RE: NLB heartbeat clarification please.

Hi Charles,

Thanks for the info. I am trying to get a grip on it.
This is the environment I am forced to adapt to:

Today I have an Oracle/Domino back-end cluster (MSCS) based on Win2k3 EE.
The two servers on the front-end (based on Win2k3 Standard Ed) and back-end
will reside on the same subnet.
The front-end will contain an Oracle HTTP server and answer to clients
requests and then redirect it to the back-end.

I am planning to use both NIC:s in each server and use Unicast since that is
the most common used configuration with, as I understand, the least amount
of problems.

Since I am running out of public IP-addresses on the customers site my first
question is how many public IP-addresses will I need (two servers - two NICs)
?

Are my thoughts of the configuration within reason ?

I also looked on your Visio pictures.
Will not the hub be a bottleneck in this configuration ?

Thanks for your help so far.

Regards

Johnny Lundgren

"Charles Tolento" wrote:

> Jonny
>
> The two nics as you mention below is the recommend way Microsoft suggests
> you setup an NLB Cluster. Cluster Nic which houses the NLB VIP and the other
> adapter is referred to as the Dedicated NIC. The Deficated Nic is used for
> management and unique IP identification for that specific cluster node. In
> other words the Dedicated NIC will have an IP Address that is different among
> all of your NLB cluster Nodes. From the two NIC setup you have a few options:
>
> 1. Are the NICs going to be on the same subnet?
>
> 2. Are the NICs going to be on differnent subnets?
>
> 3. Are you going to use Unicast Mode?
>
> 4. Are you going to use Multicast Mode?
>
>
> http://www.windowsitpro.com/Windows/Article/ArticleID/15724/15724.html
>
> "Johnny Lundgren" wrote:
>
> > Hello,
> >
> > I have done a lot of clustering with MSCS but nothing with the NLB protocol.
> > What strikes me the most when reading manuals, books and MS Technet articles
> > on this subject, is the confusion about what the NIC:s are for in each of
> > the servers.
> >
> > Please clear the following out for me:
> >
> > If I have two NIC:s in each of the two servers that are going to be used in
> > a NLB cluster, one adapter in each server is to be used as an
> > cluster-adapter (VIP).
> > The other adapter, on the other hand, I have found different explanations of
> > the usage.
> >
> > One explanation is that it is a NIC on a private network where all the
> > heartbeat traffic is routed (just as in MSCS).
> > Explanation number two is that all the heartbeat traffic is going through
> > the cluster adapter (and not the private adapter at all) and that the
> > private adapter is a management adapter of which you can manage the nodes
> > via NLB Manager.
> >
> > MS is also recommending not to use a crossover cable between the two servers
> > since the private adapters need to know about the traffic on the public
> > network.
> > Confusion !
> >
> > This needs a clarification. Please be specific on how to set the NIC:s up
> > and what they are really for.
> >
> > Regards
> >
> > Johnny Lundgren
> >
> >
> >
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Load Balanced TS Servers and Unicast Flooding
    ... Remove each on of your tse servers from the cluster, ... Start adding them back to the NLB Cluster. ... > NICs. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.terminal_services)
  • Re: Load Balanced TS Servers and Unicast Flooding
    ... Remove each on of your tse servers from the cluster, ... > Use the other network card for cluster communication. ... >> NICs. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.terminal_services)
  • Re: NLB & separate RDP connections for network adapters
    ... > They each have two NICs, one for management and one bound to NLB. ... I modified the original RDP-Tcp connection so that it is ... > cannot connect to the TS servers via the cluster IP address. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.terminal_services)
  • Re: NLB & separate RDP connection for network adapters
    ... > They each have two NICs, one for management and one bound to NLB. ... I modified the original RDP-Tcp connection so that it is ... > cannot connect to the TS servers via the cluster IP address. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.clustering)
  • RE: NLB heartbeat clarification please.
    ... Cluster Nic which houses the NLB VIP and the other ... adapter is referred to as the Dedicated NIC. ... all of your NLB cluster Nodes. ... Are the NICs going to be on the same subnet? ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.clustering)