Configuring ILB for High-Availability (Active-Passive Mode Only)

This section describes the high-availability (HA) configuration of ILB using the DSR, half-NAT topologies.

Configuring ILB for High-Availability Using the DSR Topology

This section describes how to set up the ILB connections to achieve high availability (HA) by using the DSR topology. You need to set up two load balancers, one as the primary load balancer and the other as the standby load balancer. If the primary load balancer fails, the standby load balancer assumes the role of the primary load balancer.

The following figure shows the DSR topology for configuring the ILB connections to achieve HA.

Figure 11-1 ILB for HA Configuration Using DSR Topology

How to Configure ILB to Achieve High-Availability by Using the DSR Topology

1. Assume a role that includes the ILB Management rights profile, or become superuser.

   You can assign the ILB Management rights profile to a role that you create. To create the role and assign the role to a user, see Initially Configuring RBAC (Task Map) in Oracle Solaris 11.1 Administration: Security Services.

2. Configure both the primary and standby load balancers.

   # ilbadm create-servergroup -s server=10.0.0.1,10.0.0.2 sg1
   # ilbadm create-rule -i vip=81.0.0.3,port=9001 \
   -m lbalg=hash-ip-port,type=DSR -o servergroup=sg1 rule1

3. Make sure that all servers have VIP configured on their lo0 interface.

   Server1# ipadm create-addr -d -a 81.0.0.3/24 lo0
   Server2# ipadm create-addr -d -a 81.0.0.3/24 lo0

4. Configure Load Balancer 1 to serve as the primary load balancer.

   LB1# dladm create-vnic -m vrrp -V 1 -A inet -l eth0 vnic1
   LB1# vrrpadm create-router -V 1 -A inet -l eth0 -p 255 vrrp1 
   LB1# ipadm create-addr -d -a 81.0.0.3/24 vnic1

5. Configure Load Balancer 2 to serve as the standby load balancer.

   LB2# dladm create-vnic -m vrrp -V 1 -A inet -l eth0 vnic1
   LB2# vrrpadm create-router -V 1 -A inet -l eth0 -p 100 vrrp1
   LB2# ipadm create-addr -d -a 81.0.0.3/24 vincl

   The preceding configuration provides protection against the following failure scenarios:

   • If Load Balancer 1 fails, Load Balancer 2 becomes the primary load balancer. Load balancer 2 then takes over address resolution for the VIP 81.0.0.3 and handles all the packets from clients with the destination IP address 81.0.0.3.

     When Load Balancer 1 recovers, Load Balancer 2 returns to standby mode.

   • If one or both of Load Balancer 1's interfaces fails, Load Balancer 2 takes over as the primary load balancer. Load Balancer 2 then takes over address resolution for VIP 81.0.0.3 and handles all the packets from clients with the destination IP address 81.0.0.3.

     When both of Load Balancer 1's interfaces are healthy, Load Balancer 2 returns to standby mode.

Configuring ILB for High-Availability Using the Half-NAT Topology

This section describes how to set up the ILB connections to achieve high availability (HA) by using the half-NAT topology. You need to set up two load balancers, one as the primary and the other as the standby. If the primary load balancer fails, the standby load balancer assumes the role of the primary load balancer.

The following figure shows the half-NAT topology for configuring the ILB connections to achieve HA.

Figure 11-2 ILB for HA Configuration Using Half-NAT Topology

How to Configure ILB to Achieve High-Availability by Using the Half-NAT Topology

1. Assume a role that includes the ILB Management rights profile, or become superuser.

   You can assign the ILB Management rights profile to a role that you create. To create the role and assign the role to a user, see Initially Configuring RBAC (Task Map) in Oracle Solaris 11.1 Administration: Security Services.

2. Configure both the primary and standby load balancers.

   # ilbadm create servergroup -s server=10.0.0.1,10.0.0.2 sg1
   # ilbadm create-rule -ep -i vip=81.0.0.3,port=9001-9006,protocol=udp \
   -m lbalg=roundrobin,type=HALF-NAT,pmask=24 \
   -h hc-name=hc1,hc-port=9006 \
   -t conn-drain=70,nat-timeout=70,persist-timeout=70 -o servergroup=sg1 rule1

3. Configure Load Balancer 1 to serve as the primary load balancer.

   LB1# dladm create-vnic -m vrrp -V 1 -A inet -l eth0 vnic1
   LB1# ipadm create-addr -d -a 81.0.0.3/24 vnic1
   LB1# vrrpadm create-router -V 1 -A inet -l eth0 -p 255 vrrp1
   LB1# dladm create-vnic -m vrrp -V 2 -A inet -l eth1 vnic2
   LB1# ipadm create-addr -d -a 10.0.0.3/24 vnic2
   LB1# vrrpadm create-router -V 2 -A inet -l eth1 -p 255 vrrp2

4. Configure the Load Balancer 2 to serve as the standby load balancer.

   LB2# dladm create-vnic -m vrrp -V 1 -A inet -l eth0 vnic1
   LB2# ipadm create-addr -d -a 81.0.0.3/24 vnic1
   LB2# vrrpadm create-router -V 1 -A inet -l eth0 -p 100 vrrp1
   LB2# dladm create-vnic -m vrrp -V 2 -A inet -l eth1 vnic2
   LB2# ipadm create-addr -d -a 10.0.0.3/24 vnic2
   LB2# vrrpadm create-router -V 2 -A inet -l eth1 -p 100 vrrp2

5. Add the IP address for the floating default gateway to both servers.

   # route add net 192.168.6.0/24 10.0.0.3

   The preceding configuration provides protection against the following failure scenarios:

   • If Load Balancer 1 fails, Load Balancer 2 becomes the primary load balancer. Load balancer 2 then takes over address resolution for the VIP 81.0.0.3 and handles all the packets from clients with the destination IP address 81.0.0.3. Load balancer 2 also handles all the packets that are sent to the floating gateway address 10.0.0.3.

     When Load Balancer 1 recovers, Load Balancer 2 returns to the standby mode.

   • If one or both of Load Balancer 1's interfaces fails, Load Balancer 2 takes over as primary load balancer. Load Balancer 2 then takes over address resolution for VIP 81.0.0.3 and handles all packets from clients with the destination IP address 81.0.0.3. Load balancer 2 also handles all the packets that are sent to the floating gateway address 10.0.0.3.

     When both of Load Balancer 1's interfaces are healthy, Load Balancer 2 returns to standby mode.

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   Note - The current implementation of ILB does not synchronize primary and standby load balancers. When the primary load balancer fails and the standby load balancer takes over, the existing connections fail. However, HA without synchronization is still valuable under circumstances when the primary load balancer fails.

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