RE: [users@httpd] Building Load Balanced Web Site (Apache Users)

I use 2 Dell PE 750 servers running heatbeat(http://www.linux-ha.org/) and Pound(www.apsis.ch/pound) as redirectors to provide load-balancing to 3 Dell PE 750 backend web servers running Apache. The web content is on the local disk of each of the webservers. All development is done on a seperate box, and when required to be uploaded, I use an rsync script to copy the changed code to the live servers. We have had no problems with this setup so far, the redirectors havent ever even failed over...touch wood :) We are only serving up about 500,000 hits a month with this system, but the cpu/mem/disk monitors hardly even move.

From: Bill Parker [mailto:dogbert@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, 8 August 2005 12:24 PM
To: users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [users@httpd] Building Load Balanced Web Site

Hi All,

I would like some ideas on how people on this list build a web server farm (small to medium sized business).

The idea I have had for a while is to localize all of the web content to each web server (from a central file store)

via rsync, which would eliminate things like smbmounts and nfsd to make hard links across a LAN between

linux servers, and reduce the chance of the web site NOT being available due to a mount point failure.

Can the readers of this list give me some pointers on how they do it, so that I can present the ideas to management

(I don't like the idea of serving up content from a central server, due to the fact if the server dies, the website which

is dependent on the content will die as well).

Ideas?

Bill