Administering an ISP Installation

Grouping Load Balancing Features

Network Load Balancing and Cluster Service can enhance the reliability of any installation. Grouping them together is a powerful way to combine back-end database and transactional systems with a Web-based front end, in order to deliver the scalability, availability, and robustness that customers demand. The following list briefly describes each of these solutions and gives an example of how you can integrate them into a threetier configuration.

Network Load Balancing Balances the load that is primarily generated from incoming TCP/IP traffic. You can set up Network Load Balancing on the first tier, and balance access to your installation over clustered Web servers.
Cluster Service Ideal for grouping database services such as Microsoft® SQL Server 7.0 and other data-intensive applications that require high availability. You can set up the Cluster Service on the third tier for tasks such as billing clients and ordering databases.