Setting up CF9 in Distributed Environment

Question

I need to install CF9 in a distributed environment, with the CFM pages on Server A, and the CF9 runtime stuff on Server B.
I have searched around all over the place and can't find a good set of instructions for this. In the past (with MX) we have just copied over the wsconfig folder (with the '1' and '2' folders), and set up the wsconfig/wsconfig.properties and wsconfig/jrun_ii6.ini files (on Server A) to point to Server B.
I think that I may need to install JRUN4 on the Server A, and then run the WSCONFIG.EXE (as is done on CF9) to set up the web sites. There are some docs on how to manually configure external web server connectors (KB 18724 and 19575), but those docs are for MX version.
Just need to be pointed to some helpful docs.
Server A and B are both Windows Server 2008 SR2, 64-bit, running on a VM instance, with IIS 7.5 installed.
Thanks...Rick...

Answer 1

Well, to be clear, the significance of "distributed mode" deployment for CF is not that "the CFM pages on Server A, and the CF9 runtime stuff on Server B" but more specifically that the web server (IIS, in your case) is on Server A and CF is on Server B. Is that what you mean?
Before I go on, I'll add note that Dave Watts, a highly respected CFer, has argued in another thread here recently against using distributed mode and proposes an alternative that you may want to consider. See his brief discussion at:
http://forums.adobe.com/message/3314201#3314201
Beyond that, I'll note that I just searched the CF docs for any discussion of this, and I find none. That should tell us something. Sure, if you google about coldfusion "distributed mode", you'll find an old CF6-era technote on it, in the context of doing clustering.
But in fact, I have discovered something quite interesting. The CF Installation guide says that "For more information on the Web Server Configuration Tool, including information on multihoming and distributed usage, see the Configuring and Administering ColdFusion guide." Yet, as I said, the Config/Admin guide makes no mention of "distributed" (except in the context of running verity in its own distribute mode).
So in fact, I looked at the two manuals in each release, 9, 8, 7, and 6.1, and in it's the same: the install guide says it's covered in the admin/config guide, but it is not. It's amazing (and of course, sad) that this has never been noticed in all these releases. Then again, few even know these manuals exist, so it's perhaps not as surprising given that running in distributed mode has indeed been something few have done.
So, Rick, I'd ask first if you really maybe meant only "I want the pages on a server separate from CF", or really "I want the web server separate from CF". And if the latter, consider Dave's alternative, especially since it seems clear that "distributed mode" has just not been even documented in now over 10 years.
Hope that's helpful.
/charlie