F5 to load balance MS Sql Servers

Hi.

 

 

I am new to this community. Came across this thread because of a similar problem I am trying to solve. I currently don't have access to a F5 device, so my questions is only theoretical.

 

 

Can I use a F5 LTM device to manage the front-end traffic for a set of regionally dispersed MSSQL 2005 servers ?

 

 

The challenge is to create a DR environment for MSSQL in a secondary site. There is many-to-one problem, about 20 client connections to a local MSSQL cluster. I like to virtualize the access traffic by inserting a traffic VIP/TCP proxy in active/stand-by mode in front of the cluster and use the back-end connections direct the traffic to either site.

 

 

The problem I am running into for the POC, using a simple software implementation (cross-winds, balance), it doesn't work. Client connections are timing out with "name pipe error". I am using TCP 1433 and TCP 135 (epmap) for the VIP.

 

 

Will a F5 do any better in this scenario ?

 

 

Much appreciated.