Re: Mozilla/Netscape 7

Dave Lyon wrote:
> Has anyone else noticed any DNS caching in mozilla browsers? When a
> backhand web server goes down, IE is rolling over to a running one,
> while my mozilla browser continues to try to hit the web server I was
> on. Any ideas? I assume this is a mozilla issue, but...

That is a "feature" in IE that is not detailed in any standard that I know of.

If you site has multiple A records, you _must_ have all IP addresses available 
to service requests at all times.  The browser is not responsible for 
alternating or retrying alternative IP addresses in the event of a failure -- 
though it is a nice feature.

As one can see, this has nothing to do with load-balancing.  Rather, it is an 
issue of availability.  mod_backhand makes no attempts at providing 
high-availability.  However wackamole (also part of the backhand project) does.

If you have multiple IP addresses exposed to the public and advertised for a 
web service, I would recommend implementing some for a high-availability 
incorporating those IPs.  wackamole is a usable product in a such a situation.


-- 
Theo Schlossnagle
Principal Consultant
OmniTI Computer Consulting, Inc. -- http://www.omniti.com/
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