Load Balancer for IPv4 Administration Guide

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Introduction to Load Balancer
Overview of Load Balancer
What is Load Balancer?
Which components of Load Balancer can I use?
What are the advantages to using Load Balancer?
How can Load Balancer provide high availability?
Dispatcher
CBR
Cisco CSS Controller or Nortel Alteon Controller
Overview of the components of Load Balancer
What are the components of Load Balancer?
Overview of the Dispatcher component
Managing local servers with Dispatcher
Managing servers using Dispatcher and Metric Server
Managing local and remote servers with Dispatcher
Overview of the Content Based Routing (CBR) component
Managing local servers with CBR
Overview of the Site Selector component
Managing local and remote servers with Site Selector and Metric Server
Overview of the Cisco CSS Controller component
Overview of Nortel Alteon Controller component
Managing your network: Determining which Load Balancer features to use
Manager, Advisors, and Metric Server functions (for Dispatcher, CBR, and Site Selector components)
Dispatcher component features
Remote administration
Collocation
High availability
Client to server affinity
Rules-based load balancing
Content-based routing using Dispatcher's cbr forwarding method
Wide area load balancing
Port mapping
Setting up Dispatcher on a private network
Wildcard cluster and wildcard port
"Denial of service" attack detection
Binary logging
Alerts
Content Based Routing (CBR) component features
Comparison between the CBR component and the Dispatcher component's cbr forwarding method
Remote administration
Collocation
CBR with multiple instances of Caching Proxy
Provide content-based routing for SSL connections
Server partitioning
Rules-based load balancing
Client to server affinity
High availability using Dispatcher and CBR
Binary logging
Alerts
Site Selector component features
Remote administration
Collocation
High availability
Client to server affinity
Rules-based load balancing
Wide area load balancing
Alerts
Cisco CSS Controller component features
Remote administration
Collocation
High availability
Binary logging
Alerts
Nortel Alteon Controller component features
Remote administration
Collocation
High availability
Binary logging
Alerts
Installing Load Balancer
AIX system requirements and installation
Requirements for AIX systems
Installing for AIX systems
Before you install
Installation steps
HP-UX system requirements and installation
Requirements for HP-UX systems
Installing for HP-UX systems
Before you install
Installation steps
Linux system requirements and installation
Requirements for Linux systems
Installing for Linux systems
Before you install
Installation steps
Solaris system requirements and installation
Requirements for Solaris
Installing for Solaris
Before you install
Installation steps
Windows system requirements and installation
Requirements for Windows systems
Installing for Windows systems
Before you install
Installation steps
Updating Load Balancer
Updating Load Balancer for AIX, HP-UX, Linux, and Solaris operating systems
Uninstall previous versions of Load Balancer
Installing the Load Balancer refresh pack or fix pack
Updating Load Balancer for Windows operating systems
Rejecting an update
Dispatcher component
Quick start configuration
What do you need?
How do you prepare?
Configuring the Dispatcher component
Configuring with the command line
Testing your configuration
Configuring with the graphical user interface (GUI)
Configuration Wizard
Types of cluster, port, server configurations
Planning for Dispatcher
Planning considerations
Forwarding methods
Dispatcher's MAC-level routing (mac forwarding method)
Dispatcher's NAT/NAPT (nat forwarding method)
Dispatcher's content-based routing (cbr forwarding method)
Sample steps for configuring Dispatcher's nat or cbr forwarding methods
Server Partitioning: logical servers configured to one physical server (IP address)
Server partitioning using HTTP or HTTPS advisors
Example for configuring a physical server into logical servers
High availability
Simple high availability
Mutual high availability
Configuring Dispatcher
Overview of configuration tasks
Methods of configuration
Command line
Scripts
GUI
Configuring with the configuration wizard
Setting up the Dispatcher machine
Step 1. Start the server function
Step 2. Start the executor function
Step 3. Define the nonforwarding address (if different from hostname)
Step 4. Define a cluster and set cluster options
Step 5. Alias the network interface card
Step 6. Define ports and set port options
Step 7. Define load-balanced server machines
Step 8. Start the manager function (optional)
Step 9. Start the advisor function (optional)
Step 10. Set cluster proportions as required
Setting up server machines for load balancing
Step 1. Alias the loopback device
Step 2. Check for an extra route
Step 3. Delete any extra route
Step 4. Verify server is properly configured
Linux loopback aliasing alternatives when using Load Balancer's mac forwarding
Content Based Routing (CBR) component
Quick start configuration
What do you need?
How do you prepare?
Configuring the CBR component
Configuring with the command line
Testing your configuration
Configuring with the graphical user interface (GUI)
Configuring with the configuration wizard
Types of cluster, port, server configurations
Planning for Content Based Routing
Planning considerations
Load balancing requests for different types of content
Dividing your site content for better response time
Providing backup of Web server content
Using multiple Caching Proxy processes to improve CPU utilization
Using rules-based load balancing with CBR
Load balancing across fully secure (SSL) connections
Load balancing client-to-proxy in SSL and proxy-to-server in HTTP
Configuring Content Based Routing
Overview of configuration tasks
Methods of configuration
Command line
Scripts
GUI
Configuration wizard
Setting up the CBR machine
Step 1. Configure Caching Proxy to use CBR
Step 2. Start the server function
Step 3. Start the executor function
Step 4. Define a cluster and set cluster options
Step 5. Alias the network interface card (optional)
Step 6. Define ports and set port options
Step 7. Define load balanced server machines
Step 8. Add rules to your configuration
Step 9. Add servers to your rules
Step 10. Start the manager function (optional)
Step 11. Start the advisor function (optional)
Step 12. Set cluster proportions as required
Step 13. Start Caching Proxy
CBR configuration example
Site Selector component
Quick start configuration
What do you need?
How do you prepare?
Configuring the Site Selector component
Configuring with the command line
Testing your configuration
Configuring with the graphical user interface (GUI)
Configuring with the configuration wizard
Planning for Site Selector
Planning Considerations
TTL considerations
Using the Network Proximity feature
Configuring Site Selector
Overview of configuration tasks
Methods of configuration
Command line
Scripts
GUI
Configuration wizard
Setting up the Site Selector machine
Step 1. Start the server function
Step 2. Start the Name Server
Step 3. Define a site name and set site name options
Step 4. Define load balanced server machines
Step 5. Start the manager function (optional)
Step 6. Start the advisor function (optional)
Step 7. Define system metric (optional)
Step 8. Set site name proportions as required
Setting up server machines for load balancing
Cisco CSS Controller component
Quick start configuration
What do you need?
How do you prepare?
Configuring the Cisco CSS Controller component
Configuring with the command line
Testing your configuration
Configuring with the graphical user interface (GUI)
Planning for Cisco CSS Controller
System requirements
Planning considerations
Placement of the consultant in the network
High availability
Calculating weights
Problem determination
Configuring Cisco CSS Controller
Overview of configuration tasks
Methods of configuration
Command line
XML
GUI
Setting up the Controller for Cisco CSS Switches machine
Step 1. Start the server function
Step 2. Start the command line interface
Step 3. Configure the consultant
Step 3. Configure an ownercontent
Step 4. Verify that services are correctly defined
Step 5. Configure metrics
Step 6. Start the consultant
Step 7. Start the Metric Server (optional)
Step 8. Configure high availability (optional)
Testing your configuration
Nortel Alteon Controller component
Quick start configuration
What do you need?
How do you prepare?
Configuring the Nortel Alteon Controller component
Configuring with the command line
Testing your configuration
Configuring with the graphical user interface (GUI)
Planning for Nortel Alteon Controller
System requirements
Planning considerations
Placement of the consultant in the network
Server attributes on the switch (set by the controller)
Configuring backup servers
Configuring groups
High availability
Tuning
Problem determination
Configuring Nortel Alteon Controller
Overview of configuration tasks
Methods of configuration
Command line
XML
GUI
Setting up Nortel Alteon Controller
Step 1. Start the server function
Step 2. Start the command line interface
Step 3. Define a Nortel Alteon Web Switch consultant
Step 4. Add a service to the switch consultant
Step 5. Configure metrics
Step 6. Start the consultant
Step 7. Configure high availability (optional)
Step 8. Start the Metric Server (optional)
Step 9. Refreshing the Nortel Alteon Controller configuration
Testing your configuration
Functions and advanced features for Load Balancer
Manager, Advisors, and Metric Server functions for Dispatcher, CBR, and Site Selector
Optimizing the load balancing provided by Load Balancer
Proportion of importance given to status information
Weights
Manager intervals
Sensitivity threshold
Smoothing index
Using scripts to generate an alert or record server failure
Advisors
How advisors work
Starting and stopping an advisor
Advisor intervals
Advisor report timeout
Advisor connect timeout and receive timeout for servers
Advisor retry
List of advisors
Configuring the HTTP or HTTPS advisor using the request and response (URL) option
Using Self Advisor in a two-tiered WAN configuration
Create custom (customizable) advisors
WAS advisor
Naming Convention
Compilation
Run
Required routines
Search order
Naming and path
Sample advisor
Metric Server
WLM Restriction
Prerequisites
How to Use Metric Server
Workload Manager advisor
Metric Server Restriction
Advanced features for Dispatcher, CBR, and Site Selector
Using collocated servers
For the Dispatcher component
For the CBR component
For the Site Selector component
High availability
Configure high availability
Failure detection capability using heartbeat and reach target
Recovery Strategy
Using scripts
Configure both collocation and high availability (Windows systems)
Configure rules-based load balancing
How are rules evaluated?
Using rules based on the client IP address
Using rules based on the client port
Using rules based on the time of day
Using rules based on type of service (TOS)
Using rules based on the connections per second
Using rules based on the total active connections
Using rules based on reserved bandwidth and shared bandwidth
Metric all rule
Metric average rule
Using rules that are always true
Using rules based on the request content
port affinity override
Adding rules to your configuration
Server evaluation option for rules
How affinity feature for Load Balancer works
Behavior when affinity is disabled
Behavior when affinity is enabled
Cross port affinity
Affinity address mask (stickymask)
Quiesce server connection handling
Affinity option on the rule based on the content of the client request
Active cookie affinity
Passive cookie affinity
URI affinity
Configure wide area Dispatcher support
Command Syntax
Using remote advisors with Dispatcher's wide area support
Configuration example
GRE (Generic Routing Encapsulation) support
Using explicit linking
Using a private network configuration
Use wildcard cluster to combine server configurations
Use wildcard cluster to load balance firewalls
Use wildcard cluster with Caching Proxy for transparent proxy
Use wildcard port to direct unconfigured port traffic
Wildcard port to handle FTP traffic
Denial of service attack detection
Using binary logging to analyze server statistics
Using a collocated client
Advanced features for Cisco CSS Controller and Nortel Alteon Controller
Collocation
High availability
Configuration
Failure detection
Recovery strategy
Examples
Optimizing the load balancing provided by Load Balancer
Importance given to metric information
Weights
Weight calculation sleeptimes
Sensitivity threshold
Advisors
How advisors work
Advisor sleeptimes
Advisor connect timeout and receive timeout for servers
Advisor retry
Create custom (customizable) advisors
Naming Convention
Compilation
Run
Required routines
Search order
Naming and path
Sample advisor
Metric Server
Prerequisites
How to Use Metric Server
Workload manager advisor
Using binary logging to analyze server statistics
Using scripts to generate an alert or record server failure
Administering and troubleshooting Load Balancer
Operating and managing Load Balancer
Remote administration of Load Balancer
Remote Method Invocation (RMI)
Web-based administration
Using Load Balancer logs
For Dispatcher, CBR, and Site Selector
For Cisco CSS Controller and Nortel Alteon Controller
Using the Dispatcher component
Starting and Stopping Dispatcher
Using stale timeout value
Using fintimeout and staletimeout to control cleanup of connection records
Reporting GUI -- the Monitor menu option
Using Simple Network Management Protocol with the Dispatcher component
Using ipchains or iptables to reject all traffic to harden the Load Balancer machine (Linux systems)
Using the Content Based Routing component
Starting and Stopping CBR
Controlling CBR
Using CBR logs
Using the Site Selector component
Starting and stopping Site Selector
Controlling Site Selector
Using Site Selector logs
Using the Cisco CSS Controller component
Starting and stopping Cisco CSS Controller
Controlling Cisco CSS Controller
Using Cisco CSS Controller logs
Using the Nortel Alteon Controller component
Starting and stopping Nortel Alteon Controller
Controlling Nortel Alteon Controller
Using Nortel Alteon Controller logs
Using the Metric Server component
Starting and stopping Metric Server
Using Metric Server logs
Troubleshooting
Gathering troubleshooting information
General information (always required)
High availability (HA) problems
Advisor problems
Content Based Routing problems
Not able to hit the cluster
All else fails
Upgrades
Java code
Helpful links
Troubleshooting tables
Checking Dispatcher port numbers
Checking CBR port numbers
Checking Site Selector port numbers
Checking Cisco CSS Controller port numbers
Checking Nortel Alteon Controller port numbers
Solving common problems--Dispatcher
Problem: Dispatcher will not run
Problem: Dispatcher and server will not respond
Problem: Dispatcher requests are not being balanced
Problem: Dispatcher high-availability function is not working
Problem: Unable to add heartbeat (Windows platform)
Problem: Extra routes (Windows 2000)
Problem: Advisors not working correctly
Problem: Dispatcher, Microsoft IIS, and SSL do not work (Windows platform)
Problem: Dispatcher connection to a remote machine
Problem: dscontrol or lbadmin command fails
Problem: "Cannot find the file..." error message when trying to view online Help (Windows platform)
Problem: Graphical user interface (GUI) does not start correctly
Problem: Error running Dispatcher with Caching Proxy installed
Problem: Graphical user interface (GUI) does not display correctly
Problem: On Windows platform, help windows sometimes disappear behind other open windows
Problem: Load Balancer cannot process and forward a frame
Problem: A blue screen displays when you start the Load Balancer executor
Problem: Path to Discovery prevents return traffic with Load Balancer
Problem: High availability in the Wide Area mode of Load Balancer does not work
Problem: GUI hangs (or unexpected behavior) when trying to load a large configuration file
Problem: lbadmin disconnects from server after updating configuration
Problem: IP addresses not resolving correctly over the remote connection
Problem: Korean Load Balancer interface displays overlapping or undesirable fonts on AIX and Linux systems
Problem: On Windows systems, alias address is returned instead of local address when issuing commands such as hostname
Problem: On Windows platform, unexpected GUI behavior when using Matrox AGP video cards
Problem: Unexpected behavior when executing "rmmod ibmlb" (Linux systems)
Problem: Slow response time running commands on Dispatcher machine
Problem: SSL or HTTPS advisor not registering server loads (when using mac-forwarding)
Problem: Disconnect from host occurs when resize Netscape browser window while using Web administration
Problem: Socket pooling is enabled and the Web server is binding to 0.0.0.0
Problem: On Windows systems, corrupted Latin-1 national characters appear in command prompt window
Problem: On HP-UX, Java out of memory/ thread error occurs
Problem: On Windows systems, advisors and reach targets mark all servers down
Problem: On Windows platform, resolving IP address to host name when more than one address is configured to an adapter
Problem: On Windows systems, after network outage, advisors not working in a high availability setup
Problem: On Linux systems, do not use "IP address add" command when aliasing multiple clusters on the loopback device
Problem: "Router address not specified or not valid for port method" error message
Problem: On Solaris systems, Load Balancer processes end when you exit the terminal window from which they started
Problem: Delay occurs while loading a Load Balancer configuration
Problem: On Windows systems, an IP address conflict error message appears
Problem: Both primary and backup machines are active in a high availability configuration
Problem: Client requests fail when attempting the return of large page responses
Problem: On Windows systems, "Server not responding" error occurs when issuing dscontrol or lbadmin
Problem: High availability Dispatcher machines may fail to synchronize on Linux for S/390 systems on qeth drivers
Problem: Tips on configuring high availability
Problem: On Linux, Dispatcher configuration limitations when using zSeries or S/390 servers that have Open System Adapter (OSA) cards
Problem: On some Linux versions, a memory leak occurs when running Dispatcher configured with the manager and advisors
Problem: On SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9, Dispatcher forwards packets, but the packets do not reach the backend server
Problem: On Windows system, IP address conflict message appears during high availability takeover
Problem: Linux iptables can interfere with the routing of packets
Java warning message appears when installing service fixes
Upgrading the Java file set provided with the Load Balancer installation
Problem: Persistent connections might drop during high availability takeover
Problem: Installing WebSphere Edge Server using ./install on the 32-bit Linux operating system for zSeries produces a "JVM Not Found" message
Problem: The uninstall process for WebSphere Edge Server hangs on Linux operating systems
Solving common problems--CBR
Problem: CBR will not run
Problem: cbrcontrol or lbadmin command fails
Problem: Requests not being load balanced
Problem: On Solaris systems, cbrcontrol executor start command fails
Problem: Syntactical or configuration error
Problem: On Windows platform, unexpected GUI behavior when using Matrox AGP video cards
Problem: Disconnect from host occurs when resize Netscape browser window while using Web administration
Problem: On Windows platform, corrupted Latin-1 national characters appear in command prompt window
Problem: On HP-UX, Java out of memory/ thread error occurs
Problem: On Windows systems, advisors and reach targets mark all servers down
Problem: On Windows systems, resolving IP address to host name when more than one address is configured to an adapter
Solving common problems--Site Selector
Problem: Site Selector will not run
Problem: Site Selector does not round-robin traffic from Solaris clients
Problem: sscontrol or lbadmin command fails
Problem: The ssserver is failing to start on Windows platform
Problem: Site Selector with duplicate routes not load balancing correctly
Problem: On Windows platform, unexpected GUI behavior when using Matrox AGP video cards
Problem: Disconnect from host occurs when resize Netscape browser window while using Web administration
Problem: On Windows platform, corrupted Latin-1 national characters appear in command prompt window
Problem: On HP-UX, Java out of memory/thread error occurs
Problem: On Windows systems, advisors and reach targets mark all servers down
Solving common problems--Cisco CSS Controller
Problem: ccoserver will not start
Problem: ccocontrol or lbadmin command fails
Problem: Cannot create registry on port 13099
Problem: On Windows platform, unexpected GUI behavior when using Matrox AGP video cards
Problem: Received a connection error when adding a consultant
Problem: Weights are not being updated on the switch
Problem: Refresh command did not update the consultant configuration
Problem: Disconnect from host occurs when resize Netscape browser window while using Web administration
Problem: On Windows platform, corrupted Latin-1 national characters appear in command prompt window
Problem: On HP-UX, Java out of memory/ thread error occurs
Solving common problems--Nortel Alteon Controller
Problem: nalserver will not start
Problem: nalcontrol or lbadmin command fails
Problem: Cannot create registry on port 14099
Problem: On Windows platform, unexpected GUI behavior when using Matrox AGP video cards
Problem: Disconnect from host occurs when resize Netscape browser window while using Web administration
Problem: Received a connection error when adding a consultant
Problem: Weights are not being updated on the switch
Problem: Refresh command did not update the consultant configuration
Problem: On Windows systems, corrupted Latin-1 national characters appear in command prompt window
Problem: On HP-UX, Java out of memory/ thread error occurs
Solving common problems--Metric Server
Problem: Metric Server IOException on Windows platform running .bat or .cmd user metric files
Problem: Metric Server not reporting loads to Load Balancer machine
Problem: Metric Server log reports "Signature is necessary for access to agent"
Problem: On AIX systems, while running Metric Server under heavy stress, ps -vg command output may become corrupted
Problem: Configuring Metric Server in a two-tier configuration with Site Selector load-balancing across high-availability Dispatchers
Problem: Scripts, running on multi-CPU Solaris machines, produce unwanted console messages
Problem: After starting Metric Server, metric value returns -1
Command Reference
How to read a syntax diagram
Symbols and punctuation
Parameters
Syntax examples
Command reference for Dispatcher and CBR
Configuration differences between CBR and Dispatcher
dscontrol advisor -- control the advisor
dscontrol binlog -- control the binary log file
dscontrol cluster -- configure clusters
dscontrol executor -- control the executor
dscontrol file -- manage configuration files
dscontrol help -- display or print help for this command
dscontrol highavailability -- control high availability
dscontrol host -- configure a remote machine
dscontrol logstatus -- display server log settings
dscontrol manager -- control the manager
dscontrol metric -- configure system metrics
dscontrol port -- configure ports
dscontrol rule -- configure rules
dscontrol server -- configure servers
dscontrol set -- configure server log
dscontrol status -- display whether the manager and advisors are running
dscontrol subagent -- configure SNMP subagent
Command reference for Site Selector
sscontrol advisor -- control the advisor
sscontrol file -- manage configuration files
sscontrol help -- display or print help for this command
sscontrol logstatus -- display server log settings
sscontrol manager -- control the manager
sscontrol metric -- configure system metrics
sscontrol nameserver -- control the NameServer
sscontrol rule -- configure rules
sscontrol server -- configure servers
sscontrol set -- configure server log
sscontrol sitename -- configure a sitename
sscontrol status -- display whether the manager and advisors are running
Command reference for Cisco CSS Controller
ccocontrol consultant -- configure and control a consultant
ccocontrol controller -- manage the controller
ccocontrol file -- manage configuration files
ccocontrol help -- display or print help for this command
ccocontrol highavailability -- control high availability
ccocontrol metriccollector -- configure metric collector
ccocontrol ownercontent -- control the owner name and content rule
ccocontrol service -- configure a service
Command reference for Nortel Alteon Controller
nalcontrol consultant -- configure and control a consultant
nalcontrol controller -- manage the controller
nalcontrol file -- manage configuration files
nalcontrol help -- display or print help for this command
nalcontrol highavailability -- control high availability
nalcontrol metriccollector -- configure metric collector
nalcontrol server -- configure a server
nalcontrol service -- configure a service
Appendixes
Appendix A. GUI: General instructions
Appendix B. Content rule (pattern) syntax
Content rule (pattern) syntax:
Reserved keywords
Appendix C. Sample configuration files
Sample Load Balancer configuration files
Dispatcher Configuration file -- AIX, Linux, and Solaris systems
Dispatcher Configuration file -- Windows systems
Sample advisor
Appendix D. Sample of a 2-tier high availability configuration using Dispatcher, CBR, and Caching Proxy
Server machine set up
Appendix E. Notices
Trademarks
Glossary
Index