Building High Availability Windows Server™ 2003 Solutions

Chapter 11. Load Balancing

Introduction

In previous chapters, we presented high-availability technology, which is based on the principle of server and data redundancy and virtualization of resources (such as clustered applications, file shares, or printers). Typically, each server functioning as a cluster member is capable of supporting all resources independently of other members. This fact, combined with failover mechanisms, ensures that a server or service failure has no impact on resource availability. Remaining cluster members take control of resources residing previously on the failed server and bring them automatically online, preserving their state and maintaining their availability. In the worst-case scenario, users experience a short ...