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Exchange 2013 DAG, two nodes, a dedicated GBE network interface on each server for replication traffic, connected to a GBE switch, using a dedicated VLAN.

Is there any benefit to Exchange replication traffic in enabling Ethernet Jumbo Frames both on the server NICs and on the switch?

Is there any potential problem?

Massimo
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    As mfinni stated in his answer I wouldn't foresee any real risk but I also wouldn't foresee a huge benefit either. – joeqwerty Oct 15 '14 at 17:33
  • The question came up because I'm setting up an Exchange cluster and a Hyper-V cluster on the same network, and Jumbo Frames have been enabled on the switch and on Hyper-V servers because this is quite benefical for live VM migration. I was just wondering if Exchange replication could also get any benefit from it. – Massimo Oct 15 '14 at 19:16
  • Coincidentally, I have a client running a Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V cluster with a two-node Exchange 2010 DAG. They aren't using Jumbo frames either. The only "extra" consideration for the DAG was to configure an isolated DAG replication network (by way of a VLAN) to keep DAG replication traffic off of the client facing network. – joeqwerty Oct 15 '14 at 20:15
  • Jumbo Frames on Hyper-V are useful for iSCSI and in VM live migration (where the whole running state of a VM needs to be quickly transferred to another host); they are basically useless for VM traffic, unless a VM has a very high and sustained network usage. – Massimo Oct 15 '14 at 21:28

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I'm not aware of any risks, but I'm not sure you'll see a lot of benefit, unless you know some quirks about your environment that you're not describing. My current client has a ~6500-mailbox organization, and a 3-node DAG, with the third node across a metro WAN link, I think 50 Mbit. Replication worked just fine. And that's under Ex2010 / Server 2K8 R2 - DAG is a tech that keeps getting better.

Unless you've done some benchmarking that shows you need the increased throughput from jumbo frames, I would simply, from a maintenance/manageability standpoint, keep it normal.

mfinni
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  • The question came up because I'm setting up an Exchange cluster and a Hyper-V cluster on the same network, and Jumbo Frames have been enabled on the switch and on Hyper-V servers because this is quite benefical for live VM migration. I was just wondering if Exchange replication could also get any benefit from it. – Massimo Oct 15 '14 at 19:17