Adding Load Balancing to my SB2BI Cluster

Previously I have installed a SB2BI/SFG Cluster wit two nodes. But currently I have to go to two different URL’s for the two nodes. In this Blog Post I will install a Load Balancer to go to the node available.

There are many Load Balancers to select from, and I don’t really have any experience with it, and thus no preferences. But I wanted to have something simple to install and with a Graphical UI. So after some searching, I ended up with Zen LoadBalancer Community Edition. It can be downloaded as a ISO-file and installed directly as a VMWare Server.

Server Info

As previous, I use VMWare Workstation 10 for running my servers. The Load Balancer is in this case just something I have for the fun of it, and don’t need much resources. So the following setup is used:

OS: Debian GNU/Linux 6 32-bit – Zen LoadBalancer Community Edition
Processors: 1
Memory: 512 MB
Hard Disk: 10 GB
Network: Static: 192.168.192.14 (Hostname: zenlb.demos.ibm.int)
Users: root

Installation

The Installation is very simple since I will use a pre-buildt ISO-Image. Download the Zen LoadBalancer Community image. Instal the Image on the VMWare Server. The installation is straight forward, so just follow the steps.

When installed, the GUI is in my case available at zenlb.demos.ibm.int:444.

Configuration

The Configuration is 3 steps.

1. Interface

I start by setting up a new Interface, which is the IP I will go to when logging in to my SB2BI/SFG Cluster. I create a Interface called eth0:1 with IP-address 192.168.192.15.

Zen LB Interface2. Farm

The next step I do is to create a Farm. This is where I, in step 3, will put my physical Servers. I Create a Farm I call SI_Cluster. I connect the Farm to the Interface I created in Step 1, and sets port 80 as the listening Port.

Zen LB Farm3. Real Servers

The last step is to link the Real SB2BI Servers I have to the Farm. I add the IP’s 192.168.192.11 and 192.168.192.12 which is my sinode1 and sinode2 servers. The servers is listening on port 40000 as Base Port, so I also put in the Port Number.

Zen LB Real ServersTesting

Now I am ready to test my Load Balancer. I Open http://192.168.192.15 (or http://si.demos.ibm.int in my case since i am updating my hosts-file to have domain-names connected to the I’s I use). In my test I was put through to the sinode2 (I have edited my header image in SI to be able to see the difference between the two nodes).

Zen LB TestIn the Zen LoadBalancer GUI, I can see the status, and that I have a Client Session Active towards Server 1, which is the 192.168.192.12 (sinode2) server.

LB StatusSummary

After adding a Load Balancer to my Cluster, I now have a setup like below.

SI Cluster LB

 

 

 

 

 

0 comments on “Adding Load Balancing to my SB2BI ClusterAdd yours →

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

%d bloggers like this: