How To Load Balance Users Between 2 Servers with Dynamics GP

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Hello,

We have a large number of users connecting to a single terminal server to run Dynamics GP 2013. The DYNAMICS databases are located on a separate SQL sever.

I would like to create an additional terminal server, install GP, and split the users up so I can reduce the performance hit. I'm looking for some documentation on how to do this.

It's my understanding that whenever a user performs certain changes in GP, local .DIC files are updated to reflect the changes. If I load balance the solution between 2 servers, how do I keep the changes consistent across all servers?

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KirkLivermont 5,985 on at

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The GP clients can all access a shared dictionary on the server that hosts the SQL database. Balance the load across the terminal servers and make sure the ODBC connection uses the same sql server name on both.

Regards,

Kirk

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Thanks for the response Kirk. Is there any additional configuration that needs to be done in order to set up a shared dictionary on the SQL server?

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KirkLivermont 5,985 on at

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I would export your existing reports and import them in to the new dictionary rather than actually moving them. However you access them use full UNC pathing or identical drive maps on both terminal servers.

Regards,

Kirk

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Tom Cruse 1,477 on at

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Hi Kirk I saw that mentioned to setup the shared dictionary on the SQL server. Just as a thought do you think that the shared dictionary should be placed either on a file share somewhere or on one of the two terminal servers.

I'm thinking for performance factors you wouldn't want to dictionary files to be located on the SQL server because the terminal servers will already be making calls and hitting SQL and you want as little running on SQL as possible.

Just a thought, let me know if you think otherwise.

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Can anyone provide me with some documentation on how to set this up? Is this just as simple as putting the .DIC files in a shared folder and pointing a UNC path to it in the DYNAMICS.set file?

Besides the .DIC files, does anything else get updated locally when you use GP?

Thanks again for the help

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Tom Cruse 1,477 on at

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If you're gonna set it up and tell individuals which server to sign into then no you should be fine, it's the same as if you were setting up individual desktop installs and having all installs point to one shared set of dictionary files.

Now if what you're looking for is a more robust install where it gets load balanced between servers based on usage then you'll need to setup is a RD Connection Broker service and Session Hosts which will lead you down a slightly more complex install. Granted that's if you're on 2012 servers but that's more of Windows Server 2012 documentation question, I've never setup a Connection Broker so I can't help a whole lot there but I know Google University is a click away :)

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KirkLivermont 5,985 on at

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Hi Tom, In a perfect world I would probably place the dictionaries on a file share outside of the TS/SQL server environments. That being said I have no idea if there would be any noticeable change in performance and it would add one more variable to the mix.

Coors, Make sure to also check the dex.ini file.

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Kirk - Is there something specific to check in the Dex.ini or are you just saying to make sure that it is the same across both terminal servers?

Also, I think I am going to put the shared reports on the SQL server. After thinking it through, you are correct, best case scenario I would put them on a completely separate server. But the customer won't have another server so I'm forced to choose. If I put the reports on one of the application servers and that server fails, the whole operation is down. If I put them on the SQL server and one of the application servers fail, I'll still be able to run GP off the other terminal server while I solve the problem.

At least, that is the plan at this point. If performance is impacted I might have to reconsider.

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KirkLivermont 5,985 on at

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Coors,

There are file paths to some dictionaries in the dex.ini file. I believe you want update both these paths and the paths in the dynamics.set file to reflect the new location.

Kirk

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