Forum Discussion
If you're looking for a platform recommendation (hardware or virtual) it would depend on the traffic volume and how basic/advanced a configuration you'll be doing. If you need high availability you'll need two boxes as an Active/Standby pair. The current smallest model is the i2600.
If you're looking for a load balancing configuration recommendation it would depend on things like: Will you do ssl offloading?
Is it an http based web application?
Are the users coming from the internet or through an internal proxy server?
For example:
SSL offload on the F5
Cookie insert persistence (Primary)
Source Address persistence (Fallback)
Pool with the three servers:
Load balancing Method = Least Connections (Node) Health Monitor = http or https Pool
- Gautham_382103Jan 24, 2019Nimbostratus
Hi Wlopez,
Thank you for your input. In response to your questions :
It is a https based application.
I would like the SSL traffic to pass-through to the end server.
All users are coming from the Internet.
Does the least connection method work based on the connection to the nodes only or does it take into account the CPU/RAM usage of the servers as well ?
I am sorry if it is a lot of questions but this is the first time I am working on an lb. Just trying to make sure I have the best fit.
- wlopez_98779Jan 24, 2019Nimbostratus
You could do the ssl bridging option on the F5s.
That is, ssl offloading on the F5 towards the clients and ssl towards the pool with the three servers.
If you terminate the ssl traffic form the clients on the F5s, you can do cookie based persistence, which will improve the load balancing to a session based level.
If you don't do so then you'll be limited to a more generic persistence method like source IP address, which will send all traffic from the same IP to the same server, regardless of how many users that IP represents(Ex. Corporate proxy).
'Least Connections' only takes the current number of connections to each server to make it's load balancing decision. The server with the current lowest number of connections will receive the next one.
There are other more advanced methods that do take things like CPU into account. Unless you have an exceptional situation, 'Least Connections' will do the job.
You can read up on dynamic load balancing methods here:
https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K6406