Server Replication Question

[Chad Dollins]

Sorry if this is not the right forum perhaps I can be pointed in the
right direction.

I have two nodes on a DMZ that serve as Application Servers hosting a
single website. What I would like to be able to do is configure these two
nodes to always be identical. The more identical they can be the better.

Right now one is in producation and hosting the website for all
workloads. I've read that I can do a back-up and restore of the production
box on the twin box and configure the box to be a replicant server.

My question is how much alike will the two boxes be? My concern is that
the replicant server only replicates File Systems and that this will not
allow me to have identical web server nodes.

Thanks,
--Chad

 

[Paul Bergson]

I think you want to try using Network Load Balancing of 2003 Clustering.
This has nothing to do with Active Directory.

From:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/techinfo/overview/bdmtdm/default.mspx

Click on BDMTDM.doc

Network Load Balancing
The second clustering technology included with Windows Server 2003 is NLB.
NLB clusters don't use a quorum, and so don't impose storage or network
requirements on the cluster nodes. If a node in the cluster fails, NLB
automatically redirects incoming requests to the remaining nodes. If you
take a node in the cluster offline for maintenance, you can use NLB to allow
existing client sessions to be completed before taking the node offline.
This eliminates any end-user impact during planned downtime. NLB is also
capable of weighting requests, which allows you to mix high-powered servers
with legacy servers and ensure all hardware is efficiently utilized.

Most often, NLB is used to build redundancy and scalability for firewalls,
proxy servers, or Web servers, as illustrated in Figure 3. Other
applications commonly clustered with NLB include virtual VPN endpoints,
streaming media servers, and terminal services. NLB is included with all
versions of Windows Server 2003, including Windows Server 2003, Web Edition.
NLB clusters can scale to 32 nodes.


--


Paul Bergson MCT, MCSE, MCSA, CNE, CNA, CCA

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.