XWEB: Using Outlook Web Access with Windows Load Balancing Service (WLBS)

ID: Q226470

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

Windows Load Balancing Service (WLBS) is a service that allows balancing of server loads for incoming client connections. Outlook Web Access (OWA) can be used in conjunction with WLBS to manage traffic handling of incoming Web client connections to an Exchange Server computer. WLBS with OWA is not a solution for increasing performance of the Web client connections, merely a method to spread the load on the servers while allowing you to use a common name space for connections to your Exchange Server computer.


MORE INFORMATION

In a common scenario, you will have two or more front-end servers configured with WLBS software and the OWA component. These servers will be the contact point for incoming OWA client traffic, and WLBS will balance the OWA connections between the servers. The back-end server or servers will be configured with the Exchange mailboxes you wish to access through OWA. Therefore, users will access OWA through a common name space created during the installation of WLBS, and OWA does not need to be installed on the back end. After installing OWA as recommended in the Setup instructions included with Exchange Server 5.5, you should install the WLBS component according to the WLBS documentation.

It is recommended that you install the OWA component on the front-end server before installing WLBS. After installing OWA, you may install WLBS, (for more information on WLBS Setup, see the WLBS documentation).

NOTE: Configure WLBS with one NIC in the computer before installing a secondary NIC.

For more information on configuring WLBS with single or multiple network cards, see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q197992 How to Configure WLBS Using a Single Network Interface Card
Q197991 How to Configure WLBS Using Multiple Network Interface Cards
After you complete the WLBS configuration you want, OWA should be functional, and client connections can be dispersed to the server with less load at the time of connection. For example, users A-M will no longer be instructed to connect to front-end server 1, while users N-Z will connect to front-end server 2. All users will connect to a common namespace (http://server/exchange), and the WLBS will balance connections to the servers in the WLBS grouping, all of which will be transparent to the user.
For more information on troubleshooting OWA with WLBS, see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q226377 XWEB: This Page Cannot be Displayed When Connected with OWA to WLBS
Q226386 XWEB: WLBS Failover Causes Accumulation of MMP Files in the Webtemp Directory
For more information on deployment and troubleshooting OWA, see the Outlook Web Access Deployment and Troubleshooting Guide at the following Web location:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/exchange/content/whitepapers/whitepapers.asp

Additional query words: convoy 


Keywords          : 
Version           : WINDOWS:5.5
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbinfo

Last Reviewed: April 15, 1999