Configuring an Oracle^® Solaris 11.3 System as a Router or a Load Balancer

Configuring ILB for High Availability By Using the Half-NAT Topology

This section describes how to set up the ILB connections to achieve HA by using the half-NAT topology. You need to set up two load balancers, one as the primary and the other as the standby. If the primary load balancer fails, the standby load balancer assumes the role of the primary load balancer.

The following figure shows the half-NAT topology for configuring the ILB connections to achieve HA.

Figure 7  ILB for HA Configuration By Using Half-NAT Topology

How to Configure ILB for High-Availability by Using the Half-NAT Topology

1. Become an administrator.

   For more information, see Using Your Assigned Administrative Rights in Securing Users and Processes in Oracle Solaris 11.3.

2. Configure both the primary and standby load balancers.

   # ilbadm create servergroup -s server=203.0.113.1,203.0.113.2 sg1
   # ilbadm create-healthcheck -h hc-timeout=4,hc-count=3,hc-interval=6,hc-test=tcp hc1
   # ilbadm create-rule -ep -i vip=198.51.100.3,port=9001-9006,protocol=udp \
   -m lbalg=roundrobin,type=HALF-NAT,pmask=24 -h hc-name=hc1,hc-port=9006 \
   
   -t conn-drain=70,nat-timeout=70,persist-timeout=70 -o servergroup=sg1 rule1

3. Configure Load Balancer 1 to serve as the primary load balancer.

   LB1# dladm create-vnic -m vrrp -V 1 -A inet -l eth0 vnic1
   LB1# ipadm create-ip vnic1
   LB1# ipadm create-addr -d -a 198.51.100.3/27 vnic1
   LB1# vrrpadm create-router -V 1 -A inet -l eth0 -p 255 vrrp1
   LB1# dladm create-vnic -m vrrp -V 2 -A inet -l eth1 vnic2
   LB1# ipadm create-ip vnic2
   LB1# ipadm create-addr -d -a 203.0.113.3/27 vnic2
   LB1# vrrpadm create-router -V 2 -A inet -l eth1 -p 255 vrrp2

4. Configure Load Balancer 2 to serve as the standby load balancer.

   LB2# dladm create-vnic -m vrrp -V 1 -A inet -l eth0 vnic1
   LB2# ipadm create-ip vnic1
   LB2# ipadm create-addr -d -a 198.51.100.3/27 vnic1
   LB2# vrrpadm create-router -V 1 -A inet -l eth0 -p 100 vrrp1
   LB2# dladm create-vnic -m vrrp -V 2 -A inet -l eth1 vnic2
   LB2# ipadm create-ip vnic2
   LB2# ipadm create-addr -d -a 203.0.113.3/24 vnic2
   LB2# vrrpadm create-router -V 2 -A inet -l eth1 -p 100 vrrp2

5. Add the IP address for the floating default gateway to both servers.

   # route add default 203.0.113.3

   This configuration provides protection against the following failure scenarios:

   • If Load Balancer 1 fails, Load Balancer 2 becomes the primary load balancer. Load balancer 2 then takes over address resolution for the VIP 198.51.100.3 and handles all the packets from clients with the destination IP address 198.51.100.3. Load balancer 2 also handles all the packets that are sent to the floating gateway address 203.0.113.3.

     When Load Balancer 1 recovers, Load Balancer 2 returns to the standby mode.

   • If one or both of Load Balancer 1's interfaces fail, Load Balancer 2 takes over as primary load balancer. Load Balancer 2 then takes over address resolution for VIP 198.51.100.3 and handles all packets from clients with the destination IP address 198.51.100.3. Load balancer 2 also handles all the packets that are sent to the floating gateway address 203.0.113.3.

     When both of Load Balancer 1's interfaces are healthy, Load Balancer 2 returns to standby mode.