3.5.1 Matrix Server Administration Guide

Chapter 3: Configure Servers 56

IP address: The IP addresses for the virtual hosts you will use for each

server in the matrix. These are the IP addresses that the DNS will use to

send alternate requests. (In this example, virtual host virtual_acmd1 uses

IP address 10.1.1.1 and virtual host virtual_acmd2 uses IP address

10.1.1.2.)

With this setup, the domain name server sends messages in a round-

robin fashion to the two virtual hosts indicated by the IP addresses,

causing them to share the request load. Each virtual host has a single

primary server on which it performs its work; the other server is a backup

in case the primary goes down or is taken offline for maintenance.

Depending on your needs, more complicated combinations of DNS

round robin and Matrix Server can be used, including matrix

configurations with multiple failover-protected load-balanced servers.