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Document ID: RDWR-ALOS-V2900_AG1302
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Chapter 22 – WAN Link Load Balancing
WAN link load balancing lets you configure Alteon to balance user session traffic among a pool of
available WAN Links. The following sections in this chapter provide conceptual information on WAN
Link Load balancing:
•
—Provides an overview of WAN link load balancing and its benefits.
•
How WAN Link Load Balancing Works, page 633
—Discusses in detail the path of the outbound
and inbound traffic in a WAN link load balancing environment.
•
Configuring WAN Link Load Balancing, page 637
—Provides step-by-step procedures to configure
Alteon for load balancing the WAN links in different environments, including:
—
Example 1: Simple WAN Link Load Balancing, page 639
—
Example 2: WAN Link Load Balancing with Server Load Balancing, page 646
•
Health Checking and Multi-homing, page 655
—Discusses the interaction between health
checking WAN link load balancing, and the steps needed to avoid service disruption.
For additional information on WAN link commands see the Alteon Application Switch Operating
System Command Reference.
Although WAN link load balancing supports most IPv4 protocols, the following protocols may not be
supported in typical implementations:
•
IPv6-related protocols
•
IP-within-IP Encapsulation Protocol (IPIP)
•
Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE)
•
Encap Security Payload/Authentication Header (ESP/AH)
WAN link load balancing supports the following metrics:
•
Response time
•
Bandwidth
•
Least connections
•
Round-robin
When the response time or bandwidth metrics are used, Alteon calculates weights and uses the
round-robin metric for selecting the Internet service providers (ISPs).
Multi-homing
WAN link load balancing enables Alteon to provide gigabit connectivity from corporate resources to
multiple ISP links to the Internet.
To handle the high volume of data on the Internet, corporations may use more than one ISP as a
way to increase reliability of Internet connections. Such enterprises with more than one ISP are
referred to as being multi-homed. In addition to reliability, a multi-homed network architecture
enables enterprises to distribute load among multiple connections and to provide more optimal
routing.
Multi-homing has become essential for reliable networks, providing customers with protection
against connectivity outages and unforeseen ISP failures. Multi-homing also presents other clear
opportunities for enterprises to intelligently manage how WAN links are used. With link load
balancing, organizations have greater flexibility to scale bandwidth and reduce spending for
corporate connectivity.