Achieve 99.999% Uptime (Continued)

Once you have selected the key applications for your platform and you've got the right hardware, what's next? That's when the testing begins. First is the Datacenter Hardware Compatibility Test (HCT). This test runs a comprehensive series of programs against your proposed hardware, operating system, and software configuration for 14 days. This tests kernel mode drivers, server configuration, all applications or components that require kernel mode access (as opposed to user mode), and the storage subsystem you've put in place. If your system passes a 14-day test without fail it's on its way to approval. This first test is serious. If you change anything in the configuration, anything, you'll have to run the test again for seven days without failure.

Next is the predeployment audit. This audit consists of running Datacenter's Configuration Audit Test tool on your system. This will document the configuration of the server as it has been initially installed. Microsoft recommends running this tool on a regular basis to ensure that you have a history of configuration changes in your system. Once your configuration has been fully documented, you move on to enter the High Availability Support program. This gives you access to the High Availability Resolution Queue that provides 24/7 joint hardware manufacturer and Microsoft support 365 days a year. This program has evolved since the Windows 2000 edition of Datacenter to provide a single location for joint support. Datacenter is also not implemented if you do not have a documented change management strategy, which includes a change control service. This will ensure that your Datacenter evolves properly, includes appropriate patches, and maintains its status as a qualified configuration on an ongoing basis.

Move on to the Five Nines
Each partner has its own implementation program (see the sidebar, "The Unisys Datacenter") and all are complete and comprehensive. They have to because Microsoft takes Datacenter seriously, as do the partners. Microsoft has a lot at stake when trying to prove the reliability of a Windows-based Datacenter, especially in light of the increasing number of attacks on its products. This is why moving to Windows Datacenter is like entering another world. In reality, you are entering the world of the mainframe where every process is controlled and nothing happens without a reason. Datacenter provides service levels in the five nines, but has yet to support the complete disappearance of the standalone server.

Most Datacenter customers today have migrated applications to this system, but have not moved toward the complete replacement of all Windows servers by one big machine. It is possible, but so far customers are reluctant to do so. This means that the Windows Datacenter can include a mainframe running core applications along with a few standalone servers running services such as Active Directory, Domain Name System, Microsoft Operations Manager, and so on.

But don't kid yourself. Given the proper configuration, Datacenter Server can replace all of your standalone servers and give you the performance and availability levels you used to get from character-based mainframes. This would let you manage a much more virtual and integrated Windows IT system, one that ensures all systems are go from day one and will continue to be so from then on. If you're tired of running multiple servers, sometimes in the multiple hundreds of servers, and you can locate them in a single data center, then Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition might be the right choice for you. At first look, it seems more expensive than what you've got, but don't discount it. In the end, your Datacenter solution might be considerably less costly than many single servers. Move over old-style mainframes, this is the age of the graphical mainframe.

About the Author
Danielle Ruest and Nelson Ruest (MCSE, MCT) are multiple book authors focusing on systems design, administration, and management. They run a consulting company that concentrates on IT infrastructure architecture and change and configuration management. You can reach them at .