Forum Discussion

A_124585's avatar
A_124585
Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
Jan 03, 2014

Dynamic GTM load balancing for generic hosts?

Can a GTM be to used to dynamically load balance between generic host servers. [I don't have an LTM]

 

I see that the big3d agent is needed to collect statics for dynamic load balancing, and I can see how this works when load balancing across different F5 appliances. But I want to load balance between generic host servers.

 

I see I can do static load balancing, e.g. round robin, but just wondered if it was possible to do anything more sophisticated?

 

Is dynamic load balancing applicable in this instance, the documentation is unclear.

 

Thanks

 

application delivery
BIG-IP DNS
f5 big-ip gtm
gtm
load balancing
  • Pedro_Haoa's avatar
    Pedro_Haoa
    Ret. Employee
    Jan 03, 2014

    Hi,

     

    The answer is Yes, you can do Dynamic Load Balancing with Generic Hosts in GTM. GTM have two ways to learn about the dynamic network environment.

     

    There are Monitors, that let you knows the status of every internal object in the Datacenter (Including Generic Hosts).

     

    Also, there are Probes, that let you BIG-IP knows about the 'clients' (In terms of GTM, the Local DNS are the clients).

     

    So, feel free and test the appropiate Dynamic Load Balancing mode for your specific needs.

     

    Here is the list of Dynamic Load Balancing modes for GTM:

     

    http://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/products/big-ip_gtm/manuals/product/gtm-concepts-11-4-0/1.htmlunique_1628656946

     

  • Techgeeeg's avatar
    Techgeeeg
    Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
    Jan 03, 2014

    Hi A Just a quick question from you how are you monitoring the Links on your GTM box.... I mean do you have any realistic monitor that tries to fetch like www.google.com and based on that marks a link to the ISP as up or down??

     

    Regards

     

    • A_124585's avatar
      A_124585
      Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
      Jan 14, 2014
      I understand about the different sorts of dymanic monitors, e.g. CPU etc. But as Techgeeg suggests I don't understand how the F5 knows what the CPU availability of my generic hosts is. I was just going to use a TCP half open connection.
    • Gregory_Thiell's avatar
      Gregory_Thiell
      Icon for Employee rankEmployee
      Aug 06, 2015
      Techgeeeg, Just to clarify, your question about monitoring a Link object is very different than the concept of "Probing" for Dynamic Load Balancing Methods. By that, I mean that your question deserves its own entry on this web site. :) Now, to answer your question: to monitor a Link in a GTM implementation, follow SOL6848: https://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/solutions/public/6000/800/sol6848.html You will create this "realistic monitor" you were talking about. GTM implementations with multiple ISPs can be complex. You can talk to your F5 representative to get a Professional Services Consultant (some guy like me) to help you implement GTM.
  • Techgeeeg_28888's avatar
    Techgeeeg_28888
    Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
    Jan 03, 2014

    Hi A Just a quick question from you how are you monitoring the Links on your GTM box.... I mean do you have any realistic monitor that tries to fetch like www.google.com and based on that marks a link to the ISP as up or down??

     

    Regards

     

    • A_124585's avatar
      A_124585
      Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
      Jan 14, 2014
      I understand about the different sorts of dymanic monitors, e.g. CPU etc. But as Techgeeg suggests I don't understand how the F5 knows what the CPU availability of my generic hosts is. I was just going to use a TCP half open connection.
    • Gregory_Thiell's avatar
      Gregory_Thiell
      Icon for Employee rankEmployee
      Aug 06, 2015
      Techgeeeg, Just to clarify, your question about monitoring a Link object is very different than the concept of "Probing" for Dynamic Load Balancing Methods. By that, I mean that your question deserves its own entry on this web site. :) Now, to answer your question: to monitor a Link in a GTM implementation, follow SOL6848: https://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/solutions/public/6000/800/sol6848.html You will create this "realistic monitor" you were talking about. GTM implementations with multiple ISPs can be complex. You can talk to your F5 representative to get a Professional Services Consultant (some guy like me) to help you implement GTM.