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NimbostratusDatacenter migration - F5 question
Hi All
We are planning to migrate datacenters, and we have a layer 2 link between datacenters. . I take care of the network, and everything is setup right.. all VLANs (both internal and DMZ) are extended from one datacenter to another..
We have a pair of F5 boxes in active standby, and we have external URLs pointing to the VIP on the F5. What is the best way to migrate both the F5's and have minimal disruption ?
1) To remove 2nd unit, and convert it to standalone, and move it to the new Datacenter - we need to then disable all the virtual servers and pools ? - since they are layer 2 extended, and can cause IP clash ?
2) 2nd option was to move the 2nd unit, as a standby - can active/standby failover work through a WAN ?
3) third option was to move both at the same time - with a longer downtime
i have few more questions, but will start off with this, and ask more, as people answer :)
Raj
Leonardo_SouzaCirrocumulus
If I understood the work correctly, you have 2 data centers, and you moving both F5s to new data centers.
For network failover does not matter if you are 1 meter apart of 600Km (or miles), as long as you can talk with the peer, and you have layer 2 between the data centers as you said you have, otherwise, HA would not work well (at least without some crazy dynamic routing).
Before the work, make sure you have both an HA vlan and management configured for failover (I can send a solution about that if you need).
Choose one F5 to move, failover in case it is in active mode. Take to the new data center, power on and make it forced offline (just for precaution). Connect the management, make sure you can ping the other peer management IP. If you can ping, just release the force offline, and it should go for standby mode. Now connect the other cables, make sure pools come green. Make this unit active, test the application, and now start the process again with the other unit.