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In this white paper, HP demonstrates how to automate the deployment of Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 on HP BladeSystem Server Blades using HP ProLiant Essentials Rapid Deployment Pack (RDP) and Virtual Bay Technology. Automated deployment provides the following benefits:
- Faster server installations
- Well-documented installations
- Reduction of errors introduced during manual installations
- Simplified deployment kit and service pack management
- Implementation of change management best practices
- Reproducible scripted installations
- Complicated installation procedures reduced to a single drag-and-drop operation
- Facilitate implementations from bare metal hardware to a fully configured Microsoft Exchange Server 2003
Overview
The installation of Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 involves a complicated series of tasks and interdependencies that can consume a considerable amount of time. The number of individual tasks required to deploy an Exchange Server 2003 can lead to improperly configured Exchange servers and slight variations between server deployments. Through the use of scripted deployments, an organization can ensure that all servers are configured and deployed with exactly the same options selected. Utilizing a scripted solution also provides the benefits of maintaining a record of the installation; this assists IT organizations with their change management process and documentation requirements.
RDP includes a feature that allows organizations to pre-configure HP BladeSystem enclosure slots. This allows the naming, network configuration, and job execution to be assigned to individual enclosure slots and is automatically applied to Server Blades as they are installed into the enclosure. HP Virtual Bay technology can be used to automatically provision Exchange Server 2003 on HP BladeSystem server blades as the server blades are installed into an HP BladeSystem enclosure.
This document explains how to automate the installation of Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2003. Generally, the installation process can be organized into the following operations.
- Virtual Bay Technology predefines a Computer Name, IP Address, and deployment job with an enclosure bay.
- Windows Server 2003 Server Enterprise Edition SP1 integrated Installation
- Creating a computer account within the Windows Domain
- Exchange Server 2003 Unattended Installation
- Exchange Server SP2 2003 Unattended Installation
Each step can be deployed individually or grouped together to bring a server from an out-of-box configuration to a fully functioning Exchange server by simply installing the server blade into a preconfigured enclosure slot or using a single drop of an RDP job.
The hardware used for this document consisted of an HP BladeSystem p-Class Enclosure with six HP ProLiant BL20p and one ProLiant BL45p server blades, as illustrated in Figure 1. The text boxes describe the Virtual Bay configuration applied to each enclosure bay and
the steps performed by the RDP Server Deployment Job created to automate the deployment of Exchange Server 2003 on each server blade.
The following software versions were used in the creation of this document.
- HP ProLiant Rapid Deployment Package (RDP) V220
- Exchange Server 2003 Enterprise Edition SP2
- Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition SP1
- ProLiant Support Pack for Windows 7.40A
- ILO V1.82
- Enclosure Firmware Version V2.20
Target audience
This document is intended for a technical audience, including systems engineers and integrators familiar with the administration of Windows Server 2003, Exchange Server 2003, HP Rapid Deployment Pack and HP BladeSystem servers.
HP ProLiant Essentials Rapid Deployment Pack (RDP)
The HP ProLiant Essentials Rapid Deployment Pack automates the process of deploying and provisioning server software, enabling companies to quickly and easily adapt to changing business demands. Included in the HP ProLiant Essentials Rapid Deployment Pack are the following features and benefits:
- ProLiant Integration Module featuring ProLiant server pre-configured scripts and integrated support software
- Provides instant out-of-the-box functionality for ProLiant servers
- Specially designed with advanced features for ProLiant blade servers
- Integrates Remote Lights-Out capabilities
The first step in the installation is to create an Exchange-ready deployment job that can be modified to facilitate the installation of Exchange Server 2003. In the RDP console, right click on the Server Deployment Job titled Deploy ProLiant ML/DL/BL + Windows Server 2003 Enterprise + PSP. Select copy to create a copy of this deployment job. Paste this job into the Server Deployment Folder and rename it to Virtual Bay Exchange Ready Deploy ProLiant ML/DL/BL + Windows Server 2003 Enterprise + PSP.
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