Is this method of installing backup store servers good?

[fultonj]

Is this method of installing backup store servers good?

I'm doing a multi server install. I have two data centers each with a pair of store servers and a SAN. Two store servers in one data center will remain in production the two in the other data center are for disaster recovery and would be given the same network names during fail over.

I'm able to push block level clones of LUNs between data centers quickly via EMC SAN Copy. During the multi server install you install the right server in the right order (ldap, store, mta, proxy). For two store servers, with two passive backups I can either:

1. Install all four store servers as if they're going into production at once.

2. Install only two store servers, finish the install, and finally shut the installed store servers down and clone their /opt/zimbra to the second SAN for the second set of store servers to use.

Option two seems simpler since I don't want to confuse the multi server set into thinking that my backup servers are an active part of the set and then try to remove them and stop their zimbra processes. I also plan to clone the production LUNs regularly for quicker recovery and to get users back to a point in time clone of their data in a disaster (after an e2fsck).

Are there any potential problems with this plan or better ways to achieve my goal?

Thanks,
John

[fultonj]

I'm going forward with #2. Other admins said they'd be doing too (just on on this forum). I'll post any snags I run into here.