Q: What’s the Active Directory
Load Balancer tool?
A: With Windows 2000 Server,
there’s one bridgehead server per
naming context, so under Win2K,
no matter how many domain
controllers (DCs) are in a hub site,
only one would be used for intersite
replication. This changed with
Windows Server 2003, and intersite
replication is now load-balanced
over the available DCs in a
location; however, this load balancing
is performed only initially.
If a new DC is added at a location,
then existing connections
won’t be re-evaluated and spread
more evenly between the DCs.
Active Directory Load Balancer,
which is part of the Windows
2003 Resource Kit tools, solves
this problem by load balancing
connection objects between the
available DCs. The tool runs these
three process phases:
- Gathers data about the sites
and connection objects
- Calculates the new replication
connection object design
- Writes the updated connection
object properties
Load-balancing the connection
objects between the DCs
is useful, but the tool also staggers
when replication will occur
within the replication interval.
For example, if it replicates site
A between minutes 0 and 15 of
the replication cycle, it then replicates
site B between minutes 16
and 30. This is a great feature that
spreads out the load experienced
by the hub DCs, allowing them to
support even more branch sites.
Without Active Directory Load
Balancer, all replication takes
place in the first 15 minutes of a
replication cycle.
—John Savill
End of Article
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