Detailed setup steps for Windows Server 2003 load Balancing (reprint)

Disclaimer: This article is reproduced.

When a server (including Web servers, FTP servers, or streaming media servers, etc.) is put into the network, as the number of clients increases, people often need servers that are more powerful and processing faster. To solve this problem, it is obviously not a good idea to replace the original server with a more powerful, faster server. But if you can add a new server to the processing power of the original server instead of replacing it, this scheme is undoubtedly more acceptable to the user. The presence of a Network Load Balancing (BALANCING,NLB) cluster is exactly what it does.

   first, Network Load Balancing Introduction
The NLB cluster first appears in Windows Server ADVThis feature is available in anced server systems in various versions of Windows Server 2003. The NLB cluster allows users to combine two or more servers, and the client looks like a server.  Connection requests that enter the NLB cluster can be decomposed to two or more NLB cluster members, so that users can add more servers (up to 32) to form a very powerful FTP site or Web site. In an NLB cluster, each server has its own static IP address, but all servers in the NLB cluster also have a common IP address-nlb the cluster address. The client can connect to the NLB cluster through this IP address as if it were connected to a different IP address.  When a client requests to connect to this shared IP address, the NLB cluster assigns each access request a specific cluster member. Although an NLB cluster is a very concise tool, the installation configuration NLB cluster must meet stringent requirements, such as ensuring that the server in the cluster must be able to run properly and independently. For an example of installing an NLB cluster that configures a two node, these conditions are summarized as follows:
(1) Each node server must have a static IP address, and a static IP address should also be prepared for the NLB cluster.
(2) The NLB cluster needs to have a DNS name, and the DNS record entry should have a mapping relationship with the IP address of the zone cluster.

(3) Each node server should have identical server software installed (such as IIS, Terminal Server, and other network services) to form a two-node NLB cluster. In the next section, you will learn how to install a simpler NLB cluster-a Web server cluster with two nodes. The server cluster environment to which you want to install the configuration is: Two servers running Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, which can be referred to as Node 1 and Node 2. Because all NLB cluster members must use a static IP address that belongs to the same subnet, the static IP address to be assigned to Node 1 is "10.115.223.1" and the static IP address to be assigned to Node 2 is "10.1115.223.2". The IP address assigned to the NLB cluster is 10.115.223.10. Once you know about NLB and the configuration environment, you can do it in more detail now.

second, set static IP address and component installation

  Each node in the NLB cluster has a static IP address that is the primary and necessary condition for installing the NLB cluster.  We first configure the Node 1. On the desktop of the Node 1 server, right-click Network Places to open the networking window.  Then right-click the Local Area Connection icon and execute the Properties shortcut command to open the Local Area Connection Properties dialog box. In the Local Area Connection Properties dialog box, double-click the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) option to open the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties dialog box. On the General tab, click the "Use the following IP address" radio box and specify a static IP address. This example uses the IP address of "10.115.223.1", the subnet mask is "255.255.254.0", the default gateway is "10.115.223.254", and the DNS server address is "10.115.223.1" (1).                          ,         &NB Sp                                 &NBSP ;  Installation of the deployment Web Service in Windows Server 2003 requires support for IIS 6.0, but IIS 6.0 components are not installed by default, so the IIS 6.0 components are installed manually.  In Control Panel, double-click the Add or Remove Programs icon to open the Windows Components Wizard dialog box by clicking the Add/Remove Windows Components button in the Add or Remove Programs dialog box that opens. Locate and double-click the Application Server check box in the Components list and open the Internet Information Services (IIS) dialog box by double-clicking the Internet Information Services (IIS) option in the Application Server dialog box that opens. Locate and tick the World Wide Web Services check box in the Subcomponents list, click OK/OK/Next button to start the installation. Finally, click the Finish button to end the installation process (2).                                                           To install Web services for Node 2 in the same way The component of the device.

Third. Creating cluster Host Records

It is recommended that DNS be prepared before installing the NLB cluster, in this case Node 1 is also a DNS server in the network.  You can assign a DNS name to the cluster on Node 1, click Start/All Programs/Administrative Tools/dns, and then open the Dnsmagt window. In the left pane, expand the servername/forward Lookup Zones directory. Then right-click the domain name "cPCW.com area, execute the new host Shortcut Command (3). In the Create New Host dialog box, type a custom cluster name in the name edit box (in this case, type "Cluster"), and in the IP Address edit box, type the static IP address that you want the cluster to designate (in this case, "10.115.223.10"). Click the Add Host button and you will soon be prompted to successfully create the host record (4).

Fourth. Installing configuration NLB on Node 1

Once you have prepared your preparations, you can install the NLB cluster. For two nodes, it is possible to install a configuration NLB cluster on which node first. Below we will install the configuration on Node 1.
On the Desktop of Node 1, right-click the Network Places icon to open the Networking Connections window. Then right-click the Local Area Connection icon and execute the Properties shortcut command to open the Local Area Connection Properties dialog box.
Observe the "This connection uses the following items" list to discover that the Network Load Balancing check box is not selected by default. Tick the check box (5), and then click the Properties button to open the Network Load Balancing Properties dialog box. In the cluster IP address area, set the NLB cluster IP address to "10.115.223.10", which is shared by all members of the cluster, and the subnet mask is "255.255.254.0", which should be consistent with the subnet mask of all nodes; "Full Internet Name" Type the full NLB cluster name, which has already established a DNS mapping relationship with the cluster IP address beforehand. In addition, for the unicast and multicast modes available in cluster operation mode, it is recommended that you keep the unicast mode selected. Because, according to practical experience, the "multicast" model is not of much use, and the pattern often makes someRoutersThere is a problem.                                                                                                                             Alternatively, if the user prefers to manage the NLB cluster using remote control, you can also choose the Allow Remote Control check box (6). Tip: Users should set exactly the same parameters in the Network Load Balancing Properties dialog box for each cluster node.

Click the Host Parameters tab to configure the same cluster parameters for each member of the cluster in the host parameters tabs. In private IP configuration, you need to fill in the IP address and subnet mask that the local server owns, not the cluster IP address. There is also a need to adjust the priority settings (each node should have different priority levels). When you are finished setting up, click OK/OK to return to the Local Area Connection Properties dialog box.

Fifth. Adding a cluster IP address to a node 1

Set the properties to complete Network Load balancing, and you will also need to add the cluster IP address to Node 1. In the Local Area Connection Properties dialog box, double-click the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) option to open the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties dialog box.  Then click the Advanced button to open the Advanced TCP/IP Settings dialog box. In the IP Settings tab, click the Add button to add a second IP address for node 1, which should be the cluster IP address, and the subnet mask should be consistent with the prior settings, in this case "255.255.254.0".                                                      Click OK to finish setting and close the Local Area Connection Properties dialog box (7). In order to verify the correctness of the settings, it is recommended to perform "IPCOnfig/all "command to check.                                         Type the command line "Ipconfig/all" in the Command Prompt window and enter, if you can return two sets of IP address information, the configuration is correct (8). Tip: If the returned information contains an IP address such as "0.0.0.0", it is recommended that the user wait for about 5 minutes to try again, because the NLB cluster needs about 5 minutes to configure.

Sixth. Configuration Node 2

After you finish installing the NLB cluster operation on node 1, you need to configure Node 2. The configuration steps for Node 2 are basically the same as those on Node 1, in general, including the following:
(1) Set a static IP address for node 2, in this case, the static IP address assigned to Node 2 is "10.115.223.2", the subnet mask is "255.255.254.0", the default gateway is "10.115.223.254", and the DNS server address is " 10.115.223.1 ".
(2) Install the Web Services component and configure the Web service.
(3) Select the Network Load Balancing option, set the exact same parameters as node 1 in the Cluster Parameters dialog box, and then set the IP address to "10.115.223.2" in the Host Parameters tab and the subnet mask to "255.255.254.0" (9). (4) Enter the Advanced TCP/IP Settings dialog box to add the cluster IP address as a second IP address to Node 2.

Tip: After you close all of the dialog boxes and property pages, NLB takes about a few minutes to complete the configuration process. Usually, in the process of configuring Node 2, a variety of error reports, such as "TCP/IP Configuration Error" and other information, encountered in this situation do not need to intervene, the system will handle itself.

Seventh. NLB Cluster validation management and remediation

  You can now perform cluster validation on any computer that is on the same network segment as the NLB cluster. Open Internet Explorer, type the static IP address of each node (that is, the IP address of the two Web servers) in the Address bar, and enter, and the user will see the home page of each server. Type the cluster IP address and enter, and the user will see one of the two servers on the home page.  This indicates that the NLB cluster configuration is successful and Network Load balancing is already possible.  Tip: Do not attempt to ping another node from an NLB cluster node because the negative effect of the NLB cluster is that although all cluster members can accept access requests from clients, the cluster nodes cannot communicate with each other.  When NLB begins to work, the user can manage NLB with three separate tools: The Network Load Balancing Properties dialog box, the Network Load Balancing Manager, and the NLB.exe command-line tool located in the folder%SystemRoot%\System32. The configuration management of the NLB cluster through the Network Load Balancing Properties dialog box has been discussed in the previous article about installing the configuration NLB.  Using the Network Load Balancing Manager, you can use multiple clusters in the same interface (by executing the Connect to existing command in the cluster menu), so managing with the tool is the preferred method. Click Start/All Programs/Administrative Tools/Network Load Balancing Manager to open the Network Load Balancing Manager window. Unfortunately, the name of the cluster and host to which the user is connected cannot be persisted between sessions, so the list of clusters in the left pane is empty each time the Network Load Balancing Manager is started. However, the user can save the list to a text file and load the text file at a later time when the tool is launched. Execute the File/Save host list/load host List command sequentially in the Network Load Balancing Manager window (10).                          ,         &NB Sp                         Other events related to NLB cluster operations are logged in the System event log when NLB fails Later, the user should first check the system event log to determine which link has failed.     in fact, Network Load Balancing is the enterprise network non-A common application, reasonable application can not only take the enterprise's network equipment to regain vitality, but also by combining the original performance of the product to achieve higher performance, so as to provide users with scientific and competent services.  

Detailed setup steps for Windows Server 2003 load Balancing (reprinted)