Cisco BE6000 Cluster capabilities

[jamesbruce]

Hi all,

Not sure if this is the correct area, if not let me know for this question.

We have a client with a Cisco BE6000 M, single UCS server running CUCM and Unity. It is fast approaching end of life/Support.

We are going to replace it with a new UCS Server.

My question is this: Is it possible to deploy the new server with CUCM/Unity, set it up in HA with existing server we will retire, then retire the old server leaving the new server in place? 

If so, how will that affect the HA setup, and licensing?

Additionally, if this is possible without adverse effect, and the client decided to add a second server to a branch location with its own PRI/Gateway and inbound numbers, could that be set up in a cluster with the new one deployed at the main site?

Or is it better to do fresh install and backup the old server CUCM/Unity and restore to the new server,  take the old one offline, then deploy a second one at the branch location and cluster with the new at main site?

Thanks to all in advance for replies.

[Chris Deren]

You could, but remember there is only one Publisher in CUCM cluster and one in Unity, so if you add another node to lets say to CUCM cluster it would need to be a Subscriber, then when you remove your UCS server hosting the Pub you will obviously have issues.  Your best option would be to migrate/upgrade current virtual machines to the new UCS server and then if you still want Subs hosted on the old UCS servers you can deploy new Subs joining the existing already migrated Pub. Check out Cisco PCD free application that simplifies the migration (assuming you are upgrading at the same time).

[jamesbruce]

Thanks Cris,

If you dont mind, i'd like to ask one more question:

Considering the answer you provided, I think i'll just replace the old be6000 with new hardware and migrate/move vm's to the new hardware.

However, the client has a branch site with phones and pstn numbers for the branch site in the current cucm/unity server.

Is it possible to get  second be6k, gateway and PRI for the branch site, move the existing branch phones/extensions to the new branch Be6k, port the branch numbers to the new branch pri, and still be able to have the client use 4 digit dialing between sites?

Would that be an SRST or Cluster HA Setup?

[Ratheesh Kumar]

Hi there

Yes, you can deploy another server for your remote branch office and a local gateway for PSTN breakout.

When deploying you can create the CM Group and Device Pools local to that site and configure all your remote phones to register in that CUCM SUB.

The inbound calling is totally depend on your ITSP and you can decide on your internal dial plan. Since this remote site is running with CUCM SUB and this creates the possibility to dial internally to your HQ as well.

Hope this helps
Cheers
Rath!

***Please rate helpful posts***

[Chris Deren]

BE6K is not a gateway, it's a marketing name for a Cisco UCS server hosting Cisco UC applications.  You can certainly use the old UCS server to host redundant CUCM and Unity and deploy (if not already there) a voice gateway at the remote site. I would not recommend deploying separate CUCM cluster just for the remote location, have the devices from there register to the central system and perhaps provision the remote gateway with SRST to get basic backup in case WAN connection goes down.

You may want to read on the Cisco Collab Preferred Architecture document to get better understanding:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/uc_system/design/guides/PAdocs.html

HTH, please rate all useful posts!

Chris