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Configuring Step 3: Configure IIS Web Farm Load Balancing

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by Keith Newman and Robert McMurray

Now that IIS is installed on all web servers. All web servers share both content and configuration. And IIS and ARR are installed on your load balancing server. It is time to configure ARR and turn your servers into a functioning web farm.

When you are done with these tasks, record your design decisions before going on to Step 4: Configure SSL Central Certificate Store.

3.1. Create a Server Farm with ARR

To create your server farm, you must enter the IP address of every web server in your farm.

To create a server farm with ARR

  1. Open IIS Manager.
  2. In the Connections pane, expand the server node, and select Server Farms.
  3. In the Actions pane, click Create Server Farm. The Create Server Farm wizard opens to the Specify Server Farm Name page.
  4. In the Server farm name box, type a name for your server farm, and click Next. The Add Server page is displayed.
  5. In the Server address box, type the IP address of the first server, and click Add.
  6. Continue typing IP addresses and clicking Add until all web servers are entered.
  7. Click Finish.

3.2. Configure Load Balancing with ARR

This procedure configures ARR load balancing with an algorithm that distributes incoming request evenly among the web servers. It then sets up the server-farm health test feature.

To configure load balancing with ARR

  1. Open IIS Manager.
  2. In the Connections pane, expend the server
  3. Under the server node, expand Server Farms, and then select the server farm that you created.
  4. In the Server Farm pane, double-click Load Balance.
  5. On the Load Balance page, select Weighted round robin from the Load balance algorithm list, and then click Apply.
  6. In the Connections pane, select the server farm that you created.
  7. In the Server Farm pane, double-click Health Test.
  8. On the Health Test page, in the URL box, enter a URL that you want ARR to test by sending a GET request to determine the health of the servers. Click Apply.
  9. To verify the health of your farm, click Verify URL Test.

3.3. Change Application Pool Settings

Because all HTTP requests and responses go through ARR, delays or errors occur if the application pool times out or recycles unexpectedly. Set the idle time-out and application pool recycle settings to zero to avoid problems.

To change application pool settings

  1. On one of the web servers in your farm, open IIS Manager.
  2. In the Connections pane, select Application Pools.
  3. In the Application Pools pane, select the application pool for you website, and then click Advanced Settings in the Actions pane.
  4. In the Advanced Settings dialog box, expand Process Model, and change the Idle Time-out (minutes) value to 0.
  5. Expand Recycling, and change the Regular time intervals (in minutes) value to 0.
  6. Click OK.

See Also