Load Balanced Dedicated Servers San Diego

Our clustered Load Balanced Dedicated Server plan includes two dual-quad core web servers and one dual core database server. We run Microsoft Network Load Balancing (NLB) across the two web servers so that only one public IP address is announced but two virtual IP's are assigned to the servers directly. The Load Balancing is generally configured for Class-C Affinity so that users don't bounce between the servers during each page request but rather are distributed logically during session initiation. This also helps maintain session data between legacy sites which are not clustered at the application level. We use special data synchronization software to replicate files across each server. However, data such as images can be stored on the third database server. The database server, even though a dual core server, is well equipped to handle thousands of requests and being a dual core falls within standard licensing costs for MS SQL. We centralize the data so it can communicate with either of the two front-end web servers. This is done to eliminate the need for MS SQL Server replication which is costly to setup and maintain. Not to mention, you can use the less expensive MS SQL Workgroup edition which is substantially less expensive in terms of licensing. However, any edition will work well. Daily (or more frequently) backups of the MS SQL database are maintained to ensure your data would never be more than 24 hours stale.

It is important to understand that the purpose of this setup is load-balancing high traffic websites across your front-end web servers. This provides you with both performance and web server redundancy. A key point is that by using the centralized database server you are significantly reducing your licensing & technology expenses while still being reasonably protected against data loss. You are also preparing for future growth as the MS SQL database servers can be upgraded to replicate across a second (or more) database server for performance and redundancy. The entire setup provides a foundation in which to scale for future growth while servicing your immediate needs at a lower price point than comparable solutions.

Application Clustering

If you are keen on providing a layer of application clustering so that a failover (server or application) to the clustered server won't inconvenience your customers, as most would loose their current session (e.g. shopping cart) even though the website would be running, we highly recommend the ColdFusion Enterprise Server. The ColdFusion Enterprise server can not only be clustered (with session replication) across multiple instance on the same server-- it can also be clustered against multiple instances on a different server!