BE6K v11.5 (CUCM) backup

[mapicallo]

is possible with a BE6K v11.5 (CUCM) to configure a cluster so that a server / node can be a backup of up to 10 active servers / nodes?

[Maren Mahoney]

Can you restate what you are asking? What is the scenario?

Are you asking if a BE6K can be a fall-back for a regular cluster? (That's how I'm parsing what you wrote.)

Maren

[mapicallo]

I specified a little more my question in the post

[mapicallo]

I specified a little more my question in the post

[George Sotiropoulos]

Hello mapicallo?

Please can you be a bit more specific of what you are trying to achieve? Do you ask if the CUCM server (within BE6K) can be a member of a cluster ?

G

[mapicallo]

suppose we have the following requirement:

*”The Voice Communications solution, which supports the Call Control and Management functionalities (Call Manager), should be able to support a virtualization platform, and should be configured in Fault Tolerant and HA (High Availability) configuration.

The telephony server must have the following redundancy mechanisms that can coexist simultaneously in the same solution,

Server redundancy: Ability to configure a cluster so that a redundant server (in stand-by mode) can be back-up of up to 10 active servers.”

* with a BE6K v11.5 platform is it possible to achieve this level of redundancy and backup?

* I see that through the DRS (Disaster Recovery System) it is possible to configure a similar backup level, I understand that BE6K works with the CUCM. DRS comes by default in the CUCM? :

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/cucm/admin/12_0_1/admin/cucm_b_administration-guide-1201/cucm_b_administration-guide-1201_chapter_01011.html

[Maren Mahoney]

I think you might be talking about two different things. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

The DRS (backup) function allows you to configure up to 10 different SFTP servers as the target of backups. That is true in CUCM and also in CUCMBE. The documentation link you provided goes to the DRS document.

CUCM high-availability is in the form of a cluster of servers. In CUCM, a single CUCM call processing node (running the Cisco CallManager Service) can be the final failover for call control for as many Cisco Unified CM Groups as you want. However, only 8 call processing nodes (all active-active) can exist in a standard cluster. To have more than 8 call processing nodes in a cluster you must have a Mega-Cluster/Super-Cluster.

BE6K's CUCM instance, on the other hand, is only a single server and cannot be clustered. The BE6K platform comes with 10 different applications (CUCM, CUC, IMP, CER, UCCX, etc.) available. But the system is intended for small business so it is deployed as a single blade/system with only once instance of any of those applications.

Does this clarify? Did I understand your scenario correctly?

Maren

[Jaime Valencia]

BE6K's CUCM instance, on the other hand, is only a single server and cannot be clustered. The BE6K platform comes with 10 different applications (CUCM, CUC, IMP, CER, UCCX, etc.) available. But the system is intended for small business so it is deployed as a single blade/system with only once instance of any of those applications.

No, that's wrong, you can cluster your BE6K CUCM just as any other CUCM deployment (PUB + 8 SUBs), caveat is that even with that amount of resources, you're still limited to the number of devices and users from the BE6K platform (as the smallest platform determines the overall cluster capacity). You'd only get redundancy, not increased cluster capacity as would happen with a regular CUCM deployment.

The only BE option that was unable to be clustered, was the old BE5K

[Maren Mahoney]

You are quite right. My mistake.

[TONY SMITH]

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@mapicallo wrote:

suppose we have the following requirement:

*”The Voice Communications solution, which supports the Call Control and Management functionalities (Call Manager), should be able to support a virtualization platform, and should be configured in Fault Tolerant and HA (High Availability) configuration.

The telephony server must have the following redundancy mechanisms that can coexist simultaneously in the same solution,

Server redundancy: Ability to configure a cluster so that a redundant server (in stand-by mode) can be back-up of up to 10 active servers.”

---

That looks like it might have been a requirement in an RFQ or similar, but it does not look as if the author understands CUCM.  For example it's not clear what they mean by "stand-by mode".  It's also not clear whether by "server" they are referring to a CUCM instance or to a VMware host.  It's possible (although not normal) within a CUCM cluster to configure a single server to act as backup for more than one live server, but the maximum number of call processing servers is 8 including backups.  

I think it might be better to phrase the question differently.  What is the actual function that is required?  Then people will be able to advise on the best cluster configuration that will fulfil that requirement, and then determine whether BE6K can be used.

[JuanDiego]

When you said: "It's possible (although not normal) within a CUCM cluster to configure a single server to act as backup for more than one live server, but the maximum number of call processing servers is 8 including backups.  "

For example, if I have a CUCM cluster of 10 call processing server, Could I have a single server to act as backup for those 10 live servers?

[TONY SMITH]

As has just been said you can't have more than 8 call processing servers including backups, so on that basis alone you can't have one server backing up 10 call processing servers.  That would make 11 in total.

Can you explain more about what you're trying to achieve?  I can't think of any real scenario where you'd want anything like this.

[Jaime Valencia]

That would be a mega-cluster which:

A) Would need to be submitted to Cisco for approval.

B) A mega-cluster MUST have a 1:1 redundancy configuration.

[TONY SMITH]

Can you even use BE6K in a Megacluster?   My reading was that you need to use the 7,500 or 10,000 user profiles.  Or can the current BE6K hardware support those profiles?

[Jaime Valencia]

I assumed his question was based on a regular CUCM deployment, not a BE6K, however the mega-cluster while most of the time is used to increase the cluster capacity above 40K devices, may also be used to provide enhanced redundancy while keeping below the 40K devices. In that last instance, I'm not too sure if they would ask for the same OVA requirements or not. In either case, it's always up to the mega-cluster team to determine the guidelines for approval.