Microsoft SharePoint is a web platform that provides many capabilities such as:

  • Document management
  • Version control
  • File sharing
  • Collaboration
  • Social networking
  • Enterprise search
  • Business intelligence
  • Workflow automation
  • Website creation

A SharePoint Server Farm can include application servers and Web Front End (WFE) servers. The WFE server is used to handle requests from clients. If the WFE server is receiving a lot of requests, it may be necessary to build multiple WFE servers and distribute the load amongst them. To provide resiliency and high performance, these WFEs should be load balanced.

The Office Web Apps (OWA) servers can also be managed and/or load balanced by using the LoadMaster. The SharePoint template and steps in this document provide options for both.

Document Purpose

This deployment guide provides instructions on how to configure the LoadMaster to load balance SharePoint using LoadMaster application templates. This guide should only be used as a reference for the load balancing configuration of SharePoint services because each environment is unique and may have different requirements. This guide outlines the load balancing configuration using the default SharePoint ports using LoadMaster application templates, but unique ports can also be leveraged based on the environment.

This guide also outlines the configuration of Virtual Services using Layer 7. Some environments may have the ability to leverage Layer 4, which can improve performance. Contact Progress Kemp Support for any questions regarding configuration options.

Prerequisites

It is assumed that if you are offloading SSL, an SSL certificate and key is already obtained and installed on the LoadMaster. For help with SSL certificates, refer to the SSL Accelerated Services Feature Description. It is also assumed that a working SharePoint environment is installed.