Applies To:
Show VersionsBIG-IP APM
- 11.6.5, 11.6.4, 11.6.3, 11.6.2, 11.6.1, 11.5.10, 11.5.9, 11.5.8, 11.5.7, 11.5.6, 11.5.5, 11.5.4, 11.5.3, 11.5.2, 11.5.1
BIG-IP GTM
- 11.6.5, 11.6.4, 11.6.3, 11.6.2, 11.6.1, 11.5.10, 11.5.9, 11.5.8, 11.5.7, 11.5.6, 11.5.5, 11.5.4, 11.5.3, 11.5.2, 11.5.1
BIG-IP LTM
- 11.6.5, 11.6.4, 11.6.3, 11.6.2, 11.6.1, 11.5.10, 11.5.9, 11.5.8, 11.5.7, 11.5.6, 11.5.5, 11.5.4, 11.5.3, 11.5.2, 11.5.1
BIG-IP AFM
- 11.6.5, 11.6.4, 11.6.3, 11.6.2, 11.6.1, 11.5.10, 11.5.9, 11.5.8, 11.5.7, 11.5.6, 11.5.5, 11.5.4, 11.5.3, 11.5.2, 11.5.1
BIG-IP ASM
- 11.6.5, 11.6.4, 11.6.3, 11.6.2, 11.6.1, 11.5.10, 11.5.9, 11.5.8, 11.5.7, 11.5.6, 11.5.5, 11.5.4, 11.5.3, 11.5.2, 11.5.1
Overview: Creating an active-standby DSC configuration
The most common TMOS device service clustering (DSC™) implementation is an active-standby configuration, where a single traffic group is active on one of the devices in the device group and is in a standby state on a peer device. If failover occurs, the standby traffic group on the peer device becomes active and begins processing the application traffic.
To implement this DSC implementation, you can create a Sync-Failover device group. A Sync-Failover device group with two members and one traffic group provides configuration synchronization and device failover, and optionally, connection mirroring.
If the device with the active traffic group goes offline, the traffic group becomes active on the peer device, and application processing is handled by that device.
About DSC configuration on a VIPRION system
The way you configure device service clustering (DSC™) on a VIPRION® system varies depending on whether the system is provisioned to run the vCMP® feature.
For non-vCMP systems
On a VIPRION system that is not provisioned for vCMP, the management IP address that you specify for establishing device trust and enabling failover should be the system's primary cluster IP address. This is a floating management IP address.
For vCMP systems
On a vCMP system, the devices in a device group are virtual devices, known as vCMP guests. You configure config sync and failover to occur between equivalent vCMP guests in separate chassis.
For example, if you have a pair of VIPRION systems running vCMP, and each system has three vCMP guests, you can create a separate device group for each pair of equivalent guests. Table 4.2 shows an example.
Device groups for vCMP | Device group members |
---|---|
Device-Group-A |
|
Device-Group-B |
|
Device-Group-C |
|
By isolating guests into separate device groups, you ensure that each guest synchronizes and fails over to its equivalent guest.
The self IP addresses that you specify per guest for config sync and failover should be the self IP addresses that you previously configured on the guest (not the host). Similarly, the management IP address that you specify per guest for device trust and failover should be the cluster IP address of the guest.
DSC prerequisite worksheet
Before you set up device service clustering (DSC), you must configure these BIG-IP components on each device that you intend to include in the device group.
Configuration component | Considerations |
---|---|
Hardware, licensing, and provisioning | Devices in a device group must match as closely as possible with respect to hardware platform, product licensing, and module provisioning. If you want to configure mirroring, ensure that the hardware platforms of the mirrored devices match. |
BIG-IP software version | Each device must be running BIG-IP version 11.x. This ensures successful configuration synchronization. |
Management IP addresses | Each device must have a management IP address, a network mask, and a management route defined. |
FQDN | Each device must have a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) as its host name. |
User name and password | Each device must have a user name and password defined on it that you will use when logging in to the BIG-IP Configuration utility. |
root folder properties | The platform properties for the root folder must be set correctly (Sync-Failover and traffic-group-1). |
VLANs | You must create these VLANs on each device, if you have not already done so:
|
Self IP addresses | You must create these self IP addresses on each device, if you have not already done so:
Note: When you create floating self IP addresses, the BIG-IP system
automatically adds them to the default floating traffic group,
traffic-group-1. To add a self IP address to a different
traffic group, you must modify the value of the self IP address Traffic
Group property.
|
Port lockdown | For self IP addresses that you create on each device, you should verify that the Port Lockdown setting is set to Allow All, All Default, or Allow Custom. Do not specify None. |
Application-related objects | You must create any virtual IP addresses and optionally, SNAT translation addresses, as part of the local traffic configuration. You must also configure any iApps application services if they are required for your application. When you create these addresses or services, the objects automatically become members of the default traffic group, traffic-group-1. |
Time synchronization | The times set by the NTP service on all devices must be synchronized. This is a requirement for configuration synchronization to operate successfully. |
Device certificates | Verify that each device includes an x509 device certificate. Devices with device certificates can authenticate and therefore trust one another, which is a prerequisite for device-to-device communication and data exchange. |
Task summary
Use the tasks in this implementation to create a two-member device group, with one active traffic group, that syncs the BIG-IP® configuration to the peer device and provides failover capability if the peer device goes offline. Note that on a vCMP® system, the devices in a specific device group are vCMP guests, one per chassis.
Task list
Specifying an IP address for config sync
Specifying IP addresses for connection mirroring
Establishing device trust
Before you begin this task, verify that:
- Each BIG-IP® device that is to be part of the local trust domain has a device certificate installed on it.
- The local device is designated as a certificate signing authority.
You perform this task to establish trust among devices on one or more network segments. Devices that trust each other constitute the local trust domain. A device must be a member of the local trust domain prior to joining a device group.
By default, the BIG-IP software includes a local trust domain with one member, which is the local device. You can choose any one of the BIG-IP devices slated for a device group and log into that device to add other devices to the local trust domain. For example, devices A, B, and C each initially shows only itself as a member of the local trust domain. To configure the local trust domain to include all three devices, you can simply log into device A and add devices B and C to the local trust domain. Note that there is no need to repeat this process on devices B and C.
Creating a Sync-Failover device group
This task establishes failover capability between two or more BIG-IP devices. If the active device in a Sync-Failover device group becomes unavailable, the configuration objects fail over to another member of the device group and traffic processing is unaffected. You perform this task on any one of the authority devices within the local trust domain.
Repeat this task for each Sync-Failover device group that you want to create for your network configuration.
Syncing the BIG-IP configuration to the device group
Specifying IP addresses for failover
Syncing the BIG-IP configuration to the device group
Implementation result
You now have a Sync-Failover device group set up with an active-standby DSC™ configuration. This configuration uses the default floating traffic group (named traffic-group-1), which contains the application-specific floating self IP and virtual IP addresses, and is initially configured to be active on one of the two devices. If the device with the active traffic group goes offline, the traffic group becomes active on the other device in the group, and application processing continues.