Implement server cluster with Windows2000

Large websites are able to handle tens of millions of accesses each day, but servers are still able to cope with them. The large amount of space provided by the network space service provider is low-cost, which is indeed a bit hard to understand, is there a single server with such high performance in the world? In fact, the server cluster is used to support these massive access requests and numerous data requests. A server cluster is a collection of independent servers that use hardware and software to reasonably distribute network loads to improve overall service performance.
So how to set up a server cluster? The process is not complex. We can use the practical functions provided by Windows2000 Advanced Server edition to easily set up cluster servers.
　
Prerequisites
Windows Cluster
The server Load balancer tool provided in Windows Advanced Server Edition can assign tasks to servers in the server cluster and avoid service failures caused by problems on a server.
　
Heartbeat network cable
Used to connect the network cables between the two servers in the server cluster. Generally, the servers in the server cluster are equipped with two NICs, one of which is used for communication between two server nodes, to check the running status of each node. Once a node has no response, it indicates that the server is faulty. This detection process is called "Heartbeat ".
Disk Array
A disk set composed of hard disks that support hot swapping. The SCSI connection mode is generally used. Most disk arrays are installed in dedicated disk array cabinets.
PERC 2/dc card is the hardware used to connect to the storage peripheral device. It has built-in read/write ROM memory and can be set twice after the factory as needed, PERC 2/dc card is usually used in the server cluster to connect to the disk array.
Solution implementation 1: Basic Server Configuration
Next, configure the server:
1. Connect the Network cable between server 1 and Server 2. Connect the heartbeat Network cable between two Realtek Pci Ethernet 10 m NICs and connect the Intel Pro 100 + Network Card to the hub or switch.
2. install Windows2000 Advanced Server Edition for Server 1.
3. Start Server 1 and configure two NICs on the server respectively. The reserved IP addresses used to connect to the heartbeat network are 192.168.0.1, And the other Nic uses the external IP address of the server. Set Server 1 as a domain controller.
4. install Windows2000 Advanced Server version for Server 2, and add Server 2 to the domain set by Server 1. You can also set different IP addresses for the two NICs of Server 2, note that the two servers must use the same type of network card, and the network card must be configured with the same type of IP address, for example, both are Class C addresses ).
After completing the above steps, the server's hardware and software settings are basically complete. But the next step is the most critical step in Cluster service configuration-configure Windows Cluster!
Solution 2: Configure Windows Cluster
Configure the SCSI disks of the two servers
Start Server 1, but not Server 2. If an external disk array is used in the server cluster, You need to upgrade the PERC 2/DC driver in Windows2000 based on the model. When a RAID disk array is used, the user must configure it based on the use of PERC 2/dc card. The configuration process is similar to that of BIOS, it mainly involves parameters such as system jumper mode and interrupt mode. It can work with the Server Load balancer of Windows2000 Advanced Server Edition.
Go to Computer Management in management tools, and select disk management. All disks currently in use are displayed. Generally, the signature and disk Upgrade Wizard are displayed when you use disk management for the first time. This wizard is mainly used to improve disk access security.
　
The disk in the server cluster must be in the basic state during read/write operations. You can right-click the shortcut menu to change the disk status.
　
Next, configure the built-in SCSI disk of the server, right-click the first disk, and select create disk.
Confirm that the primary partition is selected and the maximum disk space option is enabled. assign a drive letter to the first disk, which is generally in reverse order, that is, the first disk uses the drive letter Z.
Confirm that the current disk uses the NTFS format. Complete the Configuration Wizard and format the first disk. Repeat the preceding steps to complete the configuration of multiple SCSI disks. Configure all the SCSI disks of Server 2 according to the preceding steps. Note that the SCSI disks of Server 2 should be different from those of Server 1.
Shut down Server 2, restart Server 1, and go to disk management in computer management. You can see that there are more disks besides the disks Just configured. In their order, use drive letters of Server 2 to change their drive names and paths. Shut down Server 1, start server 2, and repeat the above steps to complete the SCSI disk sharing of the two servers. In most minicomputers or servers, SCSI disks provide multi-channel power support after the host is powered off, the SCSI disk in use can still be accessed by other servers in the server cluster.
Solution implementation 3: configure the cluster service of the server
Note that both servers must be configured with the cluster service to ensure the system's load balancing. After the cluster service is installed with Windows2000 Advanced Server Edition, the window popped up when the system REBOOT is started for the first time. When configuring the server cluster service, you must keep the two servers started at the same time.
1. Configure cluster service for Server 1
When the server is started, a dialog box is displayed. You can also use the configuration Server Installation tool to open this window.
In the displayed window, click "Configure". Some configuration server instructions are displayed in the window. Click "Next.
When selecting the name of the installation node, select the first node for Server 1.
Enter the name of the local server cluster. Generally, the same name is used here. For example, enter "POPUNET ".
Set the user name and password for the domain account. This domain is similar to the domain we set earlier, but the server cluster management function is added for convenience, generally, the user name and password are the same as those of the domain controller.
Click "Next" to enter the shared disk Window. You can see the previously set shared disk.
Click "Next" and select the cluster file storage directory. Note that these files are stored in the shared disk. Generally, select the first disk Z.
Click "Next" to configure the intel pro 100 + network card Nic to connect to the external NETWORK, and configure the Realtek PCI Ethernet 10 m Nic to connect to the Intranet cluster.
In this step, configure an IP address for the server cluster. Note that this IP address is the IP address of the cluster on the internet, set the subnet mask of the server cluster to 255.255.255.0, and click Finish, this completes the cluster configuration for Server 1.
2. Configure the cluster service of Server 2.
The cluster service configuration of Server 2 is roughly the same as that of Server 1. Here we mainly point out their differences.
Use the second or next node when selecting the name of the installation node.
The cluster name of Server 2 should be the same as the cluster name set by Server 1. Otherwise, shared disks may not be accessible to each other.
Use the same settings as Server 1 when setting domain accounts.
By now, the installation of the server cluster has been basically completed. Next, you can configure other services of the server based on the specific functions of the server in the network. Note that the server in the server cluster must use the same settings when configuring other services such as WEB, SMTP, and NNTP. Otherwise, the server is unstable.
Solution verification: test the server cluster
If you want to verify the feasibility of this solution, you can use the "cluster management" function on servers that use non-domain controllers.
On the "cluster management" page, you can see all the servers in the current cluster server. The accessed servers are displayed with a green "UP" and click each server, you can set the cluster service attributes. At the same time, you can use any server in the cluster to browse all the shared disks. 5) disable any server or multiple servers, and then use other computers to access the cluster, still accessible. Verify that the solution is successfully implemented!

7: Notes
1. A server cluster requires at least two computers as the master and slave servers.
2. the disk size of the slave server must be able to mirror all necessary partitions on the master server. Windows does not support partitioning and mirroring across different hard disks. Therefore, you cannot mirror a partition on one hard disk to two smaller hard disks.
3. At least two Intel PRO/100B NICs used as dedicated data links are required.
4. dedicated data connections (Heartbeat wires) can be made with cat5e or cat5e twisted pair wires.
5. The method for creating a dedicated data connection is to connect Nic 1, 2, 3, and 6 ).
6. It is best to back up data regularly, just in case. Since the system was running in our hospital, there has been a master server crash, but it did not affect the client application at that time, but the access speed was slowed down, and the server cluster did play its due role.
How Server clusters work
Server Load balancer is implemented in a centralized server group to process requests distributed across servers. Different servers in the Server Load balancer cluster share the processing load, but do not share resources such as disk arrays or memory. If one of the servers fails, the processing load can be simply re-distributed to the surviving nodes in the cluster.