Extensible and automatically replicating server farm configuration management infrastructure

1. A user-configurable, synchronized server farm, the server farm comprising:

a communication system comprising at least one of: a bus, a network, and a shared memory;

a configuration database, included in computer-readable memory and connected to the communication system, operative to store configuration data for the server farm and to send the configuration data to each server of the server farm in response to a request, the configuration data comprising server configuration settings and application-specific settings;

a configuration data object model coupled to the configuration database for updating the configuration data stored in the configuration database in accordance with user input; and

a plurality of servers connected through the communication system to the configuration database for receiving the configuration data stored in the configuration database, each server including a synchronization mechanism comprising a timer service for automatically updating the server with any change in the configuration data stored in the configuration database, the synchronization mechanism including an agent stored in the server, the agent periodically connecting to and querying the configuration database and downloading the change in the configuration data to the server, the plurality of servers forming the server farm.

2. The server farm of claim 1 , wherein the application-specific settings include security policies, antivirus definitions, and language settings.

3. The server farm of claim 2 , wherein the configuration data object model allows a user to add data to the configuration database without modifying a schema of the configuration database.

4. The server farm of claim 1 , further comprising at least one content store that stores data for at least one server in the server farm.

5. The server farm of claim 4 , wherein the synchronization mechanism propagates information about the content store to the server.

6. The server farm of claim 1 , further comprising a load manager for distributing among servers in the server farm requests made to the server farm.

7. An extensible system for automatically replicating the configuration of the servers of a server farm, comprising:

a communication system comprising at least one of: a bus, a network, and a shared memory;

a configuration database, included in computer-readable memory and connected to the communication system, operative to store configuration data for the server farm and to send the configuration data to each server of the server farm in response to a request, the configuration data comprising server configuration settings and application-specific settings, the configuration database including a schema of the configuration database;

a plurality of servers connected through the communication system to the configuration database for receiving the configuration data stored in the configuration database, the plurality of servers forming a server farm;

a configuration object model coupled to the configuration database that is extendable for updating the configuration data in the configuration database without using the schema of the configuration database; and

a synchronization mechanism included in each server in the server farm for automatically updating the server with any change in the configuration data, the synchronization mechanism including an agent stored in the server, the agent periodically connecting to and querying the configuration database and downloading the change in the configuration data to the server.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the synchronization mechanism is a timer service.

9. The system of claim 7 , further comprising at least one content store that stores data for the plurality of servers.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the synchronization mechanism propagates information about the content store to the plurality of servers.

11. The system of claim 7 , further comprising a load manager for distributing among servers in the server farm requests made to the server farm.

12. The system of claim 7 , further comprising at least one client device that sends at least one request to the server farm.

13. An extensible method for automatically replicating the configuration of the servers of a server farm containing a plurality of servers, comprising:

storing in a configuration database, included in a computer-readable memory and operative to store configuration data for the server farm and to send the configuration data to each server of the server farm in response to a request, configuration data for the server farm, the configuration data comprising server configuration settings and application-specific settings, the configuration database having a schema;

providing a configuration object model that can be extended to update the configuration data in the configuration database without using the schema of the configuration database; and

establishing a synchronization mechanism for each server in the server farm for automatically updating the server with any change in the configuration data stored in the configuration database, the synchronization mechanism including an agent stored in the server, the agent periodically connecting to and querying the configuration database and downloading the change in the configuration data to the server.

14. A user-configurable, synchronized server farm, the server farm comprising:

a communication system comprising at least one of: a bus, a network, and a shared memory;

a configuration database, included in computer-readable memory and connected to the communication system, operative to store configuration data for the server farm and to send the configuration data to each server of the server farm in response to a request, the configuration data comprising server configuration settings and application-specific settings;

a configuration data object model coupled to the configuration database for updating the configuration data stored in the configuration database in accordance with user input; and

a plurality of servers connected through the communication system to the configuration database for receiving the configuration data stored in the configuration database, each server including a synchronization mechanism for automatically updating the server with any change in the configuration data stored in the configuration database, the synchronization mechanism including an agent stored in the server, the agent periodically connecting to and querying the configuration database and downloading the change in the configuration data to the server, the plurality of servers forming the server farm wherein the configuration data object model allows a user to add data to the configuration database without modifying a schema of the configuration database.