Microsoft Load Balancing and

Clustering
Outline
Introduction
Load balancing
Clustering
Introduction
Server cluster is used to provide failover support
for applications and services.
A Server cluster can consist of several nodes
(computers).
Each node is attached to one or more cluster
storage devices.
Cluster storage devices allow different servers to
share the same data, and by reading this data
provide failover for resources.
Introduction
Load balancing is used to scale the system
as the client requests are increased
It is suitable for static data which can be
copied to several load balancing servers
Each server is autonomous which means
they dont share any state information
Cluster Farm
A farm is a group of servers that run similar
services, but do not typically share data.
They are called a farm because they handle
whatever requests are passed out to them using
identical copies of data that is stored locally.
Because they use identical copies of data (rather
than sharing data), members of a farm operate
autonomously and are also referred to as clones.
Front-end Web servers running Internet
Information Services (IIS) and using NLB are an
example of a farm.
Cluster Pack
A pack is a group of servers that operate together and share partitioned
data.
They are called a pack because they work together to manage and
maintain services.
Because members of a pack share access to partitioned data, they have
unique operations modes and usually access the shared data on disk
drives to which all members of the pack are connected.
An example of a pack is a database Server cluster running SQL Server
2000 and a server cluster with partitioned database views. Members of
the pack share access to the data and have a unique chunk of data or
logic that they handle, rather than handling all data requests.
In a 4-node SQL Server cluster:
Database Server 1 may handle accounts that begin with A-F.
Database Server 2 may handle accounts that begin with G-M.
Database Server 3 may handle accounts that begin with N-S.
Database Server 4 may handle accounts that begin with T-Z.
Server configurations
Server clusters can be setup using many different
configurations.
Servers can be either active or passive, and
different servers can be configured to take over the
failed resources of another server.
Failover can take several minutes, depending on
the configuration and the application being used,
but is designed to be transparent to the end-user.
Clients
Windows Clustering
The Big Picture
IIS Web Server
or other IP based services
Network Load
Balancing
1
2
32
3

4
Data Servers
SQL, Exchange, File
Cluster Service
Clustering more detailed picture

Windows Clustering:
Addressing Concerns
Scalability
Scale Up
Scale Out
High Availability
99.9% Uptime
Manageability
Remote
UI and Command line
Windows Clustering
Vocabulary
MSCS Server clusters provide failover of resources
representing services, applications and base system
features between the servers in the Cluster.
NLB (WLBS) Network Load Balancing clusters
distribute client requests or TCP/IP network traffic
among many servers in the Cluster.
Cluster A group of independent computers that
work together to run a common set of applications
and provide the image of a single system to the client
and application.
Nodes or Hosts Each system in a cluster
configuration.
Server Clusters
Physical design
Client PCs
Public network
Private network
(heartbeats, status, control)
RAID disk sets
Multi-initiator SCSI or
SCSI over Fibre Channel
Cluster servers
Server Clusters
Recommended Environments
Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 & 7.0
Microsoft Exchange 5.5
File shares
Printer shares
Other cluster-aware applications & services
Typical uses are for data that changes
frequently and cannot be easily replicated.
NLB Host NLB Host
NLB Virtual
IP Address
NLB Host NLB Host NLB Host
Internet/
intranet


Network Load Balancing
Logical Design
No single point of
failure
No performance
bottleneck
No additional hardware
needed
Grow incrementally as
demand increases
Up to 32 nodes in a
cluster
Handle both planned and unplanned server downtime
transparently
Configuring NLB with two network
adapters
1. Assign appropriate IP addresses to each NIC, placing the NICs in separate
subnets. Rename the first NIC Public and the second to NLB, do this for
each machine.

* Node1
o "Public" NIC
* IP address: 10.10.10.11
* Subnet: 255.255.255.0
* Gateway: 10.10.10.1
* DNS: as appropriate

o "NLB" NIC
* IP address: 192.168.1.1
* Subnet: 255.255.255.0
* Gateway: N/A
* DNS: N/A

2. On the "Public" NICs, click "Advanced" and add an additional IP address
as the Virtual IP Address which clients will connect to from the Public
network (i.e. - 10.10.10.169)

Node2 -
o "Public" NIC
* IP address: 10.10.10.12
* Subnet: 255.255.255.0
* Gateway: 10.10.10.1
* DNS: as appropriate

o "NLB" NIC
* IP address: 192.168.1.2
* Subnet: 255.255.255.0
* Gateway: N/A
* DNS: N/A

Infrastructure Scaling

Clustering on different Windows
versions

Architecting Multi-node Clusters

Multiple Sites and Geographically
Dispersed Clusters

Cluster models
Single node server clusters can be configured with, or
without, external cluster storage devices. For single node
clusters without an external cluster storage device, the
local disk is configured as the cluster storage device.
Single quorum device server clusters have two or more
nodes and are configured so that every node is attached to
one or more cluster storage devices. The cluster
configuration data is stored on a single cluster storage
device.
Majority node set server clusters have two or more nodes
but the nodes may or may not be attached to one or more
cluster storage devices. The cluster configuration data is
stored on multiple disks across the cluster and the Cluster
service makes sure that this data is kept consistent across
the different disks.
Cluster application types
Cluster-unaware applications. These types of applications do not
interact with the server cluster at all but can still fail over. Failure
detection is limited. The Cluster service protects these applications
mainly against hardware failures.
Cluster-aware applications. These types of applications are
characterized by superior failure detection. The Cluster service can
protect these applications not only against hardware but also against
software failures.
Cluster management applications. These types of applications, which
include Cluster Administrator and Cluster.exe, allow administrators to
manage and configure clusters.
Custom resource types. Resource types provide customized cluster
management and instrumentation for applications, services, and
devices.
Server cluster components

References
Microsoft.com