Network Load Balancing (NLBS / WLBS), SSL, Client Affinity and AOL-Proxy Problem

[Christoph Burkhardt]

I want to use Network Load Balancing for a site that runs with https to
balance the load between two servers. To use SSL, Client Affinity must be
activated because SSL requires that subsequent requests from the same
browser are routed to the same server.

The problem: I have been told that AOL is switching proxy-servers during a
users session, which means that the IP address of the client can change
during a user session. Therefore setting Affinity to "Single" in the Port
Rules tab of the NLBS properties probably does not work. However, setting
Affinity to "Class-C" might work, given that the IP addresses of all
proxy-servers that AOL uses during a users session belong to the same
Class-C net.

Has anybody made some experience with that already?

Christoph Burkhardt
Sage KHK Software

[Pat Janes]

It gets even worse than that, I am afraid. Some ISP's proxy farms span more
than one Class C address, so even that does not work 100% of the time.

The only reliable way to achieve web farm scalability is not to use ASP
Session at all. There are a number of articles in MSDN that detail
alternatives

Pat

"Christoph Burkhardt" <cburk...@sagekhk.de> wrote in message
news:#HEcYxWz$GA....@cppssbbsa02.microsoft.com...

[Christoph Burkhardt]

Pat,

thanks for your reply. I do not use ASP Sessions at all, but I need SSL. And
SSL requires a session, i.e. client affinity as well. See
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q219/2/77.ASP.

Christoph

"Pat Janes" <p.j...@speedhosting.com.au> wrote in message
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