SCENARIO: Deploy highly available 2008 R2 Connection Broker. There are different ways to do this, but in our scenario, we will cluster the connection broker server, create a shared cluster service, and use NLB to balance the initial connection load on the session hosts.
PREREQUISITES:
SESSION HOSTS
2 Server 2008 R2 Servers with Session Host Roll installed
Session Host servers should have two NIC's (One for RDP and the other for NLB)
CONNECTION BROKERS
2 Server 2008 R2 servers with Connection Broker Roll installed.
Ensure that all servers are members of the same domain.
Ensure that all servers are able to communicate with each other (work out subnet / VLAN issues if any exist)
STEPS OVERVIEW
1. Install Failover Cluster feature on Connection Brokers
2. Create drive / folder for quorum drive (this is for failover clustering and in this example we will use a folder)
3. Create share cluster service.
4. Install NLB on Session Hosts.
5. Configure NLB on Session Hosts.
6. Create Session Host Farm.
7. Create appropriate DNS entries.
Install Failover Cluster feature on Connection Brokers
1. On both Connection Brokers install the Failover Cluster feature.2. On one of the Connection Brokers go to Start > Administrative Tools > Failover Cluster Manager.
3. Within the Failover Cluster Manager, click on Validate a Configuration.
4. This will open a "Validate a Configuration Wizard". Click Next and then enter the names of the servers that you want to add to your cluster. In this case it is the two connection broker servers.
5. Click Next and then be sure to "Run all tests (recommended)".
5. Click Next and then be sure to "Run all tests (recommended)".
6. This will go through and validate that your servers are ready to be clustered together. The wizard will produce a report that you can view to check to see which tests passed and which one's didn't. If you have problems here, you need to comb through the report to see why the servers are not able to be clustered and resolve these issues. You may still be able to create the cluster even if you have some warnings.
7. Now create the cluster by clicking on Create a Cluster in the Failover Cluster Manager. The wizard will look much like the previous wizard. Add the machines that will be part of the cluster. After this, you will give the cluster a name and assign it an IP address.
8. Note that if you have a computer object in Active Directory with the same name, you will not be able to create the cluster. The cluster name needs to be unique.
9. Complete the Create Cluster Wizard.
10. NOTE: If you look in AD, a computer account named "Cluster" should have been created.
11. Now that you have created the cluster, you will likely see a warning in your Failover Cluster Manager.
12. You can present a drive or a folder to remedy this. In our case, we will create a shared folder on another server and use that as our Quorum.
14. Now go back to the Connection Broker and open the Failover Cluster Manager.
15. In the Failover Cluster Manager right click on the cluster name and go to More Actions > Configure Cluster Quorum Settings
16. In the wizard, select Node and Files Share Majority (for clusters with special configurations) and click Next
17. Browse to the server and the Quorum folder that you created and select Next and Next and Finish the wizard. You should now see something like this:
19. Right click on Services and applications and click on Configure a Service or Application.
20. In the wizard, click Next and then select the Remote Desktop Connection Broker and click on Next.
21. Give your cluster service a name and IP address and click Next until you finish the wizard.
22. You should now see something like this:
23. If you do not get a status of "Online", then right click on the service itself and select Show the critical events for this application. You will need to go through these events and resolve any outstanding issues.
25. It is usually best to have a NIC on the session host that is dedicated to NLB and a NIC that is dedicated to Management traffic. If you haven't already done so, create a NIC on each session host that is dedicated to NLB traffic.
26. Open Network Load Balancing Manager.
27. Right click on Network Load Balancing Clusters and select New Cluster.
28. In the wizard, add one of the cluster nodes (session host server name) and select the NLB NIC.
29. In the next screen, you should see something like what is below. Note that the Priority is set to 1.
30. Next we will add a virtual IP address for our cluster. This is the IP address that will be used to communicate with the NLB cluster.
31. Click Add and then add your virtual IP.
32. Next select Next to accept the defaults.
33. On the following screen, you will need to click Edit to modify the Port Rules for the defined port.
34. For the port range, use 3389 (unless you have defined RDP to use different port), select the TCP protocol, and set Affinity to None and then click Finish.
35. You should now see something like the following in the Network Load Balancing Manager:
36. Now add the remaining nodes by right clicking on the Virtual IP address (10.1.1.50 above) and selecting Add Host To Cluster.
37. Add the next Session Host server and select the NLB NIC as we did above. Notice this time the Priority is set to 2.
38. Finish wizard and ensure that you can see both servers / NIC's in the Network Load Balancing Manager and that the status is Converged.
39. Open Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration manager on your session host.
40. Double click on Remote Desktop license servers and configure your session hosts to point to a license server. Perform this on each session host.
41. Double click on Member of farm in RD Connection Broker and then click on Change Settings. Add your shared cluster service name and your farm name. Do this on all session hosts.
42. Now place a check box by Participate in Connection Broker Load-Balancing.
43. Now select which IP will be used for reconnection. Select the RDS NIC.
44. Repeat this on all session hosts.
46. Right click and select New Host (A or AAAA)
47. Add the farm name (farm1) and the Virtual IP address you created when you created your NLB Virtual IP. In our case it is 10.1.1.50
48. Try to ping farm1 by name and see if your DNS entry is working.
49. Now you need to configure your RDP files to point to the farm name. When a user launches the application, their initial connection to a session host will be load balanced.
8. Note that if you have a computer object in Active Directory with the same name, you will not be able to create the cluster. The cluster name needs to be unique.
9. Complete the Create Cluster Wizard.
10. NOTE: If you look in AD, a computer account named "Cluster" should have been created.
11. Now that you have created the cluster, you will likely see a warning in your Failover Cluster Manager.
12. You can present a drive or a folder to remedy this. In our case, we will create a shared folder on another server and use that as our Quorum.
Create drive / folder for quorum drive
13. On a server (select another server to create a shared folder on) create a shared folder.14. Now go back to the Connection Broker and open the Failover Cluster Manager.
15. In the Failover Cluster Manager right click on the cluster name and go to More Actions > Configure Cluster Quorum Settings
16. In the wizard, select Node and Files Share Majority (for clusters with special configurations) and click Next
17. Browse to the server and the Quorum folder that you created and select Next and Next and Finish the wizard. You should now see something like this:
Create share cluster service
18. Once again, go to the Failover Cluster Manager.19. Right click on Services and applications and click on Configure a Service or Application.
20. In the wizard, click Next and then select the Remote Desktop Connection Broker and click on Next.
21. Give your cluster service a name and IP address and click Next until you finish the wizard.
22. You should now see something like this:
23. If you do not get a status of "Online", then right click on the service itself and select Show the critical events for this application. You will need to go through these events and resolve any outstanding issues.
Install NLB on Session Hosts
24. Now go to your session host servers. Install the Network Load Balancing feature on all of them.25. It is usually best to have a NIC on the session host that is dedicated to NLB and a NIC that is dedicated to Management traffic. If you haven't already done so, create a NIC on each session host that is dedicated to NLB traffic.
26. Open Network Load Balancing Manager.
27. Right click on Network Load Balancing Clusters and select New Cluster.
28. In the wizard, add one of the cluster nodes (session host server name) and select the NLB NIC.
29. In the next screen, you should see something like what is below. Note that the Priority is set to 1.
30. Next we will add a virtual IP address for our cluster. This is the IP address that will be used to communicate with the NLB cluster.
31. Click Add and then add your virtual IP.
32. Next select Next to accept the defaults.
33. On the following screen, you will need to click Edit to modify the Port Rules for the defined port.
34. For the port range, use 3389 (unless you have defined RDP to use different port), select the TCP protocol, and set Affinity to None and then click Finish.
35. You should now see something like the following in the Network Load Balancing Manager:
36. Now add the remaining nodes by right clicking on the Virtual IP address (10.1.1.50 above) and selecting Add Host To Cluster.
37. Add the next Session Host server and select the NLB NIC as we did above. Notice this time the Priority is set to 2.
38. Finish wizard and ensure that you can see both servers / NIC's in the Network Load Balancing Manager and that the status is Converged.
Create Session Host Farm
39. Add Session Hosts computer objects to local Session Broker Computers group on both Connection Broker servers.39. Open Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration manager on your session host.
40. Double click on Remote Desktop license servers and configure your session hosts to point to a license server. Perform this on each session host.
41. Double click on Member of farm in RD Connection Broker and then click on Change Settings. Add your shared cluster service name and your farm name. Do this on all session hosts.
42. Now place a check box by Participate in Connection Broker Load-Balancing.
43. Now select which IP will be used for reconnection. Select the RDS NIC.
44. Repeat this on all session hosts.
Create appropriate DNS entries
45. Open DNS Manager and navigate tor your Forward Lookup Zones. Go to your domain subfolder (contoso.com)46. Right click and select New Host (A or AAAA)
47. Add the farm name (farm1) and the Virtual IP address you created when you created your NLB Virtual IP. In our case it is 10.1.1.50
48. Try to ping farm1 by name and see if your DNS entry is working.
49. Now you need to configure your RDP files to point to the farm name. When a user launches the application, their initial connection to a session host will be load balanced.
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