16/07/2022, 00:10 Configure Network Load Balancing in Windows Server 2019
WINDOWS SERVER 2019 In this article, we will see the steps to
Configure Network the Network Load Balancing (NLB)
Load Balancing in feature in Windows Server 2019. We
can use NLB to manage two or more
Windows Server
servers as a single virtual cluster.
2019
mprakholiya, 2 years ago 0
5 min
What is NLB
(Network Load
Balancing) in
Windows Server
2019?
The Network Load Balancing (NLB)
distributes traffic across several
servers by using the TCP/IP
networking protocol. By combining
two or more computers that are
running applications into a single
virtual cluster, NLB provides
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16/07/2022, 00:10 Configure Network Load Balancing in Windows Server 2019
reliability and performance for web
servers and other mission-critical
servers.
Windows Server 2019 NLB cluster
can support up to 32 Servers in a
single NLB cluster. The servers in an
NLB cluster are called hosts, and
each host runs a separate copy of the
server applications.
NLB distributes incoming client
requests across the hosts in the
cluster. You can configure the load
that is to be handled by each host.
Understanding Test
lab:
For this, we will use the virtual test
lab created in VirtualBox.
WS2K19-DC01: Domain
Controller and DNS
WS2K19-
SRV02: Member Server
WS2K19-
SRV03: Member Server
Install the Network
Load Balancing
feature on Server
2019:
Note: We need to perform the
following steps on both member
servers that are going to participate in
the NLB cluster.
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16/07/2022, 00:10 Configure Network Load Balancing in Windows Server 2019
1. On Member Server, open Server
Manager. Click on Tools and
select Add Role and Features.
2. On the Before you begin
page, click Next.
3. Select Role-based or feature-
based installation and click Next.
4. Select a server from the server
pool on which you want to install the
Network Load Balancing
feature, click Next.
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5. On select server roles page, click
Next.
6. On select features, select Network
Local Balancing checkbox.
7. A new window will pop up, click
on Add Features to include required
features and management tools for
Network Local Balancing work
properly.
8. Make sure that NLB feature is
selected. Click Next.
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9. Click on the Install button to start
the installation process.
10. Click on Close.
Reminder: We need to perform the
same steps to install the NLB feature
on the WS2K19-SRV03 member
server.
After installing the NLB feature, the
next step is to create the NLB cluster
using windows server 2019. To
perform these steps, we need to open
the Network Load Balancing
Manager on one of the NLB nodes.
Configure NLB
Cluster in Windows
Server 2019:
11. On the Server Manager console of
the WS2K19-SRV02 member
server, click Tools and
select Network Load Balancing
Manager.
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12. Select and right-click Network
Load Balancing Clusters and
then click New Cluster.
13. Type the IP address or name of
the second member server in the
Host field and then click Connect.
Verify that the Interface name is listed
and then proceed to next.
14. On the New Cluster: Host
Parameters page, adjust the priority
value as per requirement. Also,
ensure that the default status has set
as Started. When you are
ready, click on Next.
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16/07/2022, 00:10 Configure Network Load Balancing in Windows Server 2019
15. On the New Cluster: Cluster IP
Addresses page, click Add to add a
new Cluster IP address.
16. Specify a Cluster IP Address,
and click OK.
Note: This IP address is a new NLB
Cluster virtual IP address on which
the host service will run.
17. If required, you can add more
than one IP address by performing the
same steps. Click Next.
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18. Select an NLB cluster operation
mode. You can also specify the
FQDN name for the NLB cluster in
the Full Internet name field. Click
Next.
19. On the New Cluster: Port Rules
page, select the existing port rule
and click on edit.
20. Type port range. From 80 to 80
(As we only want port number 80 for
IIS NLB cluster). Select Affinity
mode to none. Click OK.
21. Click on the Add button to a new
rule for port number 443 using the
same steps.
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22. Click on Finish.
23. Wait until the WS2K19-SRV03
node is added successfully. The Icon
Color of the added NLB node should
be displaying green.
Add second NLB
node to an Existing
NLB cluster:
24. Right-click on the existing NLB
cluster and select Add Host To
Cluster.
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16/07/2022, 00:10 Configure Network Load Balancing in Windows Server 2019
25. Type the WS2K19-SRV02 in the
Host field and then click
Connect. Verify that the Interface
name is listed and then proceed
to next.
26. On the New Cluster: Host
Parameters page, adjust the priority
value as per requirement. Also,
ensure that the default status has set
as Started. When you are
ready, click on Next.
27. Click on Finish to complete the
process of adding the second NLB
node to an existing NLB cluster.
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16/07/2022, 00:10 Configure Network Load Balancing in Windows Server 2019
28. Verify that the second NLB
node is added successfully. The icon
color should be displaying green.
Test the NLB
Configuration with
Default Web Site:
Already I have installed IIS service
on both member servers to test the
NLB cluster. We will access the
default website using the NLB cluster
IP address.
29. Open a web browser. Type the
NLB cluster IP address in the
address bar.
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Verify that you can access the Default
Website. You are accessing the
WS2K19-SRV03 server due to NLB
priority 1.
30. Delete web browsing history and
again access the NLB cluster IP
address using Internet Explorer.
31. This time you are accessing
the WS2K19-SRV02 server due to
NLB load balancing.
Used this type of configuration when
balancing traffic between two IIS
servers. The port rules were handling
only HTTP (port 80) and HTTPS
(port 443) traffic.
That’s it for this guide on How to
Install and Configure the Network
Load Balancing (NLB) feature in
Windows Server 2019. Thank you for
reading.
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