What are the different clustering options in Exchange 2003?

Which one would you

choose and why.
Windows Clustering technologies can help you achieve scalability, availability,
reliability, and fault tolerance for your Exchange 2003 organization. A cluster
consists of individual computers (also called nodes) that function cohesively in a
Cluster service. These computers act as network service providers or as reserve
computers that assume the responsibilities of failed nodes. Depending on how you
configure your cluster, clustering can simplify the process of recovering a single
server from disasters.

In a clustering environment, Exchange runs as a virtual server (not as a stand-

alone server) because any node in a cluster can assume control of a virtual server.
If the node running the EVS experiences problems, the EVS goes offline for a brief
period until another node takes control of the EVS. All recommendations for
Exchange clustering are for active/passive configurations. For information about
active/passive and active/active cluster configurations, see “Cluster
Configurations” later in this topic.

A recommended configuration for your Exchange 2003 cluster is a four-node cluster

comprised of three active nodes and one passive node. Each of the active nodes
contains one EVS. This configuration is cost-effective because it allows you to run
three active Exchange servers, while maintaining the failover security provided by
one passive server.

To create Exchange 2003 clusters, you must use Windows Clustering.

Windows Clustering is a feature of Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition and
Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition. The Windows Cluster service controls all
aspects of Windows Clustering.
When you run Exchange 2003 Setup on a Windows Server 2003 cluster node, the
cluster-aware version of Exchange is automatically installed.