 is supported with Windows Server 2008. The Application Manager does not check the edition of Exchange 2007 (Enterprise or Standard); however, it is able to differentiate between service pack levels. If you have Exchange 2007 Enterprise on the source and Exchange 2007 Standard on the target, you will be limited to only failing over the number of databases or storage groups supported by Exchange 2007 Standard. For more information, see http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/evaluation/editions.mspx The source and target servers must both be running a Microsoft-supported operating system/Exchange combination. Both source and target Exchange versions must be identical. To perform target data verification, you must be using Exchange 2003 with service pack 1 or later. For Exchange 2007, Application Manager may be run on a workstation, provided that the Exchange 2007 Management Tools are installed prior to installing Double-Take Availability.

• To use the Application Manager for Exchange, Double-Take must be running under the localsystem account.
• The client or server that is running the Application Manager must have access to the domain in which the Exchange servers are located.
• The source and target Exchange servers must be in the same root forest domain.
• The source and target servers must be part of the same Exchange Administrative Group.
• The target Exchange server cannot be a domain controller.
• The Exchange configurations on the source and target servers must be identical for the following components:
• Storage groups
• Location of storage groups (log and data files)
• Log file prefixes
• Database locations (log and data files)
• Message Transfer Agent (MTA) location
• Queue paths

Note:

This requirement does not apply to like-named clusters.

• In a parent\child domain, at least one domain controller in the child domain must designated as a global catalog server.
• The Application Manager does not support configurations where Exchange and the domain controller are on the same node of a cluster.
• While installing Exchange Server 2003 on a domain controller is a supported operation, it is not generally recommended. Double-Take Software also does not recommend this configuration. If you must use Exchange Server 2003 on a domain controller, review the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822179

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/332097

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/305065

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304403

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/875427

Note:

Public folder replication issues may occur in environments where public folder replicas are shared between the source, target, and other Exchange server(s). In these environments, event IDs 3085 and 3092 are logged to the Application event log after failback.  For Exchange 2003, no additional steps are required. For Exchange 2007, the Application Manager must be run on a machine that has PowerShell and the Exchange Management snap-in installed in order to address the issue. It is recommended that Application Manager run on the target server.

If you are using the Application Manager for SQL, your system must meet the following requirements.

• The source and target servers must each be running a licensed copy of Microsoft SQL Server. Supported versions include:
• SQL Server 2000 with Service Pack 4 or later
• SQL Server 2005
• SQL Server 2008
• SQL Sever Express

Note:

If you are using SQL Server, you will be prompted to download and install the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 backward compatibility components. This package includes the SQLDMO library, which is required to run the Application Manager. You should use the same version and service pack of SQL Server on both the source and target servers. Exceptions would be that in Database Only protection mode you may use a newer version of SQL Server on the target server or have a 32-bit source and a 64-bit target to perform a failover (for instance, when using Application Manager to facilitate a migration from SQL Server 2000 on the source to SQL Server 2005 on the target, or to migrate data from a 32-bit source to a 64-bit target). You cannot failback when using different versions of SQL Server on the source and target.

• To enable the Application Manager to work with MSDE (SQL Express 2000) and SQL Server 2005 Express, Named Pipes and TCP/IP need to be added to the Enabled Protocols. By default, these are disabled. They must be enabled to accept remote connections.
• For MSDE, you must run the svrnetcn.exe command, which is located in the C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\80\Tools\Binn directory.
• For SQL Server 2005 Express, you must launch the SQL Server Configuration Manager, expand SQL Server 2005 Network Configuration, and for Protocols for MSSQLSERVER enable Named Pipes and TCP/IP.
• To use the Application Manager for SQL, the user logged on to Windows must be a member of the SQL Server sysadmin role on the source and target servers.
• The source and target SQL servers must be in the same domain; otherwise, the SQL Server service on both the source and target servers must be configured to start with the same domain user account.
• When setting up SQL servers in a workgroup, make sure the source server's NIC does not register the IP addresses with DNS.
• In order to protect SQL named instances, both the source and target SQL Servers must have named instances with the exact same name installed prior to configuring protection.
• The Application Manager does not support a SQL default instance that has been configured to use non-default ports.

Note:

Before enabling protection on a SQL Cluster, it is strongly recommended that you configure your cluster so that there is only one instance of SQL Server per owning node on your source and target cluster. For example, SQL instance 1 could be on node 1 and SQL instance 2 could be on node 2, but instances 1 and 2 should NOT reside on the same owning node. This will help spread the load across multiple servers and decrease the risk of problems when attempting to re-enable protection after failover and failback. The following problems may occur if multiple instances reside on the same owning node on the source and target: After failover and failback, you will be able to re-enable protection on the first instance, but when you try to protect subsequent instances, after selecting the source instance, Application Manager will erroneously show that the instance is already protected. Please contact Double-Take Software Technical Support to obtain instructions for fixing this issue. If one instance is failed over, replication will stop on the other protected instances. On the other instances that are not failed over, you will need to do a difference mirror using Double-Take Replication Console in order to resume protection. It is recommended to run Application Managerfrom one of the target nodes in a SQL Server clustered scenario. In order to run Application Manager from a Vista Client to protect a SQL Cluster, you will need to install the Microsoft Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT). Installing the RSAT package will allow you to install the Failover Cluster Manager component that will allow your Vista computer to communicate with and administer Windows 2008 clustered environments

• Double-Take Software strongly recommends that the target file server be a dedicated standby server which does not host any critical applications. During failback for file servers, the Server service is re-started, which could also re-start any dependent services.
• File server protection is currently only supported in a flat domain.

If you are using the Application Manager for SharePoint, your system must meet the following requirements:

• Each source front-end server and target server must be running a licensed copy of one of the following:
• Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) version 3
• Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007

Note:

WSS 3.0 service pack 1 is required for Windows 2008. MOSS 2007 service pack 1 is required for Windows 2008.

• Each source back-end server and target server must be running a licensed copy of SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2005, or SQL Server 2008.

• Windows Firewall—You will need to open port 6350 for SharePoint communication.

Note:

SharePoint protection is currently only supported in a flat domain.

If you are using the Application Manager for BlackBerry, your system must meet the following requirements.

• The source and target servers must each be running a licensed copy of Microsoft SQL Server. Supported versions include:
• SQL Server 2000 with Service Pack 4 or later
• SQL Server 2005
• SQL Express

Note:

If you are using SQL Server, you will be prompted to download and install the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 backward compatibility components. This package includes the SQLDMO library, which is required to run the Application Manager. You should use the same version and service pack of SQL Server on both the source and target servers. The only exception would be that you may use a newer version of SQL Server on the target server to perform a failover while in Database Only protection mode (for instance, when using Application Manager to facilitate a migration from SQL Server 2000 on the source to SQL Server 2005 on the target). You can NOT failback when using different versions of SQL Server on the source and target.

• The source and target servers must each be running a licensed copy of BlackBerry Enterprise Server for Microsoft Exchange versions 4.1.4 through 4.1.6.
• The source and target servers must each be running a licensed copy of Microsoft Exchange Server.

Note:

Double-Take Software recommends that the Exchange version be the same as the operating system version (for example, Windows Server 2003 running Exchange 2003). The source and target servers must both be running a Microsoft-supported operating system/Exchange combination. Both source and target Exchange versions must be identical. To perform target data verification, you must be using Exchange 2003 with service pack 1 or later.