This quick start example shows how to create a site name
configuration by using Site Selector to load balance traffic among
a set of servers that are based on the domain name that is used on
a client request.
Before you begin
Simple Site Selector configuration. 
For this quick start configuration example, you must
meet the following conditions:
- Administrative access to the name server for your site
- Four servers (server1, server2, server3, server4)
configured to the network and an extra server with the Site Selector
component installed
Tip: If you collocate Site Selector on one of the
load balanced servers, then you need four servers instead of five.
However, collocation has an impact the performance of the load balanced
servers.
About this task
With Site Selector, you can create a configuration by using
the command line, the configuration wizard, or the graphical user
interface (GUI). For this quick start example, configuration steps
are demonstrated by using the command line.
Procedure
- Prepare the servers. For this quick start example,
the company site domain is mywebshop.com. Site Selector
is responsible for a subdomain within mywebshop.com.
Therefore, define a subdomain within mywebshop.com,
for example: apps.mywebshop.com.
Site Selector
is not a fully implemented DNS, such as BIND, and acts as a leafnode
in a DNS hierarchy. Site Selector is authoritative for the apps.mywebshop.com subdomain.
Subdomain apps.mywebshop.com includes the following
site names: marketing.apps.mywebshop.com and developer.apps.mywebshop.com.
- Update the company site’s domain name server, as shown
in the figure. Create a name server record in the named.data file
for the subdomain (apps.mywebshop.com) where Site
Selector is the authoritative name server:
apps.mywebshop.com. IN NS siteselector.mywebshop.com
- Ensure that the fully qualified host name or site does
not resolve in the current domain name system.
- Install Metric Server on the servers (server1,
server2, server3, server4) that you intend to have Site Selector
load balance. Read the Getting advice with Metric Server
topic to learn how to use Metric Server with the Site Selector component.
- With Site Selector, you can create a configuration by using
the command line, the configuration wizard, or the graphical user
interface (GUI). For this quick start example, configuration
steps are demonstrated using the command line.
Important: The
parameter values must be entered in English characters. The only exceptions
are parameter values for host names and file names.
- Configuring with the command line:
- Start ssserver from the install_root/ss/server/bin directory:
![[AIX]](../images/aixlogo.gif)
![[HP-UX]](../images/hpux.gif)
![[Linux]](../images/linux.gif)
Run the following command as
root user: ssserver
Start ssserver (IBM® Site Selector) from the Services panel: Start
> Settings (for Windows 2000) > Control Panel > Administrative Tools
> Services.
- Start the name server on the Site Selector configuration. Enter
the command
sscontrol nameserver start
- Configure the site names (marketing.apps.mywebshop.com and developer.apps.mywebshop.com)
on Site Selector:
sscontrol sitename add marketing.apps.mywebshop.com@
sscontrol sitename add developer.apps.mywebshop.com@
- Add the servers to the Site Selector configuration. (Configure server1 and server2 to
site name marketing.apps.mywebshop.com. Configure server3 and server4 to
site name developer.apps.myeebshop.com):
sscontrol server add marketing.apps.mywebshop.com@server1+server2
sscontrol server add developer.apps.mywebshop.com@server3+server4
- Start the manager function of Site Selector:
sscontrol manager start
- Start the advisor function of Site Selector (HTTP advisor for marketing.apps.mywebshop.com and
FTP advisor for developer.apps.mywebshop):
sscontrol advisor start http marketing.apps.mywebshop.com@80
sscontrol advisor start ftp developer.apps.mywebshop.com@21
- Ensure that the Metric Server is started on each of the load-balanced
servers.
- Test your configuration.
- From a client, that has a primary DNS configured as
the name server responsible for mywebshop.com, try
to ping one of the configured site names.
- Connect to the application. For example:
- Open a browser, request marketing.apps.mywebshop.com and
a valid page is served
- Open an FTP client to developer.apps.mywebshop.com and
enter a valid user and password
- Look at the results of the following command:
sscontrol server status marketing.apps.mywebshop.com@
sscontrol server status developer.apps.mywebshop.com@
The
total hits entry of each server adds up to the ping and application
request.
What to do next
You can also configure Site Selector with the graphical user
interface (GUI) and the configuration wizard. Read the Configuring
Site Selector and GUI: General Instructions topics for more information.