Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide March 2002
Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide Copyright 2002 Avaya Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED The products, specifications, and other technical information regarding the products contained in this document are subject to change without notice. All information in this document is believed to be accurate and reliable, but is presented without warranty of any kind, express or implied, and users must take full responsibility for their application of any products specified in this document. Avaya disclaims responsibility for errors which may appear in this document, and it reserves the right, in its sole discretion and without notice, to make substitutions and modifications in the products and practices described in this document. Avaya, Cajun, CajunRules!, CajunDocs, OpenTrunk, P550, LANstack, and Avaya MultiService Network Manager are registered trademarks and trademarks of Avaya Inc. ALL OTHER TRADEMARKS MENTIONED IN THIS DOCUMENT ARE PROPERTY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. Release 2.003
Table of Contents Preface..................................................vi The Purpose of This Guide................................ vi Who Should Use This Guide............................... vi ganization of This Guide................................ vi Chapter 1 Overview of Load Balancing...................... 1 What is Load Balancing...................................2 Load Balancing Elements..................................3 Firewall Load Balancing (FWLB)............................4 FWLB Overview.....................................4 Benefits of FWLB.....................................5 Transparent Routing Firewalls...........................5 Non-Transparent Routing Firewalls......................6 Bridging Firewalls....................................7 Server Load Balancing (SLB)...............................8 SLB Overview.......................................8 Benefits of SLB......................................9 Server Load Balancing.................................9 Direct Server Return (Triangulation)....................10 Application Redirection (AR)..............................10 AR Overview.......................................10 Benefits of AR......................................11 Cache Redirection...................................11 Combination of Applications..............................13 Load Balancing Metrics..................................13 Round Robin.......................................14 Hash..............................................14 MinMiss Hash......................................15 Weighted Real Servers................................15 Health Check..........................................16 Persistency............................................16 Additional Persistency Schemes............................17 Chapter 2 Getting Started with Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager................................................ 18 Starting Avaya Load Balancing Manager.....................18 The User Interface.......................................19 Toolbar............................................20 Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide iii
Table of Contents Logical View........................................22 Logical Tree Area................................22 Table Area......................................23 RSG Area......................................23 RS Area........................................23 Form Area......................................23 Physical View.......................................23 Physical Tree Area...............................23 Virtual Form Area................................24 Status Bar.........................................24 Saving Configuration Changes.............................24 Applied Changes....................................25 Committed Changes.................................25 Searching for Load Balancing Components...................26 Chapter 3 Configuring Firewall Load Balancing.............. 27 Firewall Load Balancing Configuration Overview..............28 Defining a Firewall Service................................29 Editing the Routing Table.................................30 Defining RSGs and RSs for FWLB..........................31 Editing the Properties Sheets for FWLB......................31 Module Properties Sheet..............................32 Routing Firewall Properties Sheet.......................33 Bridging Firewall Properties Sheet......................34 Launching Another Avaya Device Manager..................34 Chapter 4 Configuring Server Load Balancing............... 36 Server Load Balancing Configuration Overview...............37 Defining a Virtual Server.................................38 Defining a Virtual Service.................................39 Proxy IP Editor......................................41 Adding PIP Banks................................42 Modifying PIP Banks.............................42 Deleting PIP Banks...............................42 Health Check Editor.................................43 Adding Health Check Methods......................44 Modifying Health Check Methods...................44 Deleting Health Check Methods.....................45 Health Check Method Properties....................45 Defining RSGs and RSs for SLB............................47 Editing the Properties Sheets for SLB........................47 Module Properties Sheet..............................48 Virtual Server Properties Sheet.........................49 SLB Virtual Service Properties Sheet.....................49 Chapter 5 Configuring Application Redirection.............. 51 Application Redirection Configuration Overview..............52 iv Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide
Table of Contents VLAN Area Mapping....................................52 Mapping VLAN Areas................................53 Defining a Service.......................................55 Defining RSGs and RSs for Application Redirection.............56 Defining a Rule.........................................56 Using Address Wildcards.................................59 Editing the Properties Sheets for AR........................59 Module Properties Sheet..............................60 AR Virtual Service Properties Sheet.....................61 Chapter 6 Real Server Groups and Real Servers.............. 62 Real Server Groups......................................63 Real Server Group Backup............................63 Defining an RSG....................................63 Defining a Connected RSG.........................64 Defining an Unconnected RSG......................65 Deleting an RSG....................................65 Real Servers...........................................66 Real Server Backup..................................66 Defining an RS......................................67 Defining an RS for an RSG - Logical View.............67 Defining an RS for an RSG - Physical View............68 Defining an Unconnected RS.......................68 Deleting an RS......................................69 Editing the RSG and RS Properties Sheets....................70 Real Server Group Properties Sheet.....................70 Real Server Properties Sheet...........................71 Chapter 7 Application Editor Tool......................... 72 Application Editor Tool Overview..........................72 Using the Application Editor Tool..........................73 Adding Application Protocols..........................74 Modifying an Application Protocol......................74 Deleting an Application Protocol........................74 Applying Changes...................................75 Reports...............................................75 Appendix A Menus..................................... 76 File Menu.............................................76 Edit Menu.............................................76 Action Menu...........................................76 Tools Menu............................................77 Help Menu............................................77 Appendix B Error Messages.............................. 78 Index................................................... 79 Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide v
Preface Welcome to Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager. This chapter provides an introduction to this guide. It includes the following sections: - A description of the goals of the guide. - The intended audience of this guide. ganization of This Guide - A brief description of the subjects contained in the various sections of this guide. The Purpose of This Guide This guide contains the information needed to use Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager efficiently and effectively. Who Should Use This Guide This guide is intended for use by network managers familiar with network management and its fundamental concepts. ganization of This Guide This guide is structured to reflect the following conceptual divisions: Preface - This section describes the guide s purpose, intended audience, and organization. Overview of Load Balancing - This section provides an overview of the terms and concepts used in load balancing. Getting Started with Avaya Load Balancing Manager - This section provides an overview of the user interface and instructions on how to start and use Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager. Configuring Firewall Load Balancing - This section describes how to configure Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager to perform Firewall Load Balancing. Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide vi
Preface Configuring Server Load Balancing - This section describes how to configure Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager to perform Server Load Balancing. Configuring Application Redirection - This section describes how to configure Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager to perform Application Redirection. Real Server Groups and Real Servers - This section describes how to configure Real Server Groups and Real Servers for the various load balancing applications. Application Editor Tool - This section provides instructions on how to use the Application Editor Tool and how to customize application protocols. Menus - The full structure of the menus in Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager. Error Messages - A full explanation of the error messages that appear in Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager. Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide vii
1 Overview of Load Balancing This section describes load balancing and includes the following topics: What is Load Balancing - A general overview of load balancing. Load Balancing Elements - A description of the conceptual load balancing elements. Firewall Load Balancing (FWLB) - An overview of Firewall Load Balancing, including descriptions and configuration examples for routing and bridging firewalls. Server Load Balancing (SLB) - An overview of Server Load Balancing, including descriptions and examples of SLB with Full and Half Network Address Translation (NAT). Application Redirection (AR) - An overview and description of Application Redirection, including a description of Cache Redirection. Combination of Applications - A description of how to combine more than one load balancing application. Load Balancing Metrics - A description of the various metrics used to direct traffic to different Real Servers. Health Check - A description of how health checks are performed by the load balancer. Persistency - A description of session and client persistency and how they are sustained. Additional Persistency Schemes - A description of backup Real Servers and backup Real Server Groups. Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide 1
What is Load Balancing Load balancing technology allows system administrators to replace single firewalls and servers with multiple firewall and server farms, achieving the following goals: Improving resilience by removing single points of failure. Improving performance by utilizing multiple units instead of a single one. This improves the scalability and maintainability of the firewalls and servers in the network. The load balancer also serves as a smart redirector, allowing traffic redirection, commonly known as Application Redirection. This allows for: Invisibly intercepting web traffic and forwarding it to deployed web caches. Redirecting specific application traffic to content inspection engines. Policy based routing, providing routing based on application or data source. There are several different load balancing applications: Firewall Load Balancing (refer to Firewall Load Balancing (FWLB) on page 4). Server Load Balancing (refer to Server Load Balancing (SLB) on page 8). Application Redirection (refer to Application Redirection (AR) on page 10). Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide 2
Chapter 1 Load Balancing Elements There are several abstract load balancing elements: Real Server (RS) - An RS is a physical server that is associated with a Real IP address. One or more RSs may belong to an RSG. Real Server Group (RSG) - An RSG is a logical grouping of Real Servers used for load balancing. For example, for SLB, the load balancer distributes packets to Real Servers belonging to a specific RSG. Virtual Service - Virtual Services are abstract links to the RSGs provided by a Virtual Server. For example, load-balanced forwarding of HTTP or FTP packets is a Virtual Service. Virtual Server - A Virtual Server represents the server to the outside world. It is associated with a Virtual IP address and provides Virtual Services. For example, a load balancer that intercepts traffic from the WAN acts as a Virtual Server. Traffic from the WAN is directed to the Virtual Server. The Virtual Server provides Virtual Services when transferring packets to the RSG, which is comprised of RSs. The following figure illustrates the conceptual load balancing model. Figure 1-1. The Conceptual Load Balancing Model Virtual Server Virtual Server Virtual Service Virtual Service Virtual Service RSG RSG RSG Real Server Real Server Real Server 3 Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide
Firewall Load Balancing (FWLB) FWLB Overview This section provides information about Firewall Load Balancing, including a general overview and detailed information about routing and bridging firewalls. Firewall Load Balancing intercepts all traffic between the LAN and the WAN, and dynamically distributes the load among the available firewalls, based on FWLB configuration. Using FWLB, all of the firewalls are utilized concurrently, providing overall improved firewall performance, scalability and availability. The firewalls are the Real Servers, and the group of firewalls is the Real Server Group. The firewall group is associated with a Virtual Service, which is a routing or bridging firewall. The load balancer: Balances traffic across two or more firewalls (up to 1024) in your network, allowing the firewalls to work in parallel. Maintains state information about the traffic flowing through it and ensures that all traffic between specific IP address source and destination pairs flows through the same firewall. Performs health checks on all paths through the firewalls. If any path is not operational, the load balancer diverts traffic away from that path, maintaining connectivity across the firewalls. Often, two load balancers are needed to support FWLB. One device is deployed on the LAN side (internal) of the firewalls and another on the WAN side (external). If a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is implemented to allow remote access, a third load balancer must be deployed on the DMZ side of the network. Additional devices can be added to provide redundancy, eliminating any device or path as a single point of failure. Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager supports both routing and bridging firewalls. Routing firewalls may be transparent or non-transparent. Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide 4
Chapter 1 Benefits of FWLB FWLB allows you to: Maximize firewall productivity. Scale firewall performance. Transparent Routing Firewalls Eliminate the firewall as a single point of failure. For transparent FWLB, the load balancer receives a packet, makes a load balancing decision, and forwards the packet to a firewall. The firewall does not perform NAT on the packets; the source and destination IP addresses are not changed. Two load balancers are required for transparent FWLB, one on each side of the firewalls. One device intercepts traffic between the WAN and the firewall, and the second device intercepts traffic between the LAN and the firewall. Transparent routing firewalls act as a next hop device from the perspective of the load balancer. After a firewall is selected in a load balancing decision, normal routing to that firewall takes place. The load balancers ensure that all packets belonging to a session pass through the same firewall in both directions. The devices select a firewall based on a symmetric hash function of the source and destination IP addresses. This ensures that packets traveling between the same source and destination IP addresses traverse the same firewall. The following figure illustrates transparent FWLB. Figure 1-2. Transparent Firewall Load Balancing 5 Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide
The load balancer enables you to route packets to a DMZ. A DMZ is a portion of the client s network, apart from the client s LAN, where remote access is allowed. After creating a DMZ, a third load balancer is installed to route packets to the DMZ. The following figure illustrates transparent FWLB with a DMZ. Figure 1-3. Transparent FWLB With DMZ Non-Transparent Routing Firewalls Non-transparent routing firewalls are firewalls that support dynamic NAT. For non-transparent FWLB, the load balancer receives an outgoing packet, makes a load balancing decision, and forwards the packet to a firewall. The firewall keeps a bank of IP addresses and replaces the source IP address of the outgoing packet with a unique, arbitrary IP address from the bank. The firewall then forwards the packet to an edge router which routes it to the correct destination on the WAN. For incoming packets, the unique NAT address is used as a destination IP address to access the same firewall. The firewall performs reverse NAT by replacing the NAT destination address with the actual destination address (the client IP address), and then forwards the packet to the load balancer, which routes the packet to its destination. No load balancing is performed on incoming packets. For non-transparent FWLB, only one load balancer is required. The device is positioned on the LAN (internal) side of the firewalls. Since the firewalls perform NAT, a load balancer is not needed between the WAN and the firewalls. Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide 6
Chapter 1 In transparent FWLB, persistency is ensured by the load balancer. In non-transparent FWLB, the firewalls ensure persistency through NAT, and there is no need for the load balancer to intervene. The following figure illustrates non-transparent FWLB. Figure 1-4. Non-Transparent Firewall Load Balancing Bridging Firewalls Bridging firewalls are firewalls that do not perform forwarding at the IP address layer, but rather appear as transparent bridges. Bridging firewalls are transparent to devices inside and outside of the secured network. The bridging firewalls do not have IP or MAC addresses to which traffic is directed. Therefore, the firewalls must physically appear on the traffic path. For bridging FWLB, the load balancers must be positioned on both sides of the firewalls. Each device load balances between IP address interfaces of the peer device behind the firewall. For this to work, each firewall must reside in a different VLAN and subnet, and the physical ports connected to the firewalls must be on different VLANs as well. In addition, for each VLAN, both load balancers must be in the same subnet. Each load balancer interface and the firewall connected to it reside in a separate VLAN. This ensures persistency since all the traffic through a particular firewall is contained in the firewall s VLAN. 7 Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide
The following figure illustrates bridging FWLB. Figure 1-5. Bridging Firewall Load Balancing VLAN 1 LAN Load Balancer Firewall 1 Load Balancer Access Router Internet Firewall2 VLAN 2 Server Load Balancing (SLB) SLB Overview This section provides information about Server Load Balancing, including a general overview and detailed information about SLB. Server Load Balancing intercepts all traffic between clients and servers, and dynamically distributes the load among the available servers, based on the SLB configuration. In a non-balanced network, each server provides access to specific applications or data. Some of these applications may be in higher demand than others. Servers that provide applications with higher demand are over-utilized while other servers are under-utilized. This causes the network to perform below its optimal level. Load balancing provides a solution by balancing the traffic among several servers which all have access to identical applications and data. This involves intercepting all traffic between clients and load-balanced servers and dynamically distributing the load according to configured schemes (metrics). The load balancer acts as a Virtual Server to the outside world (the WAN) and has a Virtual IP address. Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide 8
Chapter 1 Benefits of SLB Server Load Balancing SLB improves network performance by: Minimizing server response time. Maximizing server availability. Increasing server utilization and network bandwidth. This is accomplished by balancing session traffic between the available servers, according to rules established during configuration. Increasing reliability. If any server fails, the remaining servers continue to provide services seamlessly. Increasing scalability. Server configuration can be performed without disrupting the network. The server load balancer changes one of the source and destination IP addresses. When a packet arrives from a client to a server, the load balancer changes the destination IP from the Virtual IP address to the Real IP address. When a packet is sent from a server to a client, the load balancer changes the source IP address from the Real IP address to the Virtual IP address. The following figure illustrates Server Load Balancing: Figure 1-6. Server Load Balancing 9 Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide
Direct Server Return (Triangulation) Direct server return, or triangulation, is an additional implementation of SLB. In standard SLB, the load balancer intercepts traffic between the servers and clients in both directions. In triangulation, load balancing is performed only on traffic from the clients to the server. Traffic from the servers is returned to the client directly through a router without any need for load balancing intervention. For triangulation, the Real Servers must be specially configured. The Real Servers must also be capable of receiving packets with the Virtual IP address as the destination IP address, and of sending packets with the Virtual IP address as the source IP address. The Virtual IP address should be configured in the Real Servers as a loopback IP address, and the router (not the load balancer) should be configured as the servers default gateway. When the load balancer detects that a Real Server supports triangulation and is configured properly, it does not change the destination IP address of the packet. The Virtual IP address is left as the destination IP address, and the packet does not undergo NAT. Application Redirection (AR) AR Overview This section provides information about Application Redirection, including a general overview, and detailed information about Cache Redirection. With the growing importance of the Internet as a source of information, an organization's LAN may suffer from a degradation of performance due to congestion of the router connecting the network to the Internet. Since much information retrieved from the Web is either repeatedly requested by a user or requested by multiple users, many organizations implement a local caching mechanism to prevent unnecessary Internet traffic. The local caches must be on the traffic path between the client and the Internet router. As a result, all traffic, even traffic not intended for the cache, passes through the cache. Load balancing solves this problem by redirecting packets from their original destination to an alternative server based on the Application Redirection configuration. Cache Redirection is the most common implementation of Application Redirection. Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide 10
Chapter 1 Benefits of AR Cache Redirection By redirecting client requests to a local cache or application server, you can increase the speed at which clients access information and free up valuable network bandwidth. Application Redirection improves network performance by: Providing faster client access to information. Increasing effective network bandwidth. Filtering traffic. Directing only suitable traffic to the local cache. Connecting and load balancing multiple caches. Performing the redirection process in a way that is transparent to the client. Allowing redundant caches to be configured. For Cache Redirection, the load balancer is positioned on the traffic route and redirects traffic from the original destination to an alternative cache server. The redirection process involves the following steps: 1. The load balancer checks whether the packet characteristics comply with one of the defined filter rules. The user configures rules to define which clients or destinations are to be redirected to the cache. 2. The load balancer checks whether the application port is suitable for redirection (i.e., HTTP). 3. The load balancer routes the packet to the cache server instead of to the original destination on the Internet. 4. The cache checks if it has the relevant information. If it does, it forwards the cached information to the client. If it does not have the information, it retrieves the information from the Internet, saves it to the cache, and then forwards the information to the client. The load balancer supports transparent caches. A transparent cache is a cache that is capable of accepting packets not addressed to its IP address. The cache usually uses NAT in its IP address stack, so the higher layers can process packets not addressed to the cache s IP address. 11 Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide
The following figure illustrates Cache Redirection. Figure 1-7. Cache Redirection In this figure, the sequence of events is as follows: 1. The user issues an HTTP request. The source IP address is the user s IP address and the destination IP address is the Web server s IP address. 2. The load balancer routes the packet to the local cache. The packet still has the Web server s IP address as its destination IP address. 3. If the cache has the required page, the cache returns the page to the load balancer with the destination IP address of the client and the source IP address of the Web server. If the cache does not have the required page, the cache returns the packet to the load balancer, and the load balancer routes the packet to the Web server. 4. On the way back from the Web server, the load balancer routes the packet to the cache. 5. The cache saves the packet and routes it back to the load balancer. 6. The load balancer sends the page to the user. A client's request for a Web page and the cache's request for a Web page have the same source and destination IP addresses. To distinguish between them, the load balancer uses separate VLANs for clients and the cache. If the request is on the clients' VLAN, the load balancer forwards the request to the cache. If the request is on the cache's VLAN, the load balancer forwards the request to the WAN. Similarly, the WAN s return of a Web page and the cache's forwarding of a Web page to a client have the same source and destination IP addresses. To distinguish between them, the load balancer uses separate VLANs for clients and the cache. If the response is on the cache s VLAN, the load balancer forwards the response to the cache. If the response is on the clients' VLAN, the load balancer forwards the response to the client. Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide 12
Chapter 1 Combination of Applications You can enable the P333R-LB to use various applications concurrently. For example, it is possible to configure the same P333R-LB to perform Server Load balancing for an Intranet web-server, Application Redirection for web traffic that is Internet-bound, and Firewall Load Balancing for traffic that is Internet-bound. In some cases, the same type of traffic can be given two different actions by the load balancer. In these situations, it is necessary to tell the load balancer which action to choose. In the example described above, web traffic to the intranet server can be configured to either be directed to the web cache, or bypass the web cache and directly access the Intranet server. The latter configuration will save the web cache resources to deal with Internet-bound traffic. You can specify the preferred action as one of the following: Configure SLB to take precedence over AR. AR can take precedence over SLB. Load Balancing Metrics Configure AR filters to redirect traffic from client/server addresses, using wildcards. Configure AR filters to specify which traffic not to redirect ( no-ar as service) from specific client/server addresses, using wildcards. There are several methods, or metrics, that a load balancer can use to distribute traffic among multiple servers, firewalls or caches. These metrics tell the load balancer which Real Server should receive each session. Some commonly used metrics are: Round Robin Hash MinMiss Hash Weighted Real Servers 13 Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide
Round Robin Using Round Robin, the load balancer issues sessions to each RS in turn. The first RS in the group receives the first session, the second RS receives the next session, and so on. When all the RSs receive a session, the issuing process starts over with the first RS. Round Robin ensures that each RS receives an equal number of sessions. Hash Using the Hash metric, sessions are distributed to RSs using a predefined mathematical hash function. The hash function is performed on a specified parameter. The source IP address, destination IP address, or both are used as the hash function input. The load balancer creates a list of all the currently available RSs. The result of the hash function is used to select an RS from the list. Any given parameter always gives the same hash result, providing natural persistency. If an RS is removed or added to the group, persistency is broken. This occurs since the order of the RSs in the list changes, but the hash still points to the same list entries. The following figure illustrates how a loss of persistency occurs when an RS becomes non-operational: Figure 1-8. Hash Metric - Loss of Persistency In the above figure, when Server 2 becomes non-operational, the list of available servers is readjusted, causing a lack of persistency. However, if Server 2 becomes operational again, the list of available servers is restored to its original order, and persistency is recovered. Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide 14
Chapter 1 MinMiss Hash MinMiss hash distributes sessions to RSs in the same way as the Hash metric. However, MinMiss hash retains persistency even when an RS is removed from the group. When an RS fails or is removed, the load balancer does not change the position of all the RSs in the list. Instead, it redistributes the remaining RSs to the list entries freed by the failing RS. The following figure illustrates how persistency is retained when an RS becomes non-operational. Figure 1-9. MinMiss Metric - Persistency Retained Weighted Real Servers In the above figure, when Server 2 becomes non-operational, the list of available servers is not readjusted. Only the list entries that are now empty are replaced with other available servers. Therefore, persistency is retained for all available servers. However, if Server 2 becomes operational again, the list of available servers is recalculated so that the smallest number of servers is affected. The list is not restored to its original configuration. As a result, persistency is only partially recovered. You can assign weights to RSs to enable faster RSs to receive a larger share of sessions. This minimizes overloading and maximizes functionality. If you assign a weight to an RS, the sessions are distributed to the RSs in the metric chosen (Round Robin, Hash or MinMiss). However, the weighted RS is assigned a larger share of sessions. For example, if you assign a weight of 20 to one RS and leave the default weight (10)on the second RS, the weighted RS receives 2 sessions for each session directed to the second RS. This is useful for RSs with different bandwidths or processor speeds. 15 Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide
Health Check Persistency The load balancer constantly checks the RSs to ensure that each RS is accessible and operational. An RS that fails the health check is automatically removed from the load balancer s internal list of currently available RSs, and traffic is redirected to other available RSs. There are several types of health check methods that the load balancer can use, including: ICMP Ping - Each RS is periodically pinged. If no answer is received, the RS is not operational. TCP Port Checking - A TCP connection is periodically opened to each RS, checking for successful completion of the connection. For FWLB, checking the firewalls is insufficient. The health checks must be performed on the entities beyond the firewalls as well. In order to ensure that the health check packets traverse the same firewall in both directions, the packet s source and destination IP addresses should be the IP addresses of the load balancer interfaces on each side of the firewall. For each load balancer, both the local and remote addresses must be configured. In addition, the load balancers on both sides of the firewall must be configured symmetrically. For non-transparent FWLB (with NAT), there is only one load balancer. In this case, you must configure an IP address beyond the firewall as the health check address. Like other non-transparent FWLB sessions, the health check session returns through the same firewall according to the NAT address it was given. Persistency is the maintenance of the connection between the server and the client over multiple sessions. Persistency ensures that all traffic from the client is directed to the same RS. Persistency is achieved by using naturally persistent load balancing metrics (such as Hash or MinMiss hash) or by forcing persistent load balancing decisions on non-persistent load balancing metrics (such as Round Robin). Persistency is forced by storing the history of the latest decisions in a cache for a limited time, and then sending the packets to the appropriate RS according to the previous load balancing decisions. Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide 16
Chapter 1 Persistency is achieved by opening a new entry for a server group based on the following: New entry on source IP address - All sessions from a specific source are directed to the same RS. This is useful for applications where client information must be retained on the RS between sessions. New entry on destination IP address - All sessions to a specific destination are directed to the same RS. This is useful for caching applications to maximize successful cache hits when the information is not duplicated between RSs. New entry on source IP and destination IP addresses - All sessions from a given source to a given destination are directed to the same RS. This is useful for Firewall Load Balancing, since it ensures that the two unidirectional flows of a given session are directed through the same firewall. Additional Persistency Schemes Using the P333R-LB, you can configure a Real Server to backup one or more primary Real Servers. A backup Real server is not used unless the primary Real Server is down. You can also configure a Real Server Group (RSG) to backup one or more primary RSGs. A backup RSG can run a different service than the primary RSG while providing backup to all of the primary RSG s services. Similar to the Real Server, the backup RSG is not used unless all Real Servers in the RSG are down. 17 Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide
2 Getting Started with Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager This chapter provides instructions on how to start Avaya Load Balancing Manager and an overview of the user interface. It includes the following topics: Starting Avaya Load Balancing Manager - Instructions on how to start Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager. The User Interface - An introduction to Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager s user interface. Saving Configuration Changes - Instructions for applying and committing changes to the load balancing configuration. Searching for Load Balancing Components - Instructions on how to search for RSs and RSGs in Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager. Starting Avaya Load Balancing Manager To start Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager for the Avaya P330: 1. Click the Load Balancing Manager tab in the Avaya P330 Manager. A list of P333R-LB module IP addresses appears in the Tree View of the Avaya P330 Manager. * Note: In order that the Load Balancing Manager tab appear, at least one of the interfaces should be configured on the load balancer. For more information, refer to P333R-LB User Guide or P333R-LB Quick Start. Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide 18
Chapter 2 The User Interface The user interface consists of the following elements: Menu Bar - Menus for accessing Avaya Load Balancing Manager functions (refer to Appendix A, Menus). Toolbar - Toolbar buttons for accessing Avaya Load Balancing Manager functions. Logical or Physical View - Depending on the tab selected, the application displays one of the two views. Logical View - A logical representation of the network showing Virtual Servers and Services and their associated RSGs and RSs. The Logical View includes a hierarchical Tree Area, Table Area, RSG Area, RS Area, and Form Area. The various areas display information related to the element selected in the Tree Area. The following figure shows the Logical View of the user interface, with its various parts labeled. Figure 2-1. The User Interface - Logical View Menu Bar Table Area Form Area Toolbar Tree Area RSG Area Status Bar RS Area 19 Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide
Physical View - A physical representation of the P333R-LB devices in the network showing RSs and RSGs. The Physical View includes a Tree Area and a Form Area. The Form Area displays information related to the element selected in the Tree Area. The following figure shows the Physical View of the user interface, with its various parts labeled. Figure 2-2. The User Interface - Physical View Menu Bar Toolbar Form Area Tree Area Status Bar Status Bar - An area at the bottom of the screen that displays the communication status between Avaya Load Balancing Manager and the network. Toolbar The toolbar provides shortcuts to Avaya Load Balancing Manager s main functions. The following table describes the buttons on the toolbar and gives the equivalent menu options. Table 2-1. Toolbar Buttons Buttons Description Menu Item Saves configuration changes to the device. Cuts a rule from a table to the application clipboard Copies a rule from a table to the application clipboard. File > Commit Edit > Cut Edit > Copy Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide 20
Chapter 2 Table 2-1. Toolbar Buttons (Continued) Buttons Description Menu Item Pastes a rule from the application clipboard. Adds a new entity. Edit > Paste Edit > Add Deletes the selected entity. Edit > Delete Opens the Find dialog box. Edit > Find Refreshes the current view from the device. Changes that were not applied or saved to the device are lost. Applies current modifications to the device. Launches another device manager. Action > Refresh Action > Send to Device Tools > Launch Opens the Application Editor. Opens the Proxy IP Editor. Opens the Health Check Editor. Provides context-sensitive on-line help. Tools > Application Editor Tools > Proxy IP Editor Tools > Health Check Editor Help > What s This? When you place the cursor on a toolbar button for one second, a tooltip appears with the name of the button. 21 Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide
Logical View The Logical View displays a logical representation of the network. The Logical View includes the following areas (these areas are discussed in more detail below): Logical Tree Area - Displays a hierarchical representation of the network. Table Area - Displays various tables. RSG Area - Displays RSGs. RS Area - Displays RSs. Form Area - Displays Properties Sheets. The various areas are synchronized. When you select an element in one area, the other areas display related information. As you move the focus between the different areas and select different elements within the areas, the information displayed in the other areas changes. In the Logical View, the focus is always on one of the Logical Tree, Table, RSG, or RS Areas. You can only make changes to the area in focus. The area in focus is framed in blue, and an item selected in the area in focus appears dark green. An item selected in an area that is not in focus appears cyan. Logical Tree Area The Logical Tree Area is a hierarchical representation of the structure and functions performed by the load balancers in the network. To select a device or any of its components, click the appropriate icon in the Logical Tree Area. The highest level in the Logical Tree Area represents the IP address of the device. The lower levels show load balancer modules, load balancing applications (FWLB, SLB or AR), Virtual Servers, firewall services, rules, and services. The type of information displayed in the lower levels of the Logical Tree Area depends on which load balancing application is selected. To expand the view of a collapsed element in the tree or to collapse an expanded element in the tree: Double-click the element you want to expand or collapse. Click the handle next to the element. Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide 22
Chapter 2 Table Area RSG Area RS Area Form Area The Table Area displays information related to the selected item in the Logical Tree Area. Depending on which item is selected in the Logical Tree Area, the Table Area displays the Virtual Services Table, the Routing Table, the Rules List, or the Services List. The RSG Area displays the RSGs that are related to the selected element in the Logical Tree Area or in the Table Area. The RS Area displays the RSs that are connected to the RSG selected in the RSG Area. The Form Area displays the Properties Sheet of the element selected in the area in focus. For example, if the focus is on the Table Area and you select an item from the Virtual Services Table, the Form Area displays the Properties Sheet of the selected Virtual Service. Physical View The Form Area never receives the focus, but you can edit the Properties Sheet displayed in the Form Area. The Physical View displays a representation of the physical P333R-LB modules in the network. The Physical View includes the Physical Tree Area and the Form Area. Some configuration changes can only be made using the Physical View. For example, if you delete an entity in the Logical View, the link to the entity is deleted, but the entity is still available for configuring at a later time. To delete the entity completely, you must delete it from the Physical View. An entity deleted from the Physical View is unavailable for further use and must be redefined. Physical Tree Area The Physical Tree Area displays RSs and RSGs. When you select an RS or RSG from the Physical Tree Area, the Form Area displays the Properties Sheet related to the selected RS or RSG. To expand the view of a collapsed element in the tree or to collapse an expanded element in the tree: Double-click the element you want to expand or collapse. Click the handle next to the element. 23 Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide
Virtual Form Area The Form Area displays the Properties Sheet of the element selected in the Physical Tree Area. Status Bar The Status Bar shows the communication status between Avaya Load Balancing Manager and a specific device in the network. The following table shows the possible communication statuses with their corresponding graphics, and gives a short explanation for each status. Table 2-2. Communication Statuses Graphic Status Description Ready Communicati ng Communicatio n Error The application is ready to communicate with a load balancing device. The application is currently communicating with a load balancing device. The last attempted communication with the load balancing device was not successful. Saving Configuration Changes Configuration changes do not take effect until you apply or save the changes to the device. There are two levels of applying configuration changes to the load balancing device: Applied Changes - Changes are applied to the device, but are not saved. Applied changes affect the present network configuration. However, these changes are lost when the device is reset. Committed Changes - Changes are saved to the device. Committed changes are maintained even when the device is reset. Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide 24
Chapter 2 Applied Changes After finalizing all configuration changes, the changes must be applied to the device. Applied changes affect the current configuration but are not saved when the device is reset. To apply the changes to the device: Click Send to Device. Committed Changes Select Action > Send to Device. The configuration changes are applied to the device. The applied changes remain in effect until the device is reset. When the device is reset, it is configured with the last committed configuration. All changes applied but not committed are lost. When you switch the focus from one screen area to another without applying changes, a message prompts you to apply the configuration changes that you made to the device. Changes to Properties Sheets are stored locally until you apply the changes to the device. Therefore, no message appears when you switch from one Properties Sheet to another. To make configuration changes permanent, the changes must be committed (saved) to the device. To commit the configuration to the device: Click Commit. Select File > Commit. The changes are saved to the device. * Note: The commit operation may take up to 20 seconds. Avoid running other operations while committing changes to the device. 25 Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide
Searching for Load Balancing Components Avaya Load Balancing Manager allows you to search for RSs or RSGs in the Physical Tree Area. To search for a load balancing component: 1. Click Find. Select Edit > Find. The Find dialog box opens. Figure 2-3. Find Dialog Box 2. Enter the IP address of the RS or the name of the RSG to search for, and enter the RLB ID (the slot number of the load balancer module in the stack). 3. Click Find. Avaya Load Balancing Manager searches for the item. If the requested RS or RSG is found, the element is selected in the Physical Tree Area. If the requested element is not found, a message appears. Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide 26
3 Configuring Firewall Load Balancing This chapter provides instructions on how to configure Firewall Load Balancing (FWLB). It includes the following topics: Firewall Load Balancing Configuration Overview - An overview of the steps involved in configuring FWLB. Defining a Firewall Service - Instructions on how to define a firewall service. Editing the Routing Table - Instructions on how to add and edit entries in the service s Routing Table. Defining RSGs and RSs for FWLB - Instructions on how to define RSGs and RSs for Firewall Load Balancing. Editing the Properties Sheets for FWLB - Instructions on how to enter information in the Properties Sheets for FWLB entities. Launching Another Avaya Device Manager - Instructions on how to launch another Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager for identical configuration of two devices. Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide 27
Firewall Load Balancing Configuration Overview Configuring Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager for FWLB involves several steps. This section provides an overview of the entire process, and the following sections explain each step in detail. To configure Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager to perform FWLB: 1. Define one or more firewall services (refer to Defining a Firewall Service on page 29). 2. Add and edit entries in the Routing Table (refer to Editing the Routing Table on page 30). 3. Define an RSG (refer to Defining RSGs and RSs for FWLB on page 31). 4. Define one or more RSs (refer to Defining RSGs and RSs for FWLB on page 31). After you define a new FWLB element, click Send to Device to apply the configuration changes to the device. To save the configuration changes, click Commit. For more information about applying and saving changes, refer to Saving Configuration Changes on page 24. Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide 28
Chapter 3 Defining a Firewall Service The first step in configuring FWLB is defining a firewall service. A firewall service is a Virtual Service for FWLB (refer to Load Balancing Elements on page 3). A firewall service may be a routing firewall service or a bridging firewall service. To define a firewall service: 1. In the Logical Tree Area, select FWLB from the load balancer module you are currently configuring. 2. Select Bridging or Routing, depending on the type of firewall you are configuring. 3. Click Add. Select Edit > Add. A new firewall service is added to the tree. 4. Enter information about the new firewall service in the Routing Table and the Properties Sheet. For more information about entering information in the Routing Table and Properties Sheet, refer to Editing the Routing Table on page 30 and Editing the Properties Sheets for FWLB on page 31. When you select a firewall service from the Logical Tree Area, the Table Area displays the Routing Table to the selected service, the RSG Area displays the related RSGs, and the Form Area displays the service s Properties Sheet. To modify an existing firewall service: 1. Select the service from the tree. 2. Edit the information in the Routing Table and Properties Sheet. To delete a firewall service: 1. Select the service from the tree. 2. Click Delete. Select Edit > Delete. The firewall service is deleted. 29 Avaya P330 Load Balancing Manager User Guide