Articles

Authors
Blogs
Exchange Hosting
Free Tools
Hardware
Message Boards
Newsletter
RSS
Services
Software
Tips
White Papers
Site Search
Advanced Search
Home
Articles & Tutorials
Exchange 2010 Articles
High Availability & Recovery
Load Balancing Exchange 2010 Client Access Servers
using an Hardware Load Balancer Solution (Part 1)
How to load balance the Exchange 2010 Client Access Server services using an external
Load Balancing Exchange 2010 Client Access Servers using an Hardware... http://www.msexchange.org/articles_tutorials/exchange-server-2010/high...
1 of 12 7/22/2011 8:47 PM

pdf Machi ne
A pdf w r i t er t hat pr oduces qual i t y PDF f i l es w i t h ease!
Produce qualit y PDF files in seconds and preserve t he int egrit y of your original document s. Compat ible across
nearly all Windows plat forms, if you can print from a windows applicat ion you can use pdfMachine.
Get yours now!
hardware based load balancer solution.
Published: Mar 30, 2010
Updated: Jul 05, 2010
Section: High Availability & Recovery
Author: Henrik Walther
3ULQWDEOH9HUVLRQ
Adjust font size:
Rating: 4.6/5 - 34 Votes
1
2
3
4
5
If you would like to read the other parts in this article series please go to:
Load Balancing Exchange 2010 Client Access Servers using an Hardware Load Balancer Solution (Part 2)
Load Balancing Exchange 2010 Client Access Servers using an Hardware Load Balancer Solution (Part 3)
Introduction
With Exchange 2010, Outlook MAPI clients use the Client Access Server (CAS) role in the middle tier as the RPC
endpoint, which has resulted in this role being even more critical than in previous versions of the product. Because
of this, all organizations (big and small) should consider making this role highly available by introducing multiple
CAS servers in each Active Directory site as well as load balance the protocols and services provided by this role.
In this previous multipart article of mine I, among other things, explained how you load balance the RPC CA
service using Windows NLB and HLB technology, but I did not go into the details on how you configure load
balancing for protocols and services such as Outlook Web Access (OWA), Exchange ActiveSync (EAS), Exchange
Control Panel (ECP), Offline Address Book (OAB), Post Office Protocol (POP), Internet Message Access Protocol
(IMAP), Exchange Web Services (EWS), and AutoDiscover (AutoD).
In this multipart article, I will show you how you load-balance the different protocols and services on an Exchange
2010 CAS role using a redundant external hardware load Balancer (HLB) solution. By implementing a load
balancer solution, you distribute client workload among multiple servers and thereby increase performance and
decrease downtime by eliminating the single point of failure that exists in a topology with only one single CAS
server or when you have multiple CAS servers where the internal URL for the miscellaneous services point to the
server FQDN.
Why use a Hardware Load Balancing solution over Windows NLB?
With the architectural changes in Exchange 2010 that amongst other things, introduces the new RPC Client Access
service (which moves Outlook MAPI mailbox connections from the back-end Mailbox servers in the data tier to
Load Balancing Exchange 2010 Client Access Servers using an Hardware... http://www.msexchange.org/articles_tutorials/exchange-server-2010/high...
2 of 12 7/22/2011 8:47 PM

pdf Machi ne
A pdf w r i t er t hat pr oduces qual i t y PDF f i l es w i t h ease!
Produce qualit y PDF files in seconds and preserve t he int egrit y of your original document s. Compat ible across
nearly all Windows plat forms, if you can print from a windows applicat ion you can use pdfMachine.
Get yours now!
the Client Access servers (CAS) in the middle tier) providing both a load balanced and highly available Client
Access Server (CAS) solution is even more important than was the case with previous versions of Exchange.
Windows Network Load Balancing (WNLB) technology may be a fine choice for organizations that do not plan to
deploy multi-role Exchange 2010 servers with both DAG protected mailbox databases and load balanced/highly
available CAS clients and services. In addition, using WNLB can be the right fit for organizations that do not have:
More than 8 nodes in a WNLB based array (the Exchange Product group does not recommend more than 8
nodes in a WNLB based cluster due to scalability and functionality limitations).
Requirements for the LB solution to be application-aware (check state of application and not just check for
IP connectivity like WNLB does).
The need for affinity methods other than source IP address based affinity which is the only method provided
by WNLB (a HLB solution provides other affinity methods such as cookie and SSL ID based affinity).
However, if you plan to deploy multi-role Exchange 2010 servers with both DAG protected mailbox databases and
load balanced/highly available CAS server service, you cannot use WNLB due to Windows Failover Cluster
(WFC) and WNLB hardware sharing conflicts (see this KB article for more information). Also, depending on your
environment and network topology, the persistence (affinity) settings provided by WNLB may not be sufficient.
This may especially be true if you have clients that look like they are coming from the same source IP address etc.
When a hardware load balancer based CAS array has been properly configured, all servers in the array are
represented by a single virtual IP (VIP) address and a fully qualified domain name (FQDN). When a client request
comes in, it will be sent to an Exchange 2010 CAS server in the CAS array using DNS round robin distribution
method. Of course we have options to prefer one or more CAS servers over other via features such as weighted
round robin, least connection and so on.
But my organization cannot afford a hardware-based load balancer
solution
This could definitely be true if you go with one of the big players on the market (such as F5 BIG-IP, Cisco ACE,
Citrix NetScaler etc.), but you know what? A hardware based load balancer solution is not just an expensive luxury
of LORGs (large organizations) with just as large IT budgets at their disposal. A hardware load balancer solution
does not necessarily need to cost many thousands of dollars. You can actually get sophisticated, high performance
devices at a very affordable price (you just need to find the right vendor). This means that even though you work
for an organization with a limited IT budget, it does not mean they cannot afford to invest in a hardware load
balancer solution.
Personally, I have recommended different hardware load balancer solutions from different vendors to my
customers over the years, but for Exchange 2010, I really like the low cost devices from KEMP Technologies.
Their smallest device (LoadMaster 2000) has a price tag of $1,590 dollars which even includes one year of support.
This means that you can get a redundant hardware load balancer solution for approximately $3,000 dollars if you
are a SMORG (small or medium organization)! On top of that, the LoadMaster 2000 device has the same rich
feature set as the LoadMaster 2200 (this one gives you a lot more bang for the buck that the LM 2000 model
although the price difference is very small!), 2500, 3500, and 5500 models (which are minded for the LORGS
(large organizations). That is it has full support for premium features such as load balancing using layer 4 and 7,
automatic failover cluster (active/hot standby with failover time of less than 3 seconds in my test environment),
SSL offloading, layer 7 persistence (stickiness), up to 256 virtual services (with a total of up to 1000 real servers!)
and server/application health checking etc. These are features you typically only see listed when looking at
expensive load balancer devices from the aforementioned more well-known vendors on the market.
By the way, if you are on the virtualization bandwagon (who isnt?), KEMP Technologies also has a virtual
appliance with a feature set identical to the hardware based devices.
Load Balancing Exchange 2010 Client Access Servers using an Hardware... http://www.msexchange.org/articles_tutorials/exchange-server-2010/high...
3 of 12 7/22/2011 8:47 PM

pdf Machi ne
A pdf w r i t er t hat pr oduces qual i t y PDF f i l es w i t h ease!
Produce qualit y PDF files in seconds and preserve t he int egrit y of your original document s. Compat ible across
nearly all Windows plat forms, if you can print from a windows applicat ion you can use pdfMachine.
Get yours now!
Note:
LORGs with lots of users or SMORGs that will use the HLB solution for purposes other than Exchange may need
to use one of the larger KEMP models. To help you decide, check out the product matrix here.
Because I have very good experience with the devices from KEMP Technologies and because they are affordable
even for the SMORGs that typically are planning to deploy a fully redundant Exchange solution consisting of two
multi-role Exchange 2010 servers, I have used two LoadMaster 2000 devices configured in a cluster (one active
and one hot standby) as the basis for this article. The setup is illustrated in Figure 1 below.
Figure 1: Topology used in this lab environment
Note:
It is important to stress that I am in no way affiliated with KEMP Technologies. In addition, I am not being paid to
point readers at hardware load balancer devices provided by this company. I simply do so as I have good
experience with their devices.
Load Balancing Exchange 2010 Client Access Servers using an Hardware... http://www.msexchange.org/articles_tutorials/exchange-server-2010/high...
4 of 12 7/22/2011 8:47 PM

pdf Machi ne
A pdf w r i t er t hat pr oduces qual i t y PDF f i l es w i t h ease!
Produce qualit y PDF files in seconds and preserve t he int egrit y of your original document s. Compat ible across
nearly all Windows plat forms, if you can print from a windows applicat ion you can use pdfMachine.
Get yours now!
What about reverse proxies such as TMG/ISA/IAG/UAG?
Cant I use one of these solutions to load balance the miscellaneous protocols and services on a CAS server? You
definitely could! At least you can load balance everything thats HTTP or HTTPS protocol. However, none of these
products are capable of load balancing RPC traffic. Read more in this newsletter I wrote a few months ago. In
addition, you may not want to send traffic from internal clients to the reverse proxy solution in your perimeter
network and back again.
Finally if you load balance HTTP/HTTPS traffic using one of the above mentioned solutions as well as an internal
HLB solution, its also important to mention that you shouldnt point them at the VIP/FQDN of the HLB, but
instead have the reverse proxy itself distribute the traffic across the CAS servers in the CAS array.
What Persistence (affinity) type should I use?
Persistence (aka affinity, stickiness etc.) is the ability of a load balancer to maintain a connection between a client
and a server. Persistence can make sure that all requests from a client are sent to the same server in a NLB array or
server farm (in case of Exchange CAS array).
So depending on the Exchange client or service, there are different recommendations in regards to what persistence
settings to use. Below I highlight which are the preferred ones for each client and service.
Exchange Clients:
Outlook Web App (OWA) - For OWA the recommended persistence methods are Client IP (source IP
address) or Cookie (either existing cookie or one created by hardware load balancer aka LB-cookie). Both
methods works fine in most deployments, but if youre working with environments where clients looks like
them come from the same source IP address, you should avoid using Client IP and instead go with one of the
cookie based persistence methods. It is recommend to not use SSL ID based persistence with OWA as this
can result in users required to re-authenticate because browsers like Internet Explorer 8 create new separate
worker processes when for instance creating a new message in OWA. The issue here is that with each new
worker process a new SSL ID is used.
Exchange Control Panel (ECP) - Same recommendation as above.
Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) - For Exchange ActiveSync the recommended persistence methods are Client
IP (source IP address) or Authorization header. If your organization uses the same mobile provider/cellular
carrier network for all users that connect to Exchange using EAS, then chances are they appear to come
from the same source IP address as NAT are often used in a cellular carrier network. This means that you
may not see optimal distribution of EAS traffic among the CAS servers behind the NLB array. So for EAS its
often a good idea to use the Authorization HTTP header as a key for persistence. Again, it is not
recommended to use SSL ID based persistence for EAS as some mobile devices renegotiates SSL security
parameters on a frequent basis.

Outlook Anywhere (OA) - For Outlook Anywhere (aka RPC over HTTP), the recommended persistence
methods are Client IP (source IP address), Authorization header or OutlookSession cookie based
persistence. If OA clients appear to come from the same Client IP, then you should consider using
Authorization header or OutlookSession cookie persistence. Bear in mind though that OutlookSession
persistence only is supported by Outlook 2010.
Load Balancing Exchange 2010 Client Access Servers using an Hardware... http://www.msexchange.org/articles_tutorials/exchange-server-2010/high...
5 of 12 7/22/2011 8:47 PM

pdf Machi ne
A pdf w r i t er t hat pr oduces qual i t y PDF f i l es w i t h ease!
Produce qualit y PDF files in seconds and preserve t he int egrit y of your original document s. Compat ible across
nearly all Windows plat forms, if you can print from a windows applicat ion you can use pdfMachine.
Get yours now!

IMAP and POP3 - IMAP and POP3 do not require any special persistence settings, so the recommendation
is to set it to no persistence.
Exchange Services:
Autodiscover- The Autodiscover service doesnt require any special persistence settings, so the
recommendation is to set it to no persistence.
RPC Client Access Service (RPC CA)- For the RPC CA service used as endpoint for internal Outlook
clients, the recommended persistence method is Client IP.

Exchange Address Book Service- Same recommendation as for RPC CA service.
Exchange Web Services (EWS)- For EWS the recommended persistence methods are cookie or SSL ID.
Now since many of the above clients and services use the same port, you can often only specify one persistence
method for all clients and services that use the same port/IP address. If you want to use a different persistence
method for lets say OWA and OA, depending on your HLB solution, this may be possible (by using split-
persistence etc.) but is outside the scope of this multipart article. Instead, I suggest you contact the vendor of the
HLB solution you plan on using.
Timeout Settings for each Protocol and Service
adver t isement
For each virtual service you can set time out values for the sessions that are established from the miscellaneous
clients to the HLB solution (memory, CPU etc.).
In order to make optimal use of your HLB solution you should not set these timeout values to high, but also be
careful not to set them too low as this could result in clients needing to reestablish as session which may or may not
mean the end user will be informed to re-authenticate.
Load Balancing Exchange 2010 Client Access Servers using an Hardware... http://www.msexchange.org/articles_tutorials/exchange-server-2010/high...
6 of 12 7/22/2011 8:47 PM

pdf Machi ne
A pdf w r i t er t hat pr oduces qual i t y PDF f i l es w i t h ease!
Produce qualit y PDF files in seconds and preserve t he int egrit y of your original document s. Compat ible across
nearly all Windows plat forms, if you can print from a windows applicat ion you can use pdfMachine.
Get yours now!
Needless to say you would want to set timeout values for protocols and services such as OWA, ECP, EAS, Outlook
Anywhere, and RPC CA relatively high (several hours such as hours in a workday) while IMAP, POP, AutoD,
EWS, OAB should have low values set (typically few minutes). To be on the safe side contact the vendor of the
HLB solution for details on what makes most sense with their solution.
Okay we have reached the end of part 1. But what we covered so far should make you well prepared for part 2
where we dive into how the virtual services for each protocol and service is created in a LoadMaster based HLB
solution. If you have questions in regards to what has been covered so far, let me know.
If you would like to read the other parts in this article series please go to:
Load Balancing Exchange 2010 Client Access Servers using an Hardware Load Balancer Solution (Part 2)
Load Balancing Exchange 2010 Client Access Servers using an Hardware Load Balancer Solution (Part 3)
About Henrik Walther
Henrik Walther is a Technology Architect and respected writer with special focus on Microsoft
Exchange and Office 365/BPOS (Exchange Online) solutions within the unified communications area. Hes been
an Exchange MVP since 2004 and a Microsoft Certified Master: Exchange 2007 since 2007.
Click here for Henrik Walther's section.
Receive all the latest articles by email!
Get all articles delivered directly to your mailbox as and when they are released on MSExchange.org! Choose
between receiving instant updates with the Real-Time Article Update, or a monthly summary with the Monthly
Article Update. Sign up to the MSExchange.org Monthly Newsletter, written by Exchange MVP Henrik Walther,
containing news, the hottest tips, Exchange links of the month and much more. Subscribe today and don't miss a
thing!
Real-Time Article Update (click for sample)
Monthly Article Update (click for sample)
Monthly Newsletter (click for sample)

Latest articles by Henrik Walther
Planning, Deploying, and Testing an Exchange 2010 Site-Resilient Solution sized for a Medium Organization
(Part 12)
Planning, Deploying, and Testing an Exchange 2010 Site-Resilient Solution sized for a Medium Organization
(Part 11)
Planning, Deploying, and Testing an Exchange 2010 Site-Resilient Solution sized for a Medium Organization
Load Balancing Exchange 2010 Client Access Servers using an Hardware... http://www.msexchange.org/articles_tutorials/exchange-server-2010/high...
7 of 12 7/22/2011 8:47 PM

pdf Machi ne
A pdf w r i t er t hat pr oduces qual i t y PDF f i l es w i t h ease!
Produce qualit y PDF files in seconds and preserve t he int egrit y of your original document s. Compat ible across
nearly all Windows plat forms, if you can print from a windows applicat ion you can use pdfMachine.
Get yours now!
(Part 1)
Planning, Deploying, and Testing an Exchange 2010 Site-Resilient Solution sized for a Medium Organization
(Part 2)
Planning, Deploying, and Testing an Exchange 2010 Site-Resilient Solution sized for a Medium Organization
(Part 3)
Related links
Readers' Choice Awards Yearly Round Up
Mailbox Management
Exchange Server 2003 Mailflow (Part 1)
Creating Custom Exchange 2007 Management Consoles
VIDEO: Certificate Wizard in Exchange 2010
Featured Links*
Simple Exchange and PST Archiving for SMEs
MailStore Server solves 2 of the biggest problems facing those with email overload: How to reduce workload of
email servers, and how to handle PST files.
Get Exchange Reporting & Monitoring Dashboards - Windows IT Pro "Best Messaging Product" of 2010
Prevent email outages, resolve problems quickly, gain visibility with over 200 reports and view your whole
environment on one dashboard that provides real time monitoring of all vital services.
Fed up of PST files? Archive all Exchange mail to SQL or simply NTFS
Offload Exchange and improve performance, reduce Exchange storage requirements by up to 80% and allow users
to retrieve archived (read-only)emails. Dld free trial.
Dig into your Exchange message tracking files with PROMODAG StoreLog 3 - FREE
This freeware transfers the content of your message tracking files into an Access database for easy querying. New
version supports Exchange 2010 and it's FREE!
The New Archiving Debate: Is Exchange 2010 Enough?
Debating Exchange 2010's new archiving features? Experts agree Exchange falls short for many organizations.
Check out Archive Attender for a complete solution!
Receive all the latest articles by email!
Receive Real-Time & Monthly MSExchange.org article updates in your mailbox. Enter your email below!
Click for Real-Time sample & Monthly sample

Become an MSExchange.org member!
Discuss your Exchange Server issues with thousands of other Exchange experts. Click here to join!
Community Area
Log in | Register
Load Balancing Exchange 2010 Client Access Servers using an Hardware... http://www.msexchange.org/articles_tutorials/exchange-server-2010/high...
8 of 12 7/22/2011 8:47 PM

pdf Machi ne
A pdf w r i t er t hat pr oduces qual i t y PDF f i l es w i t h ease!
Produce qualit y PDF files in seconds and preserve t he int egrit y of your original document s. Compat ible across
nearly all Windows plat forms, if you can print from a windows applicat ion you can use pdfMachine.
Get yours now!
My Account | Log out
Featured freeware!
Get a free copy of the new SolarWinds Permissions Analyzer!
Solution Center
Content Security for Exchange
Sponsored by GFI Software
Load Balancing Exchange 2010 Client Access Servers using an Hardware... http://www.msexchange.org/articles_tutorials/exchange-server-2010/high...
9 of 12 7/22/2011 8:47 PM

pdf Machi ne
A pdf w r i t er t hat pr oduces qual i t y PDF f i l es w i t h ease!
Produce qualit y PDF files in seconds and preserve t he int egrit y of your original document s. Compat ible across
nearly all Windows plat forms, if you can print from a windows applicat ion you can use pdfMachine.
Get yours now!
Anti Spam Section
Articles & Tutorials
Exchange 2010 Articles
Exchange 2007 Articles
Exchange 2003 Articles
Exchange 2000 Articles
Exchange 5.5 Articles
Office 365
Product Reviews
Authors
J. Peter Bruzzese
Andy Grogan
Henrik Walther
Neil Hobson
Anderson Patricio
Jaap Wesselius
Markus Klein
Rui Silva
Ilse Van Criekinge
Blogs
Exchange Hosting
Hardware
Mail Archiving
Message Boards
Services
Anti Spam Filtering
BlackBerry Hosting
Exchange Hosting
Hosted Email Archiving
Software
Administration
Anti Spam
Backup & Recovery
Calendar Tools
Content Checking
CRM Software
Disclaimers
Document Management
eDiscovery
Email Anti Virus
Email Archive & Storage
Email Signatures
Fax Connectors
Free Exchange Tools
List Servers - Mgmt
Log Monitoring
Migration
Misc. Exchange server software
Mobility & Wireless
Outlook Addons
OWA Addons
POP3 Downloaders
PST Management
Load Balancing Exchange 2010 Client Access Servers using an Hardware... http://www.msexchange.org/articles_tutorials/exchange-server-2010/high...
10 of 12 7/22/2011 8:47 PM

pdf Machi ne
A pdf w r i t er t hat pr oduces qual i t y PDF f i l es w i t h ease!
Produce qualit y PDF files in seconds and preserve t he int egrit y of your original document s. Compat ible across
nearly all Windows plat forms, if you can print from a windows applicat ion you can use pdfMachine.
Get yours now!
Reporting
Security & Encryption
SMS & Paging
Tips & Tricks
White Papers
Featured Products
Sync Exchange GAL
Active Directory(r)..
Featured Book
Order today Amazon.com
Special Preview: Read Chapter 9 here
Readers' Choice
Which is your preferred Email Archiving solution?
Archive Attender for Exchange
GFI MailArchiver for Exchange
MailStore Server
MessageSolution Enterprise Email Archive
Metalogix Archive Manager Exchange Edition
NetWrix Exchange Mail Archiver
Red Gate Exchange Server Archiver
Sophia Email Archiver
Symprex AutoArchive Manager
Other
Load Balancing Exchange 2010 Client Access Servers using an Hardware... http://www.msexchange.org/articles_tutorials/exchange-server-2010/high...
11 of 12 7/22/2011 8:47 PM

pdf Machi ne
A pdf w r i t er t hat pr oduces qual i t y PDF f i l es w i t h ease!
Produce qualit y PDF files in seconds and preserve t he int egrit y of your original document s. Compat ible across
nearly all Windows plat forms, if you can print from a windows applicat ion you can use pdfMachine.
Get yours now!
TechGenix Sites
ISAserver.org
The No.1 Forefront TMG / UAG and ISA Server resource site.
WindowSecurity.com
Network Security & Information Security resource for IT administrators.
WindowsNetworking.com
Windows Server 2008 / 2003 & Windows 7 networking resource site.
VirtualizationAdmin.com
The essential Virtualization resource site for administrators.
Anti Spam
Articles
Authors
Blogs
Books
Free Tools
Hardware
Hosted Exchange
Links
Message Boards
Newsletter
RSS
Services
Software
Tips
White Papers
About Us : Email us : Product Submission Form : Advertising Information
MSExchange.org is in no way affiliated with Microsoft Corp. *Links are sponsored by advertisers.
Copyright 2011 TechGenix Ltd. All rights reserved. Please read our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.
Load Balancing Exchange 2010 Client Access Servers using an Hardware... http://www.msexchange.org/articles_tutorials/exchange-server-2010/high...
12 of 12 7/22/2011 8:47 PM

pdf Machi ne
A pdf w r i t er t hat pr oduces qual i t y PDF f i l es w i t h ease!
Produce qualit y PDF files in seconds and preserve t he int egrit y of your original document s. Compat ible across
nearly all Windows plat forms, if you can print from a windows applicat ion you can use pdfMachine.
Get yours now!