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How to Configure Windows NLB for Windows Server 2008 R2 based VM, running on Hyper-V 2008 R2 for Exchange 2010 CAS Array

Million $ Solution, now 100% Free! :)

 

Following are the steps, which you need to take for configuring NLB on Windows Server 2008 R2 for Exchange 2010 CAS Array implementation:

1) Configuring CAS VMs Virtual Network Card Configuring using Hyper-V 2008 R2 Management Console:

a. Go to the settings of the CAS VMs and remove the symmetric Network Cards and Add the Legacy LAN Cards into the VM for both Public and Private communication of VM.

b. Enabled IP Spoofing on both LAN cards in the CAS Servers.

Do the same above specified settings for both CAS nodes.

2) Install and Configure Windows NLB on CAS nodes:

a. Install the NLB Feature from either Server Management console or from the Windows PowerShell.

b. From the first CAS node open the NLB Management Console

c. Create a new Cluster from NLB Mgmt Console

d. Put the CAS1 name and connect NLB console to CAS1

e. Select the interface

f. Provide the NLB IP Address and FQDN

g. Configure the Port Ranges, either you can go with all ports or as per your desire configure (SMTP, POP, IMAP, IIS, IIS 443)

h. Finished

Once you click finished for the first CAS node NLB configuration, after few minutes, you will see that the node has successfully converged and NLB Cluster with first node has successfully added.

i. Adding the second node in the cluster use the first node and add the second node, after few same steps, the second node will be added to cluster and you are done with NLB configuration for your Exchange 2010 CAS Array! J

Tips:

After configuring NLB Cluster, create your Exchange CAS Array, and then create your Mailbox Databases, because if you create Mailbox Databases, which later on you will make then highly available using DAG copies, so if you use the reverse order, you create your Mailbox Databases first and then create CAS Array, so later on you have to go and set the RPCClientAccessServer settings for each database.

I hope you enjoyed reading this article and for lots of you who are fighting with Hyper-V for your NLB Implementation can take advantage of this article.

Cheers!

Zahir Hussain Shah
Infrastructure Practice Consultant – Unified Communications
MCSE, MCTS, MCTIP Enterprise Administrator, CCNA, ITIL
Blog: http://zahirshahblog.com | LinkedIn | Twitter

Azure Hybrid Blog

4 responses to “How to Configure Windows NLB for Windows Server 2008 R2 based VM, running on Hyper-V 2008 R2 for Exchange 2010 CAS Array”

  1. Joe

    Zahir,

    I know this is going back a ways, but what is the reasoning for using the Legacy Network adapter?

    -Joe

  2. Raj

    Dear Zahir,

    Could you please tell us why should we use the Legacy Network Adapter, it will not effect the bandwidth issue?

    Thanks in advance,
    RAJ.

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  4. Zahir Hussain Shah

    I will soon update this article, and now with my recent research, I found that using NON-Legacy Network Cards for your Exchange 2010 CAS VMs, will work, and therefore, I would recommend to ues Network Adopters not Legacy onces.

    And in my another blog post, I have also described that how you can use the same Network scheme on both NLB Private and Public Interfaces, to prevent the need of putting static routers on CAS server, so in a nutshell, you can create two interfaces (non-legacy) in Exchange 2010 CAS Servers, and give them IP Addresses from the same Network range (Scheme), and enable IP SPOOFING on both of them, and select the Network for NLB forming the ones are on the top most proirty for the machine to use for in-bound and oub-bound communications.

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