|
|
|
||
| |||
|
Application Center 2000 Exam 70-232(Highly Available Web Solutions and Microsoft Application Center 2000) A Study Guide from CERTguide.com Abstract: This study guide will help aid your studies while preparing for the new Microsoft Exam for Application Center 2000. Links:
Application Center 2000 Notes: Installation Requirements o Microsoft Application Center 2000 (Application Center) has two installation types: o The full server installation, which includes all of the functionality that is required for Application Center o The Administrative client installation, which allows you to administer clusters remotely by using the Application Center snap-in o Each installation type has various hardware and software requirements, listed in the following sections. o Full Server Installation Requirements o Operating Systems o You can install the full server version of Application Center on the following operating systems: o Microsoft Windows 2000 Server o Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server o Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server o Noteso To install Application Center on the Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Advanced Server operating systems, you must install the Windows 2000 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Pre-Service Pack 2 (SP2) components. Installation on Windows 2000 Datacenter does not require SP1. Application Center Setup allows you to install these pre-requisites. o Internet Information Services 5.0 (IIS) must be installed as part of the Windows 2000 installation and the IIS Administration Service must be enabled. o The default installation of Application Center on Windows 2000 Server automatically installs Network Load Balancing (NLB). Upon installation, NLB is not enabled until you create an NLB cluster. Because Windows 2000 Advanced Server and Windows 2000 Datacenter Server already contain NLB, when you install Application Center on either of these operating systems, Application Center Setup does not install NLB. o Caution All servers added to a cluster must have the same directory and drive structure as the cluster controller. Ensure that the server being added has the same System Root, Program Files path, and Application Center installation directory path as the controller. o Hardware o The following requirements are for both cluster controllers and cluster members: o A Pentium-compatible processor that is 400 MHz or higher o A CD-ROM drive, unless you are installing from a network share. o One or more network adapters if you are not using Windows 2000 NLB. o Two or more network adapters if you are using Windows 2000 NLB. o A minimum of 155 MB of available hard-disk space o This does not include the disk space requirements for the Windows 2000 Service Packs. o 256 MB of RAM (128-MB minimum; 4-GB maximum) o A Windows 2000–compatible graphics adapter with a minimum resolution of 800x600 o A mouse or compatible pointing device o Note The network adapters must be compatible with Windows 2000 (see the Windows 2000 Hardware Compatibility List [HCL]). To view the list released with Windows 2000, on the Windows 2000 CD, open the Support folder, and then open Hcl.txt. Updated versions of the HCL are available on the Windows HCL Web site (http://www.microsoft.com). o NLB o If you use NLB with Application Center, the controller and members each require at least two network adapters. Additionally, the controller requires one static IP address. This will be the primary (virtual) address of the cluster. The members do not require static IP addresses. o Administrative Client Requirements o Operating Systems o You can install the Administrative client on the following operating systems: o Windows 2000 Professional o Windows 2000 Server o Windows 2000 Advanced Server o Windows 2000 Datacenter Server o Note Windows 2000 SP 1 is required for an Administrative client installation. o Hardware Requirements o The Administrative client has the following hardware requirements: o A Pentium-compatible processor that is 266 MHz or higher o A minimum of 128 MB of RAM is recommended. o 20 MB of available hard-disk space o This does not include the disk space requirements for the Windows 2000 Service Packs. o A CD-ROM drive o One network adapter o A Windows 2000–compatible graphics adapter with a minimum resolution of 800x600 o A mouse or compatible pointing device Unsupported Installation Configurations o Application Center does not support the following installation configurations: o Installation without the correct Windows 2000 Service Packs o The full server installation requires Service Pack 1 and Pre-Service Pack 2. The Administrative client installation requires Service Pack 1. Installation on Windows 2000 Datacenter does not require SP1. These Service Packs are provided on the product CD o Installation on a computer with an operating system later than Windows 2000 o This does not include any Windows 2000 Service Packs o Installation on FAT16 partitions (except for Administrative client installations) o Installation on either a domain controller or a backup domain controller o Installation from a mapped drive via Terminal Services o Installation without the IIS Admin Service enabled. (This does not apply to Administrative client installations.) o A full server installation on Windows 2000 Professional o The Administrative client installation on Windows 2000 Professional is supported. o Note Installation support on a computer with Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS) installed is limited. It is not possible to create a cluster, but other tasks, such as monitoring, are available. Unattended (Programmatic) Installation o You can install Application Center programmatically from the command line or by using batch files. The following unattended installation configurations are available: o Default installation: Server, Administrative client, and Application Center Events and Performance Logging are installed (this is the default configuration). All features are available with this installation. o No AC Logging: The full server and Administrative client are installed. The full server and Administrative client features are available, but specific logging features are not. o With AC Logging: The full server and Administrative client are installed. The full server and Administrative client features are available, with all logging features. o Server only: only the full server, not the Administrative client and Application Center Events and Performance Logging, is installed. o Administrative Client only: only the Administrative client, not the full server and Application Center Events and Performance Logging, is installed. Use this installation for remote administration. The computer on which this option is installed cannot become a cluster member. o Sample monitors: several Microsoft Health Monitor 2.1 rules for Microsoft SQL Server and other monitoring tasks are installed Using NLBo You can use the Application Center New Cluster Wizard to quickly set up and configure NLB, without any manual configuration tasks. If the default settings applied by the wizard are not sufficient, you can use the Application Center user interface to modify them after creating the cluster, or the NLB configuration dialog box in the Properties dialog box for the appropriate network adapter. Application Center also provides seamless integration with NLB so that you can use the Application Center user interface to complete common administrative tasks, such as setting members online and offline. o If you previously configured NLB prior to creating a cluster in Application Center, you should reconfigure the settings through the wizard. Alternatively, if you select Keep existing settings in the wizard, Application Center will use your existing NLB settings and replicate them to members. o If you want to modify the settings applied by the New Cluster Wizard, you should do so before adding any members. By doing so, the members that you add acquire the proper settings. If you modify settings after adding members, you might disrupt the cluster. o For NLB to function properly on an Application Center cluster, each member must have a minimum of two network adapters: one that handles communication with clients and one that handles intracluster communication (between cluster members). Typically, some form of load balancing is implemented for the network adapter that handles communication with clients. This load-balanced adapter must have at least one static IP address that is used as the cluster IP address, or virtual IP address. If you have an NLB cluster with multiple cluster IP addresses, you can use the Application Center user interface to add and remove all but the primary IP address. o Application Center does not support single-host failover port rules in NLB. By default, NLB is configured in Unicast mode. To enable Multicast mode, you must configure NLB in Multicast mode manually before starting the New Cluster Wizard. Then, you should select Keep existing settings when the wizard detects your NLB installation. Or, you can create an NLB cluster in Unicast mode and after the cluster is created, but before adding members, enable Multicast in the NLB configuration dialog box for the appropriate network adapter. Then, you can begin adding members. In this manner, members that you add subsequently acquire the appropriate settings (including NLB configuration in Multicast mode). o In Unicast mode, NLB overwrites the network adapter's media access control (MAC) address with its own virtual media access control address by using the registry. Some network adapter drivers do not allow their media access control address to be overwritten in the registry. In this case, use a different network adapter (one that allows its media access control address to be overwritten in the registry) or use Multicast mode, which adds a virtual media access control address to the existing network adapter's media access control address. o Note Application Center does not synchronize the NLB remote control password, port, and NLB Remote Control Enabled property. You must set these values manually on each member.
NLB Backgroundo NLB distributes incoming client requests for TCP and Universal Datagram Protocol (UDP) protocols, including HTTP, across multiple members. Unlike other load balancers, which require dedicated hardware, NLB is a software-based load balancer that resides on each member. o Periodically, each member transmits an NLB exchange message over the load-balanced adapters. This message is used to coordinate actions between each member. By default, the period of message exchange is 1 second. As the state of the cluster changes (for example, you add or remove members or set members offline or online), the message exchanges for NLB are disrupted. After a certain number of failed-message exchanges, NLB initiates a process to determine the current state of the cluster so that it can load balance the cluster properly. By default, NLB initiates this process after five failed-message exchanges. NLB automatically redistributes requests among the active, remaining members. This redistribution ensures that non-active members do not receive any requests, and requests are only processed by active members o Each member in an NLB cluster receives all incoming requests. NLB uses a fully distributed algorithm to determine which member processes the request; all other members discard the request. This method of load balancing is more efficient than using traditional load balancing devices, because filtering unwanted requests is faster than routing them. o Client Affinity o NLB offers three types of client affinity to minimize response time to clients and provide generic support for preserving session state. Each affinity specifies a different method for distributing client requests. In Application Center, the New Cluster Wizard sets affinity to Single by default. Later, you can use the cluster Properties dialog box to modify the affinity. The following table describes the three types of affinity.
o No Affinity o With No affinity, NLB does not associate clients with a particular member. Every client request can be load balanced to any member. This affinity provides the best performance but might disrupt clients with established sessions, because subsequent requests might be load balanced to other members where the session information does not exist. o Single Affinity o In Single affinity, NLB associates clients with particular members by using the client's IP address. Thus, requests coming from the same client IP address always reach the same member. This affinity provides the best support for clients that use sessions on an intranet. These clients cannot use No affinity because their sessions could be disrupted. Additionally, these clients cannot use Class C affinity because intranet clients typically have IP addresses within a narrow range. It is likely that this range is so narrow that all clients on an intranet have the same Class C address, which means that one member might process all of the requests while other members remain idle. o Class C Affinity o With Class C affinity, NLB associates clients with particular members by using the Class C portion of the client's IP address. Thus, clients coming from the same Class C address range always access the same member. This affinity provides the best performance for clusters serving the Internet. o Note It is not efficient for Internet clients to use Single affinity because, in Single affinity, NLB load balances each client by the client's entire IP address, which can span a broad range. By using Class C affinity, NLB associates clients with only the same Class C portion of the IP address with particular members. Therefore, you essentially reduce the range of IP addresses by which NLB load balances clients. Using CLBo On one-tier clusters, Application Center can use NLB to distribute requests across a COM+ application cluster. On multi-tier clusters, Application Center can use CLB to load balance requests to activate COM+ applications. Because CLB load balances only the activation requests, this method is more efficient than NLB for a COM+ application cluster. o By creating a COM+ application cluster, you can simplify management of your server applications because your COM+ components are now isolated on a separate cluster. You can increase or decrease the size of your COM+ application cluster independently of your Web cluster, and vice versa. Security is also improved because you can place firewalls between your Web and COM+ application clusters (which requires you to open ports for DCOM). CLB does not support Microsoft Message Queue Server (MSMQ) nor queued components. o How CLB Works o Using CLB, each server in a Web cluster acts as a router for a COM+ application cluster. Each Web server maintains a routing list of the individual COM+ servers comprising a COM+ application cluster. CLB polls the COM+ servers on this routing list every 800 milliseconds to obtain their response time. CLB arranges the COM+ servers in an internal routing list by response time. Then, CLB uses a round-robin technique against this internal list to determine which COM+ server should create the COM object for the client. If CLB determines that a COM+ server is unavailable, it distributes creation requests among the other COM+ servers on the routing list. o When a client accesses a COM+ component by calling CoCreateInstance or CoGetClassObject, CLB checks to see if the component supports dynamic load balancing. If so, CLB forwards the request to a COM+ server on the routing list. If not, the COM+ object is created locally on the Web server. The COM+ server returns an object reference directly to the client. Subsequent requests for the created object are routed directly to the COM+ server. o To perform CLB, the Web cluster uses the CLB activator, COM+ load balancing service, and routing list. The COM+ application cluster uses the AC_Load Balancer COM+ application. o Implementing CLB o For CLB to function properly, you must complete the following steps: o Add each COM+ server to the routing list on the controller for the Web cluster. o Install the COM+ components that comprise a COM+ application on both the Web cluster and the COM+ application cluster. o Use the Component Services snap-in to enable dynamic load balancing support for each COM+ component on the Web cluster. o Restart the COM+ component load balancing service on the Web cluster. o Disable support for dynamic load balancing on the COM+ server for each COM+ component. o Before deploying COM+ applications, enable or disable support for dynamic load balancing appropriately. For example, if you are deploying from a Web cluster to a COM+ application cluster, disable support for dynamic load balancing before performing the deployment. Otherwise, the COM+ application cluster attempts to load balance the applications instead of activating them because they have been marked as supporting dynamic load balancing. When enabling or disabling the support for dynamic load balancing of a COM+ component, you must restart the COM+ Component Load Balancing Service for the changes to take effect. o CLB with Different COM+ Components o CLB performs load balancing for COM+ application clusters in which each member in the cluster has the same COM+ components. To support a COM+ application cluster with different COM+ components, you can separate the COM+ application clusters and create COM+ routing clusters for each of the separate COM+ components you want to load balance. o For example, if you want to load balance two different COM+ applications, composed of components ABC and components XYZ, first create two separate COM+ application clusters, one for each set of components. If COM+ application cluster 1 contains components ABC, enable dynamic load balancing support for these components on the Web cluster. Then, add each member of COM+ application cluster 1 to the Web cluster routing list. This is the standard configuration for a two-tier cluster. o To load balance components XYZ in COM+ application cluster 2, create a COM+ routing cluster in which the routing list contains each member in COM+ application cluster 2. The routing cluster uses NLB to load balance the incoming requests and CLB to load balance the outgoing requests (requests to activate COM+ applications). Add and Remove Memberso You can add and remove cluster members to accommodate fluctuations in client workload. For example, if demands for resources in cluster A increases, you can add additional members to support this increased demand. As demand decreases, you can remove members and add them to other clusters as needed. o You cannot remove a cluster controller. To remove a controller, you must promote another member to controller before you can remove the original controller. If the controller is the last member of a cluster, you will disband the cluster. o To add a member o In the Application Center snap-in, right-click the cluster to which to add the member o On the pop-up menu, point to All Tasks, and then click Add Cluster Member. o Note When adding members, you must supply log-on credentials that have administrative privileges on both the controller and the member. o The Add Cluster Member Wizard appears. For information about using this wizard, click More Info as you proceed through the wizard. o To remove a member o In the Application Center snap-in, right-click the member to remove o On the pop-up menu, point to All Tasks, and then click Remove Cluster Member. o Note Content on the member is not deleted when you remove the member from the cluster. o Note When removing members, you must supply log-on credentials that have administrative privileges on both the controller and the member. o Note If you receive errors about settings that could not be removed on the member, on the member, at the command prompt, type o ac cluster /clean Set a Member Online or Offlineo Use this procedure to set a member offline or to bring a member online. A member that is offline is no longer receiving new requests for content, but it might still be synchronized with the controller. When setting members offline, you can specify a period of time for the server to drain existing client connections. This option helps prevent disruptions in client connections because it allows these connections to complete before the member is taken offline. o To set a member offline o In the Application Center snap-in, right-click the member to set offline o On the pop-up menu, click Set Offline. o The Set Offline dialog box appears. o To set a member offline immediately, click Take offline now. o To specify a period of time for the member to drain existing connections, click Drain current connections for, and then enter the time to drain the member's current connections. o Click OK. o To set a member online o In the Application Center snap-in, right-click the member to set online o On the pop-up menu, click Set Online. Select Another Controller o The following procedure describes how to promote a member to cluster controller. Before performing this procedure, synchronize the new controller with the old controller. o To select another controller o In the Application Center snap-in, right-click the member to promote to controller o On the pop-up menu, point to All Tasks, and then click Designate as Controller o Caution The new controller becomes the source of all synchronized content and configuration for the cluster. If the previous controller is left in the synchronization cycle, its content are overwritten by the new controller Terminal Serviceso Application Center supports remote administration through Terminal Services in Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server, and Windows 2000 Datacenter Server. By using the Terminal Services client, you can perform remote administration of Application Center clusters from virtually anywhere. Additionally, with VPN, you ensure that you have a secure connection to the cluster. o On the cluster controller, configure Terminal Services in Remote administration mode and not Application server mode. When using Terminal services to perform remote administration, all actions are executed on the remote clusters and not on the local computer that is running Terminal Services Set the Synchronization Intervalo Application Center periodically performs an interval-based synchronization of content from the cluster controller to all cluster members in the synchronization loop. The interval used is set to 60 minutes by default, but you can adjust this setting or disable interval-based synchronization by disabling automatic updates. o Notes o If this setting is set to a very short time period, interval-based synchronization will be triggered more often and will consume more server resources. o This setting does not affect change-based synchronization. o To disable interval-based synchronization along with automatic change-based synchronization, in the cluster_name Properties dialog box, clear the Enable automatic updates check box or use the command-line command AC DEPLOY /DISABLESYNC. o To set the interval-based synchronization interval o In the Application Center snap-in, right-click the cluster node, and then on the pop-up menu, click Properties. o On the General dialog box, in the Periodic full synchronization interval (minutes) box, enter the time interval in minutes. o Note The value must be from 10 through 1440 minutes. Shorter time periods cause interval-based synchronizations occur more often, and, depending on the size of your content, this can produce unwanted performance drains on your cluster. Exclude Files from Synchronizationo Use these steps to exclude files from being synchronized for all automatic updates, on-demand synchronizations, advanced synchronizations and deployments. o To exclude a specific file, directory, or file type o In the Application Center snap-in, expand the cluster node, right click Synchronizations, and then on the pop-up menu, click Properties. o On the General tab, click Add. o In the Add Synchronization Exclusion dialog box, click the appropriate exclusion type, and then either enter the correct path or use Browse to locate the file or folder. o Click OK. o Notes o You can specify only one exclusion at a time. To specify multiple exclusions, repeat the preceding steps. o Exclusions are set on the synchronization or deployment target and apply only to that specific target. This means that different targets can have different exclusions. o Removable media and UNC paths cannot be used in exclusions.
Synchronize the Clustero You can synchronize the cluster at any time by performing cluster synchronization o Cluster synchronization affects all applications (except COM+ applications) and all cluster members in the synchronization loop. o Note To synchronize COM+ applications, use the New Deployment Wizard. o To synchronize the cluster o In the Application Center snap-in, right-click the cluster node o On the pop-up menu, click Synchronize cluster. o Note Members that are out of the synchronization loop will not be synchronized with this method. When adding a member that has been out of the synchronization loop back into the cluster, deploy the entire cluster image to the member to ensure that all content and settings are up-to-date.
Deploy Global ISAPI Filterso This procedure describes how to deploy global ISAPI filters. o Notes o When global ISAPI filters are deployed, all of them are deployed regardless of which Application Center application you select in the New Deployment Wizard. o When global ISAPI filters are deployed to the cluster controller and automatic updates are enabled, the filters are automatically synchronized to the every member in the synchronization loop and loaded on the members when the Web Service is restarted. o When global ISAPI filters are deployed to a cluster member (and not on the cluster controller), they are not automatically synchronized to the entire cluster and will be overwritten during the next synchronization cycle. o To deploy the global ISAPI filters o In the Application Center snap-in, right-click the Applications node, and then on the pop-up menu, click New Deployment. o The Deployment Wizard appears. o Click the application to deploy (any application will work). o In the New Deployment Wizard, on the Deployment Options page, select the Deploy global ISAPI filters check box. o Complete the New Deployment Wizard to deploy the global ISAPI filters. Command-Line Reference Overview o The Microsoft Application Center 2000 (Application Center) command-line tool lets you perform key administrative functions of Application Center from the command line. The commands available through the tool are as follows: o CLUSTER command, which allows you to manage a cluster. You can create or disband a cluster, add and remove cluster members, and list all cluster members. o LOADBALANCE command, which allows you to enable or disable load balancing for a cluster member, drain connections, set NLB weights for a member, and obtain load-balancing status information. o CLB command, which allows you to update the Component Load Balancing (CLB) routing list on a cluster controller of a Web/COM+ routing cluster o DEPLOY command, which allows you to deploy Applications Center applications and synchronize a cluster. o APPLICATION command, which allows you to create or delete an application on a cluster or member, list applications, and add or remove resources from an application on a cluster or member. o HELP command, which provides descriptions of the available commands, and their syntax and usage
|
Hot!!! - CERTguide's FREE Online
Practice exams are now located at
|