"Configuring SQL Server Mode" in the .NET Framework SDK 1.1 Documentation Contains an Incorrect Statement (821618)

SUMMARY

In the .NET Framework Software Development Kit (SDK) 1.1 documentation, the text under the "Configuring SQL Server Mode" heading in the "Session State" topic contains the following statement:

To configure a failover cluster, set the <machinekey> element in the Web.config file of the Web servers to the same value.

Note To view the "Session State" topic in the .NET Framework SDK 1.1, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/cpguide/html/cpconsessionstate.asp

If you have the .NET Framework SDK 1.1 installed on your computer, you can click the following link to view your local copy of the "Session State" topic:

ms-help://MS.NETFrameworkSDKv1.1/cpguidenf/html/cpconsessionstate.htm

MORE INFORMATION

This statement is incorrect because the machinekey element does not affect SQL Server mode. The following is the correct information:

<machinekey> should be the same for State Server mode and SQL Server mode. <machinekey> should be the same for both the Web server cluster and the Web farm, but not only for the Web server failover cluster.

REFERENCES

For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

325056 PRB: Session State Is Lost in Web Farm If You Use SqlServer or StateServer Session Mode