Manual Chapter : Auto-Scaling BIG-IP VE Devices in an Azure Cloud

Applies To:

Show Versions Show Versions

BIG-IQ Centralized Management

  • 8.3.0, 8.2.0, 8.1.0, 8.0.0, 7.1.0
Manual Chapter

Auto-Scaling BIG-IP VE Devices in an Azure Cloud

What does a service scaling group do?

When you create a service scaling group (SSG), you specify thresholds that prompt new BIG-IP VE devices to be created (
scale out
) and thresholds that prompt BIG-IP VE devices to be deleted (
scale in
). This scaling helps you better manage resources, saving you money because you are paying only for the resources you're using.
After you configure the service scaling group and deploy applications to it, you and your application managers will have a centralized view into all of the aspects of your traffic and device details, including analytics and health. This means that you can be alerted to a problem as soon as it occurs, making it easy for you to troubleshoot and quickly address issues with your applications.

Create a service scaling group to manage applications in Azure

workflow graphic, create a service scaling group step
When you create a service scaling group, you specify the parameters that prompt BIG-IP VE devices to be automatically created or deleted. You also define the alerts that you want to receive when certain events happen.
When BIG-IQ deploys a BIG-IP device to an SSG, the device is provisioned with a single network interface. Only devices with a single network interface are supported in an SSG.
  1. At the top of the screen, click
    Applications
    .
  2. On the left, click
    ENVIRONMENTS
    Service Scaling Groups
    .
  3. Near the top of the screen, click the
    Create
    button.
  4. Type a
    Name
    and an optional
    Description
    to help you identify this service scaling group.
    The name you specify displays in your Azure environment for each auto-scaled BIG-IP VE device. This helps you group your BIG-IP VE devices for easy identification.
  5. From the
    Cloud Environment
    list, select your Azure environment.
  6. In the
    Minimum Device(s) Required
    field, type the fewest number of BIG-IP devices you want running at any given time.
  7. In the
    Maximum Device(s) Required
    field, type the largest number of BIG-IP devices you want running at any given time.
    The maximum is 4 devices.
  8. In the
    Maximum Application(s) Allowed
    field, type the largest number of applications you want running simultaneously on this service scaling group.
  9. In the
    Scale-Out Cooldown Period
    field, type the number of minutes you want Azure to create more BIG-IP VE devices, before scaling out again.
    The scale-out cooldown period is important, because it prevents the creation of additional devices before the previous scale-out has gone into effect.
  10. For the Scale-Out settings, specify the CPU and throughput parameters you want to prompt Azure to create new BIG-IP VE devices.
  11. In the
    Scale-Out Cooldown Period
    field, type the number of minutes you want Azure to create more BIG-IP VE devices, before scaling out again.
    The scale-out cooldown period is important, because it prevents the creation of additional devices before the previous scale-out has gone into effect.
  12. For the Scale-In settings, specify the CPU and throughput parameters you want to prompt Azure to remove BIG-IP VE devices.
  13. In the
    Scale-In Cooldown Period
    field, type the number of minutes you want to wait after Azure removes BIG-IP VE devices, before scaling in again.
    The scale-in cooldown period is important, because it prevents Azure from removing devices before a previous scale-in activity has gone into effect.
  14. In the Health Status Rules area, select the events and metrics that you want to trigger an alert.
  15. In the Notifications area, select the events you want to prompt a notification, and the options for how you want to be notified.
    If you select SNMP traps, be sure you have SNMP configured on BIG-IQ. If you select the option to send email, you must have SMTP configured on BIG-IQ.