Windows Server® 2012 Unleashed

Designing Fault-Tolerant IP Networks

Network design can also incorporate fault tolerance by creating redundant network routes and by utilizing technologies that can group devices together for the purposes of load balancing and device failover. Load balancing is the process of spreading requests across multiple devices to keep individual device load at an acceptable level. Failover is the process of moving services offered on one device to another upon device failure, to maintain availability. Common scenarios for creating fault-tolerant IP networks can include the following:

• Acquiring multiple Internet connections—This includes using different Internet service providers and, hopefully, each of the connections is not connected to the same external ...