I'm new to the whole server farm idea and recently got it working with Windows Server 2008 R2.  I have 2 computers synchronizing their files through one control server.  All the files in DOTNETNUKE synchronize but the database gets an error because the server its synchronizing off locks it.

Does anybody know how to set up a dedicated SQL Server in the Community Edition, and would this solve my problem of one computer locking the SQL database?

I am running SQL Express.

Servers:

1. Control Server running Windows Ultimate to handle requests and forward them to the Primary and Secondary Servers
2. Primary Server running DOTNETNUKE and has full copy of installation
3. Secondary Server mirrors Primary Server
4. *Possible SQL Server to keep database in SYNC

Steven,

I know this thread is a bit old...but I've got a few questions I was hoping you might be able to answer if you have time.  I'm working on a graduate project using DNN (simulated) and want to setup an SQL 2008 server farm...from the sounds of it I should be able to use the same process you mentioned "SQL merge replication across Data Centers"...in this case my model is using Dell M series blade servers with 12 blade servers...I don't know if it makes sense at this point to use all 12 servers with SQL on each server or to use VM's as you suggested...I'm looking for redundancy, security, and load balancing.  My DNN portal should be able to support up to two or three thousand users concurrently using the social tools built into DNN 6.2.4 and a chat module.  Any suggestions are appreciated.

Sebastian,

Thank you! That is very helpful and confirms the topology I was leaning toward.  We are required to build redundancy and high availability into the project so I'll need to start with a few sql server clusters.

Terry