Table of Contents



Introduction

Before you perform this procedure, confirm that you have read the topic Configure a dedicated front-end Web server for crawling (Office SharePoint Server 2007).

Use the following procedures in the order listed to configure a dedicated front-end Web server for crawling using the Configure Office SharePoint Server Search Service Settings on server page in Central Administration.

Check Network Load Balancing Settings

Because crawling content typically places the front-end Web server under heavy load, we recommend that you remove the dedicated front-end Web server from the network load balancing rotation. Otherwise, user requests that the network load balancer directs to the dedicated front-end Web server for crawling will be subjected to inconsistent performance. For more information about network load balancing, see Remove a host from a Network Load Balancing cluster (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=91030&clcid=0x409).

Start the Windows SharePoint Services Web Application

You must ensure that the Windows SharePoint Services Web Application service is running on the front-end Web server that you want to use for crawling content. You must be a farm administrator to complete this procedure.

  1. In Central Administration, on the Operations tab, in the Topology and Services section, click Servers in farm.

  2. On the Servers in Farm page, in the Server column, click the name of the server you want to configure as your dedicated front-end Web server for crawling.

  3. On the Services on Server page, in the Start services in the table below section, find the Windows SharePoint Services Web Application row. Next, verify that the Status column displays Started. If this service is started, no further action is needed. Otherwise, click Start.

Specify the Server to use for Crawling

  1. In Central Administration, on the Operations tab, click Servers in farm.

  2. On the Servers in Farm page, in the Server column, click the name of the index server.

  3. On the Services on Server page, in the Service column, click Office SharePoint Server Search.

  4. On the Configure Office SharePoint Server Search Service Settings on server page, in the Web Front End And Crawling section, select Use a dedicated web front end computer for crawling and then select the computer you want to use from the list.

  5. Click OK.

Verify the Hosts file

After completing the previous procedure, the Office SharePoint Server Search service automatically updates the Hosts file with the IP address of the dedicated front-end Web server that you specified for crawling. The Office SharePoint Server Search service uses the Hosts file to locate the IP address of the front-end Web server to use for crawling instead of using a domain name server (DNS). You must be a server administrator to complete this procedure.

In some cases, the Office SharePoint Server Service updates the Hosts file with an incorrect IP address, which could prevent you from accessing any SharePoint sites on your sever farm. Such an error can occur if the servers in your farm have been configured with multiple static IP addresses or have implemented network load balancing. Because of this, we highly recommend that you verify that the Office SharePoint Server Search service updated the Hosts file with the IP address of the front-end Web server that you specified for crawling.

Use the following procedure to view the Hosts file to determine if the correct IP address for the server that you specified as the dedicated front-end Web server for crawling was added.

  1. Log on to the index server as a member of the Administrators group.

  2. Navigate to <systemdrive>:\winnt\system32\drivers\etc.

  3. Open the Hosts file in a text editor, such as Notepad.

  4. View the IP addresses assigned to the server that you specified as the front-end Web server for crawling.

The IP address that the Office SharePoint Server Search service adds to the Hosts file is appended with a comment similar to the following:

#Added by Office SharePoint Server Search (5/1/2007 1:26 PM)

If the Office SharePoint Server Search service did add the wrong IP address to the Hosts file, do the following:

  1. Repeat the steps in Specify the Server to use for Crawling and select Use all web front-end computers for crawling in step 4 to remove the entries from the Hosts file.

  2. Update the Hosts file directly to configure a dedicated front-end Web server for crawling. For more information, see Configure a dedicated front-end Web server for crawling by editing the Hosts file (Office SharePoint Server 2007).

See Also