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NLB: Configure Site Sync between two load balanced environments

Configure load balancing on the source environment
  1. Set up the project on the two or more servers to point to the same source database.
  2. Do a test ping from one server to the rest and ensure it is successful.
  3. Generate an ASP.NET 2.0 Machine Key.
    Use an ASP.NET Machine Key Generator, such as http://www.developerfusion.com/tools/generatemachinekey/
  4. For all of the servers of the source environment, perform the following:
    1. Open the web.config file and find the <system.web> element that is directly under the <configuration> element – not the one under a <location> element.
    2. Place the copied ASP.NET 2.0 Machine Key directly under the <system.web> element. 
      Use the same machine key.
  5. For all of the servers of the source environment, perform the following:
    1. Browse the site explicitly.
    2. Log in to the backend and navigate to Administration » Settings » Advanced » System » LoadBalancing » WebServerUrls
    3. Create new entries with the IP addresses of all of the rest of the servers. 
      Use the IP address. For example, http://199.166.0.1/
  6. Restart all nodes of the source environment at the same time.
    Without browsing the sites, open the web.config files of all nodes and resave them.
  7. Test the load balancing to ensure it works correctly.
    1. Browse a frontend page of the site on one of the servers two or three times to ensure it is served from output cache.
    2. Log in to the backend of one of the sites, make a change to the page and publish it.
    3. Refresh the page on another server and check if the change appears.

NOTE: You can optionally configure a load balancer that distributes the traffic between the nodes.

Configure load balancing on the target environment

 Repeat the above procedure on the production environment, using a different machine key.

Configure Site Sync between the two environments

RECOMMENDATION: We recommend to setup Site Sync between strictly selected nodes from the source and target environment.

  1. Log in to the backend on all nodes, both on the source and the target environments, and install the SiteSync module.
  2. For all of the nodes on the target environment, perform the following:
    1. Login to the backend and navigate to Administration » Settings » Global settings » Site Sync.
    2. Select Allow content from other sites to be published to this site checkbox.
    3. For all the nodes, set different Site key.
      For example, starting with 1 and incrementing.
  3. Restart all nodes of the target environment at the same time.
    Without browsing the sites, open the web.config files of all nodes and resave them.
  4. For all the servers of the source environment, perform the following:
    1. Log in to the backend of the site on and navigate to Administration » Settings » Global settings » Site Sync.
    2. Under Server(s) where to send data, click Add a server.
    3. Enter the IP address of one of the servers of the target environment. 
      Do not enter the load balancer URL, such as http://80.0.0.1/
      Use the same target server for all source servers.
  5. Restart all nodes of the source environment at the same time.
    Without browsing the sites, open the web.config files of all nodes and resave them.
  6. Test the site sync by logging in to the backend on one of the servers of the source environment explicitly. 
    Do not log in to the backend through the load balancer URL when performing a sync.

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