Deployment with Hardware Load balancing.

I am currently planning the deployment of reporting services into a hardware
load balanced environment. The documentation from MS only covers MS's NLB
software. Has anyone had any experience deploying with a hardware load
balancer. Specifically F5 load balencing equipment.
Thanks,
Adrian.Hello Adrian,
A report server Web farm is a collection of report server instances that
share the same report server database. Reporting Services does not provide
Web farm deployment functionality. To deploy Reporting Services in a Web
farm, you can use network load balancing (NLB) functionality provided
through Windows servers, Microsoft Application Center, or third-party
software that supports Web farm deployment. The load balancer can be
software or hardware.
For the "Steps for Deploying a Report Server Web Farm", please refer to the
"Steps for Deploying a Report Server Web Farm" section in the following web
site:
Enterprise Deployment Model
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/rsadmin/htm
/drp_deploying_v1_0h9e.asp
More information for reference:
Installing a Report Server Web Farm
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/RSinstall/h
tm/gs_installingrs_v1_2ckm.asp
305064 How To Set Up an NLB Cluster for Application Center 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=305064
Regarding the information of how to implement and maintain NLB clusters, if
you use a third-party hardware load balancer, please contact the hardware
vendor support to inquire about this issue. I believe that they will assist
you best since they will have the proper material resources to resolve this
problem.
I hope the information is helpful.
Sophie Guo
Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
=====================================================When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
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=====================================================This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.|||Hi Sophie,
To confirm that I understand what you are saying, here is my take on how you
would deploy a multi node reporting server with hardware load balancing.
Note: Database tier is being deployed as active/active SQL Cluster.
1. Deploy the initial reporting services server node as per a vanilla
install.
2. Deploy any subsequent nodes by joining the nodes to the initial reporting
services node by specifying the RSWEBFARMSERVER property in the installation
3. Overlay the web nodes with either a hardware or software load balancing
solution.
Thanks,
Adrian.
"Sophie Guo [MSFT]" <v-sguo@.online.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:Tu9WDs$QFHA.3704@.TK2MSFTNGXA02.phx.gbl...
> Hello Adrian,
> A report server Web farm is a collection of report server instances that
> share the same report server database. Reporting Services does not provide
> Web farm deployment functionality. To deploy Reporting Services in a Web
> farm, you can use network load balancing (NLB) functionality provided
> through Windows servers, Microsoft Application Center, or third-party
> software that supports Web farm deployment. The load balancer can be
> software or hardware.
> For the "Steps for Deploying a Report Server Web Farm", please refer to
> the
> "Steps for Deploying a Report Server Web Farm" section in the following
> web
> site:
> Enterprise Deployment Model
> http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/rsadmin/htm
> /drp_deploying_v1_0h9e.asp
> More information for reference:
> Installing a Report Server Web Farm
> http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/RSinstall/h
> tm/gs_installingrs_v1_2ckm.asp
> 305064 How To Set Up an NLB Cluster for Application Center 2000
> http://support.microsoft.com/?id=305064
> Regarding the information of how to implement and maintain NLB clusters,
> if
> you use a third-party hardware load balancer, please contact the hardware
> vendor support to inquire about this issue. I believe that they will
> assist
> you best since they will have the proper material resources to resolve
> this
> problem.
> I hope the information is helpful.
>
> Sophie Guo
> Microsoft Online Partner Support
> Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
> =====================================================> When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
> that others may learn and benefit from your issue.
> =====================================================> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
> rights.
>|||One further point, this is an Enterprise only feature.
Bruce Loehle-Conger
MVP SQL Server Reporting Services
"Adrian Russell" <adrianru@.avanade.com> wrote in message
news:ujF3s%23ARFHA.356@.TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
> Hi Sophie,
> To confirm that I understand what you are saying, here is my take on how
you
> would deploy a multi node reporting server with hardware load balancing.
> Note: Database tier is being deployed as active/active SQL Cluster.
> 1. Deploy the initial reporting services server node as per a vanilla
> install.
> 2. Deploy any subsequent nodes by joining the nodes to the initial
reporting
> services node by specifying the RSWEBFARMSERVER property in the
installation
> 3. Overlay the web nodes with either a hardware or software load balancing
> solution.
> Thanks,
> Adrian.
> "Sophie Guo [MSFT]" <v-sguo@.online.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:Tu9WDs$QFHA.3704@.TK2MSFTNGXA02.phx.gbl...
> > Hello Adrian,
> >
> > A report server Web farm is a collection of report server instances that
> > share the same report server database. Reporting Services does not
provide
> > Web farm deployment functionality. To deploy Reporting Services in a Web
> > farm, you can use network load balancing (NLB) functionality provided
> > through Windows servers, Microsoft Application Center, or third-party
> > software that supports Web farm deployment. The load balancer can be
> > software or hardware.
> >
> > For the "Steps for Deploying a Report Server Web Farm", please refer to
> > the
> > "Steps for Deploying a Report Server Web Farm" section in the following
> > web
> > site:
> >
> > Enterprise Deployment Model
> >
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/rsadmin/htm
> > /drp_deploying_v1_0h9e.asp
> >
> > More information for reference:
> >
> > Installing a Report Server Web Farm
> >
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/RSinstall/h
> > tm/gs_installingrs_v1_2ckm.asp
> >
> > 305064 How To Set Up an NLB Cluster for Application Center 2000
> > http://support.microsoft.com/?id=305064
> >
> > Regarding the information of how to implement and maintain NLB clusters,
> > if
> > you use a third-party hardware load balancer, please contact the
hardware
> > vendor support to inquire about this issue. I believe that they will
> > assist
> > you best since they will have the proper material resources to resolve
> > this
> > problem.
> >
> > I hope the information is helpful.
> >
> >
> > Sophie Guo
> > Microsoft Online Partner Support
> >
> > Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
> >
> > =====================================================> > When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
> > that others may learn and benefit from your issue.
> > =====================================================> > This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
> > rights.
> >
>|||By Enterprise only I mean both SQL Server db has to be enterprise and the
Reporting Services install has to be Enterprise. Plus, for each server in
the web farm with Reporting Services you need an SQL Server Enterprise
license.
Bruce Loehle-Conger
MVP SQL Server Reporting Services
"Adrian Russell" <adrianru@.avanade.com> wrote in message
news:ujF3s%23ARFHA.356@.TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
> Hi Sophie,
> To confirm that I understand what you are saying, here is my take on how
you
> would deploy a multi node reporting server with hardware load balancing.
> Note: Database tier is being deployed as active/active SQL Cluster.
> 1. Deploy the initial reporting services server node as per a vanilla
> install.
> 2. Deploy any subsequent nodes by joining the nodes to the initial
reporting
> services node by specifying the RSWEBFARMSERVER property in the
installation
> 3. Overlay the web nodes with either a hardware or software load balancing
> solution.
> Thanks,
> Adrian.
> "Sophie Guo [MSFT]" <v-sguo@.online.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:Tu9WDs$QFHA.3704@.TK2MSFTNGXA02.phx.gbl...
> > Hello Adrian,
> >
> > A report server Web farm is a collection of report server instances that
> > share the same report server database. Reporting Services does not
provide
> > Web farm deployment functionality. To deploy Reporting Services in a Web
> > farm, you can use network load balancing (NLB) functionality provided
> > through Windows servers, Microsoft Application Center, or third-party
> > software that supports Web farm deployment. The load balancer can be
> > software or hardware.
> >
> > For the "Steps for Deploying a Report Server Web Farm", please refer to
> > the
> > "Steps for Deploying a Report Server Web Farm" section in the following
> > web
> > site:
> >
> > Enterprise Deployment Model
> >
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/rsadmin/htm
> > /drp_deploying_v1_0h9e.asp
> >
> > More information for reference:
> >
> > Installing a Report Server Web Farm
> >
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/RSinstall/h
> > tm/gs_installingrs_v1_2ckm.asp
> >
> > 305064 How To Set Up an NLB Cluster for Application Center 2000
> > http://support.microsoft.com/?id=305064
> >
> > Regarding the information of how to implement and maintain NLB clusters,
> > if
> > you use a third-party hardware load balancer, please contact the
hardware
> > vendor support to inquire about this issue. I believe that they will
> > assist
> > you best since they will have the proper material resources to resolve
> > this
> > problem.
> >
> > I hope the information is helpful.
> >
> >
> > Sophie Guo
> > Microsoft Online Partner Support
> >
> > Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
> >
> > =====================================================> > When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
> > that others may learn and benefit from your issue.
> > =====================================================> > This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
> > rights.
> >
>|||I'm operating in exactly this configuration. As mentioned by others,
its really straight forward to setup:
Prerequsites:
- A Sql Server 2000 Enterprise instance with SP3a
Installation:
1) Install Sql Reporting 2000 Enterprise on the first web server.
During installation it creates the needed ReportServer and
ReportServerTempDb databases.
2) Install Sql Reporting 2000 Enterprise on each subsequent server in
Farm and point them at the ReportServer DB created in step 1. (repeat
for each additional server)
3) Deploy RDL's via ReportsServer web service from any of the servers
(since they share the same DB and therefore will share the RDL's once
they are uploaded).
4) Start using your servers. (or begin applying Service packs)
Note: SP2 will require one extra step which is to run RSActivate in
order to join your additional Report Server nodes to the group. In
pre-SP2 installations, this is done automatically for you.
One thing to consider when doing the F5 setup; make sure to setup
Server Affinity using a time-based session so you don't run into any
problems with ASP.NET post-backs. Typically I set the session
expiration to 40 minutes, but it all depends upon your
user-characteristics. Also I have found it helpful to utilize the
"Least Used" algorithm rather than the default "Round Robin" approach
to load balancing.
Obviously, there are numerous architectural and infrastructural
decisions required throughout this process, but this should give you
the 10k meter view.
I am happy with F5 for load balancing so far, so I hope this works out
for you.
Enjoy.
Lance Hunt
http://weblogs.asp.net/lhunt/|||Hello Adrian,
For the second item:
2. Deploy any subsequent nodes by joining the nodes to the initial
reporting services node by specifying the RSWEBFARMSERVER property in the
installation
The RSWEBFARMSERVER property is specified in the command prompt. To install
a web farm, you have to specify the RSDATABASENAME and RSDATABASESERVER
property in the command prompt.
For more information, please refer to the following topic in BOL:
"Installing Reporting Services From the Command Line"
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/RSinstall/h
tm/gs_installingrs_v1_6h6h.asp
I hope the information is helpful.
Sophie Guo
Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
=====================================================When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.
=====================================================This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.|||Hi!
I'm also F5 Hardware load balancing, but I'm running into a problem.
Right now, we have 2 web servers in a cluster, and an F5 load balancer
infront of it. Both web servers have Kerberos delegation enabled, and
I can access Reporting services via Web Service just fine when I access
the web servers directly. However, when I put the F5 load balancer
infront, I get an Authentication error. The load balancer appears to
be sending my credentials as Anonymous! Has this happened to anyone?
Is there a Kerberos setting on this F5 hardware load balancer? I'm
unfamiliar with the hardware, and I'm trying to contact my IT
department to contact the vendor. That might take a while. I'm hoping
someone here has an answer.
Thanks!
Roy Assaly
Sophie Guo [MSFT] wrote:
> Hello Adrian,
> For the second item:
> 2. Deploy any subsequent nodes by joining the nodes to the initial
> reporting services node by specifying the RSWEBFARMSERVER property in
the
> installation
> The RSWEBFARMSERVER property is specified in the command prompt. To
install
> a web farm, you have to specify the RSDATABASENAME and
RSDATABASESERVER
> property in the command prompt.
> For more information, please refer to the following topic in BOL:
> "Installing Reporting Services From the Command Line"
>
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/RSinstall/h
> tm/gs_installingrs_v1_6h6h.asp
> I hope the information is helpful.
> Sophie Guo
> Microsoft Online Partner Support
> Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
> =====================================================> When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader
so
> that others may learn and benefit from your issue.
> =====================================================> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.