Microsoft KB Archive/222085

= How to Scale Microsoft Print Services Using WLBS =

PSS ID Number: 222085

Article Last Modified on 6/20/2003

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
 * Microsoft Windows NT Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0
 * Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
 * Microsoft Windows NT Load Balancing Service 1.0

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This article was previously published under Q222085



SUMMARY
This article explains how to use the Windows NT Load Balancing Service (WLBS) to scale print services across the cluster.

Requirements

 * Printer shares to be accessed by clients are identically available on all cluster hosts.
 * Clients must be able to resolve the cluster's NetBIOS name to the cluster's virtual IP address (VIP) by using WINS or LMHOSTS. This name is the host name within the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) that is typed in the WLBS Setup dialog box.
 * Use two network interface cards (NICs) on each cluster host. One NIC is for the dedicated IP address, and the other one is for the virtual IP address. Two NICs are needed because NBT binds only to the first IP address in a NIC, and WLBS needs the VIP listed first to provide NBT support (single NIC WLBS configurations require the dedicated IP address to be listed first to retain normal access to the cluster host with its dedicated IP address).
 * Windows 2000 clients must use the cluster VIP instead of the cluster name because Windows 2000 uses Direct Hosting (SMB over TCP/IP) which checks the endpoint name of the cluster as a security feature (the check does not work because the cluster name is not the one configured on the Network Identification tab of system properties). If you use the cluster name instead of the VIP, a "duplicate name" error message is returned.

Configuring Port Rule
Create a port rule for port 139, TCP and UDP, with Multiple Hosts filtering mode and Single client affinity.

Accessing Cluster Printers
 Map a printer port to the cluster's printer by typing the following command at the command prompt:

net use lpt : \\ \printer

where  is the LPT port number you want to use and   is the cluster's NetBIOS name (or the cluster VIP address if you are using Windows 2000). Set up a local printer to use the mapped lpt port.



MORE INFORMATION
WLBS does not support browsing. This is why the cluster printers have to be accessed by mapping a printer port. The cluster's NetBIOS name does not appear in Network Neighborhood. The cluster hosts will not advertise the cluster's NetBIOS name, but they will answer requests made to it.

WLBS NBT support is enabled by default. You can disable this support by changing the NBTSupportEnable registry parameter from 1 to 0. For additional information about how to modify this parameter, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

193601 Registry Parameters for Windows NT Load Balancing Service

For additional information about Direct Hosting and the new endpoint name checking feature in Windows 2000, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

254210 Cannot Use Net View \\Localhost Command

Additional query words: load balancing convoy NLB

Keywords: kbinfo kbnetwork kbprint KB222085

Technology: kbwin2000AdvServ kbwin2000AdvServSearch kbwin2000DataServ kbwin2000DataServSearch kbwin2000Pro kbwin2000ProSearch kbwin2000Search kbwin2000Serv kbwin2000ServSearch kbWinAdvServSearch kbWinDataServSearch kbWinNT400search kbWinNTLBS100 kbWinNTLBSSearch kbWinNTS400 kbWinNTS400search kbWinNTsearch kbWinNTSEnt400 kbWinNTSEntSearch kbWinNTSsearch

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