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  3. Configuring ISP Load Balancing
Manual Chapter : Configuring ISP Load Balancing

Applies To:

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BIG-IP APM

  • 17.0.0

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Manual Chapter

Configuring ISP Load Balancing

Overview: ISP load balancing

You might find that as your network grows, or network traffic increases, you require an additional connection to the Internet. You can use this configuration to add an Internet connection to your existing network.

Illustration of ISP load balancing

This illustration shows a network configured with two Internet connections.
ISP load balancing
Diagram of ISP load balancing

Creating a load balancing pool

Ensure that at least one virtual server exists in the configuration before you start to create a load balancing pool.
Create a pool of systems with Access Policy Manager to which the system can load balance global traffic.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    DNS
    GSLB
    Pools
    .
    The Pool List screen opens.
  2. Click
    Create
    .
    The New Pool screen opens.
  3. In the General Properties area, in the
    Name
     field, type a name for the pool.
    Names must begin with a letter, and can contain only letters, numbers, and the underscore (_) character.
    The pool name is limited to 63 characters.
  4. From the
    Type
     list, depending on the type of the system (IPv4 or IPv6), select either an
    A
     or
    AAAA
     pool type.
  5. In the Configuration area, for the
    Health Monitors
     setting, in the
    Available
     list, select a monitor type, and move the monitor to the
    Selected
     list.
    Hold the Shift or Ctrl key to select more than one monitor at a time.
  6. In the Members area, for the
    Load Balancing Method
     settings, select a method that uses virtual server score:
    • VS Score - If you select this method, load balancing decisions are based on the virtual server score only.
    • Quality of Service - If you select this method, you must configure weights for up to nine measures of service, including
      VS Score
      . Virtual server score then factors into the load balancing decision at the weight you specify.
  7. For the
    Member List
     setting, add virtual servers as members of this load balancing pool.
    The system evaluates the virtual servers (pool members) in the order in which they are listed. A virtual server can belong to more than one pool.
    1. Select a virtual server from the
      Virtual Server
       list.
    2. Click
      Add
      .
  8. Click
    Finished
    .

Creating a virtual server for inbound content server traffic

You must create a virtual server to load balance inbound connections. The default pool that you assign as a resource in this procedure is the pool of internal servers.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    Local Traffic
    Virtual Servers
    .
    The Virtual Server List screen opens.
  2. Click
    Create
    .
    The New Virtual Server screen opens.
  3. In the
    Name
     field, type a unique name for the virtual server.
  4. For the
    Destination Address/Mask
     setting, confirm that the
    Host
     button is selected, and type the IP address in CIDR format.
    The supported format is address/prefix, where the prefix length is in bits. For example, an IPv4 address/prefix is
    10.0.0.1
     or
    10.0.0.0/24
    , and an IPv6 address/prefix is
    ffe1::0020/64
     or
    2001:ed8:77b5:2:10:10:100:42/64
    . When you use an IPv4 address without specifying a prefix, the BIG-IP system automatically uses a
    /32
     prefix.
    The IP address you type must be available and not in the loopback network.
  5. In the
    Service Port
     field:
    • If you want to specify a single service port or all ports, confirm that the
      Port
       button is selected, and type or select a service port.
    • If you want to specify multiple ports other than all ports, select the
      Port List
       button, and confirm that the port list that you previously created appears in the box.
  6. If the traffic to be load balanced is of a certain type, select the profile type that matches the connection type.
    To load balance HTTP traffic, locate the
    HTTP Profile
     setting and select
    http
    .
  7. In the Resources area of the screen, from the
    Default Pool
     list, select the relevant pool name.
  8. Click
    Finished
    .
The virtual server is configured to load balance inbound connections to the servers.

Creating a virtual server for outbound traffic for routers

You must create a virtual server to load balance outbound connections. The default pool that you assign as a resource in this procedure is the pool of routers.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    Local Traffic
    Virtual Servers
    .
    The Virtual Server List screen opens.
  2. Click
    Create
    .
    The New Virtual Server screen opens.
  3. In the
    Name
     field, type a unique name for the virtual server.
  4. For the
    Destination Address/Mask
     setting, confirm that the
    Host
     button is selected, and type the IP address in CIDR format.
    The supported format is address/prefix, where the prefix length is in bits. For example, an IPv4 address/prefix is
    10.0.0.1
     or
    10.0.0.0/24
    , and an IPv6 address/prefix is
    ffe1::0020/64
     or
    2001:ed8:77b5:2:10:10:100:42/64
    . When you use an IPv4 address without specifying a prefix, the BIG-IP system automatically uses a
    /32
     prefix.
    The IP address you type must be available and not in the loopback network.
  5. In the Resources area of the screen, from the
    Default Pool
     list, select the relevant pool name.
  6. Click
    Finished
    .
The virtual server is configured to load balance outbound connections to the routers.

Creating self IP addresses an external VLAN

You must assign two self IP addresses to the external VLAN.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    Network
    Self IPs
    .
  2. Click
    Create
    .
    The New Self IP screen opens.
  3. In the
    IP Address
     field, type an IP address.
    This IP address should represent the network of the router.
    The system accepts IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.
  4. In the
    Netmask
     field, type the network mask for the specified IP address.
    For example, you can type
    255.255.255.0
    .
  5. Select
    External
     from the
    VLAN
     list.
  6. Click
    Repeat
    .
  7. In the
    IP Address
     field, type an IPv4 or IPv6 address.
    This IP address should represent the address space of the VLAN that you specify with the
    VLAN/Tunnel
     setting.
  8. Click
    Finished
    .
    The screen refreshes, and displays the new self IP address.
The self IP address is assigned to the external VLAN.

Enabling SNAT automap for internal and external VLANs

You can configure SNAT automapping on the BIG-IP system for internal and external VLANs.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    Local Traffic
    Address Translation
    .
    The
    SNAT List
     screen displays a list of existing SNATs.
  2. Click
    Create
    .
  3. Name the new SNAT.
  4. From the
    Translation
     list, select
    Automap
    .
  5. For the
    VLAN / Tunnel List
     setting, in the
    Available
     list, select
    external
     and
    internal
    , and using the Move button, transfer the VLANs to the
    Selected
     list.
  6. Click the
    Finished
     button.
SNAT automapping on the BIG-IP system is configured for internal and external VLANs.
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