Using MSCS and SQL clustering would provide load balancing and allow the DB to be consistent. I'm not sure if a hardware load balancer would play nice with a SQL cluster.<BR><BR>500K is almost ...

I have not done too much with SQL Server Failover Clustering except in test mode with Virtual Server and VMWare. This session was packed with experienced professionals who had seen it all.

supports SQL Server scale out, with readable secondaries, with no application code changes supports full asset utilization across a SQL Server cluster with geo-aware load balancing ...

Repeat the following SQL Server mantra until you believe it: you can't afford it. Rarely will you ever find a situation where upgrading hardware is less expensive than second server and works better.