icon Load Balancing
Created by Orckestra

C1 CMS Versions supported

This package requires CMS version 5.0 or newer (Build: 5.0.5827.21806).

Launch the CMS Console, then open the top menu item “Help” and click “About C1 CMS”.

Note. Along with the package installation, you need to take a few pre- and post-installation steps (see below).

Pre-Installation Steps

  1. Use Orckestra CMS version 4.1 or later.
  2. Install Composite.Tools.SqlServerDataProvider.
  3. Migrate the website data store to an SQL database.
  4. Enable the "Service Broker" option on the database (see below).

Enabling the Service Broker on the Database in Use

  1. Stop the website on the web server.
  2. Run Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio.
  3. Connect to the server where the Orckestra CMS Database is hosted.
  4. Open the database's properties (right-click the database in the tree and click "Properties")
  5. On the "Options" tab, scroll down to the "Service Broker" section.
  6. Select "True" for the "Broker Enabled" option.
  7. Click "OK" in the "Database Properties" window.
  8. Start the website on the web server.

Installation steps

  1. Log into the CMS Console as an administrator.
  2. Go to the "System" perspective.
  3. Open the folders “Packages” | “Available Packages” | " Composite.Tools".
  4. Select " Composite.Tools.LoadBalancing" and click “Install”.
  5. Complete the wizard.

Post-Installation Steps

  1. After installing the package, check the server log (System / Server Log / View Server Log) to see if the package is running. You should see messages like "Package successfully installed" and "LoadBalancing package is initialized in 'Shared' mode".
  2. Make a copy of the website files and deploy the copy on other servers (see below).
  3. If necessary, set up one dedicated website instance for the CMS Console administration.

Deploying the Website on Multiple Servers

Once you've finished the setup, make a copy of the website to deploy it on other servers. You can use Composite.Tools.XmlBasedSiteBackup to make a zipped copy of the website.

Important. The Composite.Tools.XmlBasedSiteBackup package will only back up the website file. The SQL database in use will not be backed up.

Then go on and deploy it on as many servers as you need.

You can use the package with Microsoft Network Load Balancing Services, but other load balancing technologies should be usable as well.

When using Microsoft NLB you can use any affinity on the front-end, provided your web application does not introduce machine local session state. The CMS Console cannot run in a load balanced setup with affinity set to “None”, but will work with affinity set to “Single” and “Network”.

Making a Dedicated Instance for the CMS Console Administration

The package does not synchronize all the website files, so we recommend that you have one dedicated instance for the CMS Console administration.

For this, disable usage of the CMS Console in production sites by completely removing the “/Composite” folder.

Important. Removing the /Composite” folder will only work on Orckestra CMS Versions higher than "Version 4.2. Update 1". On this and earlier versions, you should also remove references to AdministrativeAuthorizationHttpModule from web.config.

Version info

Current version
1.0.5
Package ID
65c59e0b-7bcc-43c1-a682-6e28832b037c
Part of subscriptions:

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