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Q226382: XWEB: WWW Service Crash Causes Server Unavailable Errors w/WLBS

Article: Q226382
Product(s): Microsoft Exchange
Version(s): WINDOWS:5.5
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): 
Last Modified: 22-JUN-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Outlook Web Access, version 5.5 Service Packs 1, 2, 3 
- Microsoft Exchange Server, version 5.5 
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SUMMARY
=======

When you are connected with a browser to an Outlook Web Access (OWA) server, the
following error messages may be displayed if this server is also a part of a
cluster of Windows Load Balancing Servers (WLBS), and the WWW publishing service
has stopped:

  Sorry! The Microsoft Exchange Server is down or the HTTP service has been
  disabled by an administrator. Please try your request again later.

-or-

  HTTP/1.0 404 Object Not Found

-or-

The browser screen may be displayed as a white screen and the browser may also
display an error similar to the following:

  Host Not Found

-or-

  This page cannot be displayed.

MORE INFORMATION
================

You may get the above error messages if the WWW service has failed on the server
your client is connected to. After the service fails, you will be unable to
connect to your Exchange Server computer using the OWA component. Even though
the OWA server is a part of a WLBS cluster, the WLBS service is not aware that
the service has stopped, and therefore, cannot redirect you to another on-line
server. To use OWA to access your Exchange mailbox, you will have to close the
browser and start again in order to connect to another OWA server.

In version 2.2 for Windows NT 4.0, WLBS does not include application monitoring
tools or features. Many leading monitoring tools on the market can be easily
configured by an end-user to provide this support by creating an alert option
specifically for WLBS. In the alert functions of many monitoring tools, an
option is provided for running a script in addition to the standard "Page this
number" or "E-mail this address" options. Using these scripts, WLBS can be tied
into the existing monitoring infrastructure.

For example, if the Internet Information Service (IIS) application on Server A
does not respond for X seconds, then run the following script:

  'wlbs stop (cluster IP address):(Server A's host ID or dedicated IP address)

Some examples of third-party tools:

- SiteScope by Freshwater Software (http://www.freshtech.com)
- AppManager by NetIQ (http://www.netiq.com)
- WhatsUp Gold by Ipswitch

The third-party products discussed in this article are manufactured by vendors
independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding
these products' performance or reliability.

Additional query words:

======================================================================
Keywords          :  
Technology        : kbOutlookSearch kbOWASearch kbOWA550SP1 kbOWA550SP2 kbOWA550SP3
Version           : WINDOWS:5.5
Issue type        : kbinfo

=============================================================================

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