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et1's avatar
et1
Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
Aug 23, 2018

BIG-IP configuration sync between datacenters with a different network topology

Hello guys,

 

We are looking for a way to implement BIG-IP configuration sync for the following setup: - Active DC with an HA pair - Standby DC with an HA pair

 

Traffic is served only by the active DC. Things that are different are the back-end (pool) networks and the F5 self and floating IPs. Other objects are the same (virtual servers, profiles, certificates, iRules, ASM profiles, etc.).

 

What we are looking for is implementing configuration sync only, without having traffic going to both DCs simultaneously. The idea is to keep the devices in sync and ready for a DC fail-over event.

 

I am thinking of giving BIG-IQ a try. Is it capable of achieving the above?

 

I would appreciate anyone giving some advice here. Thank you!

 

BIG-IP
devops
  • Lee_Sutcliffe's avatar
    Lee_Sutcliffe
    Icon for Nacreous rankNacreous
    Aug 23, 2018

    This is a little unorthodox as you want to sync devices that are two distinct HA pairs. You would need to configure them as a single device group and configure HA groups to ensure the right DC is active in the event of a device failure - essentially creating a four device cluster.

     

    K16947: Best practices for the HA group feature

     

    The problems you may have is when a device group fails over, say your floating IP on the inside interface. Assuming that the second DC would not be able to reach these devices, the pool would be marked down and in turn, so would your VIP.

     

    You could get round this by having both DC servers in the same pool, DC A marks DC2 servers down, DC2 marks DC1 down.

     

    Essentially, it's possible without using extra kit, you just need to think carefully about your failover scenarios.