Comments on: Using Network Load Balancing with View http://www.2vcps.com/2010/04/26/using-network-load-balancing-with-view/ Mon, 02 Jan 2012 06:16:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Chris http://www.2vcps.com/2010/04/26/using-network-load-balancing-with-view/comment-page-1/#comment-218 Chris Tue, 27 Apr 2010 06:41:19 +0000 http://www.2vcps.com/?p=367#comment-218 A little tip when using NLB in this way is to configure the Recovery settings on the VMware service so that the NLB service stops. That way, if the Connection Server service stops, connections are no longer sent to the node because it gets removed from the cluster. For example, configure the first and second actions to restart the service but configure the third action to run a program "c:\windows\system32\wlbs.exe" with the "stop" parameter A little tip when using NLB in this way is to configure the Recovery settings on the VMware service so that the NLB service stops. That way, if the Connection Server service stops, connections are no longer sent to the node because it gets removed from the cluster.

For example, configure the first and second actions to restart the service but configure the third action to run a program “c:\windows\system32\wlbs.exe” with the “stop” parameter

]]> By: Chris http://www.2vcps.com/2010/04/26/using-network-load-balancing-with-view/comment-page-1/#comment-576 Chris Tue, 27 Apr 2010 06:41:00 +0000 http://www.2vcps.com/?p=367#comment-576 A little tip when using NLB in this way is to configure the Recovery settings on the VMware service so that the NLB service stops. That way, if the Connection Server service stops, connections are no longer sent to the node because it gets removed from the cluster. For example, configure the first and second actions to restart the service but configure the third action to run a program "c:windowssystem32wlbs.exe" with the "stop" parameter A little tip when using NLB in this way is to configure the Recovery settings on the VMware service so that the NLB service stops. That way, if the Connection Server service stops, connections are no longer sent to the node because it gets removed from the cluster.

For example, configure the first and second actions to restart the service but configure the third action to run a program “c:windowssystem32wlbs.exe” with the “stop” parameter

]]> By: uberVU - social comments http://www.2vcps.com/2010/04/26/using-network-load-balancing-with-view/comment-page-1/#comment-207 uberVU - social comments Mon, 26 Apr 2010 21:18:32 +0000 http://www.2vcps.com/?p=367#comment-207 <strong>Social comments and analytics for this post...</strong> This post was mentioned on Twitter by jasonboche: @2vcps I was thinking about NLB/View this morning RT @2vcps: New blog post: Using Network Load Balancing with View http://bit.ly/bG0Rus... Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by jasonboche: @2vcps I was thinking about NLB/View this morning RT @2vcps: New blog post: Using Network Load Balancing with View http://bit.ly/bG0Rus...

]]> By: Jon Owings http://www.2vcps.com/2010/04/26/using-network-load-balancing-with-view/comment-page-1/#comment-204 Jon Owings Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:20:58 +0000 http://www.2vcps.com/?p=367#comment-204 I will also readily admit, MS NLB is not perfect and can have its own issues. :) I will also readily admit, MS NLB is not perfect and can have its own issues. :)

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.2vcps.com/2010/04/26/using-network-load-balancing-with-view/comment-page-1/#comment-575 Anonymous Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:20:00 +0000 http://www.2vcps.com/?p=367#comment-575 I will also readily admit, MS NLB is not perfect and can have its own issues. :) I will also readily admit, MS NLB is not perfect and can have its own issues. :)

]]> By: Jon Owings http://www.2vcps.com/2010/04/26/using-network-load-balancing-with-view/comment-page-1/#comment-203 Jon Owings Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:10:19 +0000 http://www.2vcps.com/?p=367#comment-203 Thanks for the comment. Yes, there are better services within the network. I wonder at what version of IOS or the switch/router spec required to run Load balancing from that layer. If it was an option available to me at no additional investment then of course I would opt for letting the network do it. I believe an ACE appliance would be on par with investing in an F5 which many would avoid in a small View deployment. I could be wrong because I have not looked at Cisco pricing in over 14 months. I stay away from RRDNS because we want the load balancing to detect the failure and stop sending packets to the offline host. MS NLB is included in Windows Standard, so you already paid for those licenses. This is a solution for small shops and is quick and easy, not for when you are getting into the multiple thousands of desktops. Thanks for the comment. Yes, there are better services within the network. I wonder at what version of IOS or the switch/router spec required to run Load balancing from that layer. If it was an option available to me at no additional investment then of course I would opt for letting the network do it. I believe an ACE appliance would be on par with investing in an F5 which many would avoid in a small View deployment. I could be wrong because I have not looked at Cisco pricing in over 14 months.

I stay away from RRDNS because we want the load balancing to detect the failure and stop sending packets to the offline host.

MS NLB is included in Windows Standard, so you already paid for those licenses. This is a solution for small shops and is quick and easy, not for when you are getting into the multiple thousands of desktops.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.2vcps.com/2010/04/26/using-network-load-balancing-with-view/comment-page-1/#comment-574 Anonymous Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:10:00 +0000 http://www.2vcps.com/?p=367#comment-574 Thanks for the comment. Yes, there are better services within the network. I wonder at what version of IOS or the switch/router spec required to run Load balancing from that layer. If it was an option available to me at no additional investment then of course I would opt for letting the network do it. I believe an ACE appliance would be on par with investing in an F5 which many would avoid in a small View deployment. I could be wrong because I have not looked at Cisco pricing in over 14 months. I stay away from RRDNS because we want the load balancing to detect the failure and stop sending packets to the offline host. MS NLB is included in Windows Standard, so you already paid for those licenses. This is a solution for small shops and is quick and easy, not for when you are getting into the multiple thousands of desktops. Thanks for the comment. Yes, there are better services within the network. I wonder at what version of IOS or the switch/router spec required to run Load balancing from that layer. If it was an option available to me at no additional investment then of course I would opt for letting the network do it. I believe an ACE appliance would be on par with investing in an F5 which many would avoid in a small View deployment. I could be wrong because I have not looked at Cisco pricing in over 14 months.

I stay away from RRDNS because we want the load balancing to detect the failure and stop sending packets to the offline host.

MS NLB is included in Windows Standard, so you already paid for those licenses. This is a solution for small shops and is quick and easy, not for when you are getting into the multiple thousands of desktops.

]]> By: PJ Spagnolatti http://www.2vcps.com/2010/04/26/using-network-load-balancing-with-view/comment-page-1/#comment-202 PJ Spagnolatti Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:08:45 +0000 http://www.2vcps.com/?p=367#comment-202 RRDNS? Not even close in terms of failover management and monitoring/control. I suggest a FOSS load balancer, such as the excellent haproxy. Pros: excellent speed, extremely manageable, lb algos similar (even better often) to hw balancers, foss :-) Cons: requires at least another vm (or two, better), but can be made highly available itself (via lvs, keepalived, etc). Performance isn't an issue unless you have to deal with SERIOUS traffic (I'm talking more than 10GB/s). RRDNS? Not even close in terms of failover management and monitoring/control. I suggest a FOSS load balancer, such as the excellent haproxy.
Pros: excellent speed, extremely manageable, lb algos similar (even better often) to hw balancers, foss :-)
Cons: requires at least another vm (or two, better), but can be made highly available itself (via lvs, keepalived, etc).
Performance isn’t an issue unless you have to deal with SERIOUS traffic (I’m talking more than 10GB/s).

]]> By: PJ Spagnolatti http://www.2vcps.com/2010/04/26/using-network-load-balancing-with-view/comment-page-1/#comment-573 PJ Spagnolatti Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:08:00 +0000 http://www.2vcps.com/?p=367#comment-573 RRDNS? Not even close in terms of failover management and monitoring/control. I suggest a FOSS load balancer, such as the excellent haproxy. Pros: excellent speed, extremely manageable, lb algos similar (even better often) to hw balancers, foss :-) Cons: requires at least another vm (or two, better), but can be made highly available itself (via lvs, keepalived, etc). Performance isn't an issue unless you have to deal with SERIOUS traffic (I'm talking more than 10GB/s). RRDNS? Not even close in terms of failover management and monitoring/control. I suggest a FOSS load balancer, such as the excellent haproxy.
Pros: excellent speed, extremely manageable, lb algos similar (even better often) to hw balancers, foss :-)
Cons: requires at least another vm (or two, better), but can be made highly available itself (via lvs, keepalived, etc).
Performance isn’t an issue unless you have to deal with SERIOUS traffic (I’m talking more than 10GB/s).

]]> By: Steve Kaplan http://www.2vcps.com/2010/04/26/using-network-load-balancing-with-view/comment-page-1/#comment-201 Steve Kaplan Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:57:19 +0000 http://www.2vcps.com/?p=367#comment-201 Jon, Interesting post, but our engineers are not to keen on MS NLB. Here's a response from one of them, Steve Jones: "Is MS NLB the answer? In a nutshell: I personally don’t think so. My personal preference is to locate LB services within the network, since the network fabric has the best knowledge regarding MAC addresses, ARP tables, routing, etc. IOS has a builtin LB function and then there is the ACE appliance. My last job we used the CSM as out webfarm load balancer — all of these products probe and manage load balancing using a variety of techniques." One possibility would be to use round-robin DNS which provides the same functionality without having to manipulate ARP. However, RRDNS can’t come close to providing the load balancing or failover mechanism. RRDNS is a zero cost, poor-mans non-deterministic, load distribution tool but is by no means a metric-driven balancing tool. On the specific question of comparison with MS NLB — it's probably not a good idea to set up static ARP entries. The pitfalls would outweigh the benefits. Steve comments "If one absolutely had to choose between MS NLB and RRDNS, I would choose RRDNS. It is simple and very straightforward." Jon,

Interesting post, but our engineers are not to keen on MS NLB. Here’s a response from one of them, Steve Jones: “Is MS NLB the answer? In a nutshell: I personally don’t think so. My personal preference is to locate LB services within the network, since the network fabric has the best knowledge regarding MAC addresses, ARP tables, routing, etc. IOS has a builtin LB function and then there is the ACE appliance. My last job we used the CSM as out webfarm load balancer — all of these products probe and manage load balancing using a variety of techniques.”

One possibility would be to use round-robin DNS which provides the same functionality without having to manipulate ARP. However, RRDNS can’t come close to providing the load balancing or failover mechanism. RRDNS is a zero cost, poor-mans non-deterministic, load distribution tool but is by no means a metric-driven balancing tool. On the specific question of comparison with MS NLB — it’s probably not a good idea to set up static ARP entries. The pitfalls would outweigh the benefits.

Steve comments “If one absolutely had to choose between MS NLB and RRDNS, I would choose RRDNS. It is simple and very straightforward.”

]]>