ISA Server 2006 with Backup EXEC

ISA Server 2006 can be used to deny or allow network traffic from or to hosts. Any network application running on a server requires to use a port which can be used to listen traffics coming from the client machines on the same network for that port. Applications configured in this way listen on one or more ports. An application running with two instances is unable to process the requests or fail to initialise properly.

The same case happened with me last night. I was configuring Backup EXEC Agent on a system on which ISA server is also installed. The Media Server which is installed on a different server was not able to connect to the Agent. As you know, Backup EXEC listens on port range – 10000 – 10025. I configured an outbound rule in ISA Server so that Media Server can talk to Agent properly but it wasn’t happening at all. I looked at the Task Manager and found that there were two instances of Backup EXEC process running in the Task Manager Process tab. I killed both the processes and then restarted Backup EXEC Agent Service.

The solution for this is described below:

1. Media Server must be configured to use Dynamic Port Range from 10000 – 10025

2. Create Ports and Protocol using ISA Protocol tab in right pane. ISA Server must be configured to allow traffic from ISA to Media Server for the aforementioned Port Range.

3. Firewall Client Installation must be enabled on ISA Server.

4. Kill any duplicate process if it is running in the Process Tab of Task Manager.

Quorum Disk configuration.

Last night, I was trying to solve a cluster question. The question was easy to solve but user didn’t mention the exact situation and current configuration of production environment and cluster. I was completely failed to help the user. At last, I saw the user didn’t mention the quorum configuration. I asked him about the configuration of quorum disk. He replied saying that Quorum disk is configured locally and the node which was holding the disk failed. Hence, other nodes also failed.

Microsoft has published an article for Quorum configuration:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/280345

General Network Load Balancing Knowledge Base Articles

Windows Load Balancing Service Does Not Work on Token Ring

Windows 2000 Interoperability Between MSCS and NLB

Using Terminal Server with Windows Load Balancing Service

Using Crossover Cable Causes Load Balancing Not to Work

Testing NLB with Homer Shows All Traffic Handled by a Single Host

System Error 52 When You Connect to an NLB Cluster Name

Support WebCast: Network Load Balancing in Microsoft Windows 2000

Support WebCast: Microsoft Windows Terminal Services: How to Configure

PRB: Application Center 2000 Replicates NLB Equal Load Weight Setting as Load Weight 50

PRB: Address Conflict When You Change an Application Center NLB Cluster

PRB: Adding a Cluster Member May Delete Existing IP Addresses on the Target Server

PRB: “550 Quoted Name Does Not Match IP Address” SMTP Error Message

Configuring Network Load Balancing

Only TCP/IP Should Be Bound to Virtual Network Adapter in WLBS Host

NLB Operations Affect All Network Adapters on the Server

Network Load Balancing Connection to a Virtual IP Address Not Made Across a Switch

Load Balanced Service May Not Work Properly With IP Fragmentation

L2TP Sessions Lost When Adding a Server to an NLB Cluster

IP Address Conflict Switching Between Unicast and Multicast NLB Cluster

IP Address Assignment for NLB with Multiple Network Adapters

INFO: Using NIC Teaming Adapters with Network Load Balancing May Cause Network Problems

How WLBS Handles the Dedicated IP Address

HOW TO: Install Network Load Balancing Service That Was Previously Uninstalled in Windows 2000

HOW TO: Configure Network Load Balancing Parameters in Windows 2000

HOW TO: Configure an IP Address for NLB with One Network Adapter

How to Configure WLBS with Multiple Virtual IP Addresses

How to Configure HTTPMon to Monitor NLB or WLBS Web sites

How NLB Hosts Converge When Connected to a Layer 2 Switch

FIX: Message Queuing Messages Not Validated with Network Load Balancing

Description of Network Load Balancing Features

Configuration Options for WLBS Hosts Connected to a Layer 2 Switches

Client Sessions May Be Lost While Accessing a Web Farm Program

Cannot Use Wlbs.exe Remote Control Commands From Load Balanced VPN Servers

“NLB Failed to Start” Error Message on Windows 2000 If NLB Is Not Installed

WLBS Cluster Is Unreachable from Outside Networks

 

NLB Cluster Does Not Converge When the MTU Size Is Less Than the Default Value

HOW TO: Set Up TCP/IP for Network Load Balancing in Windows Server 2003

HOW TO: Configure Network Load Balancing Parameters in Windows Server 2003

Cannot Ping IP Addresses After You Enable Network Load Balancing on Network Adapter

“RPC Server Is Unavailable” Error Message When You Connect to NLB Cluster Host through NLB Manager

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