Why are Loadbalancer.org appliances so
reasonably priced?
Originally we worked with large
ISP
partners who needed a simple cost effective load balancer to re-brand
and re-sell to their customers.
We only use Open Source technology to reduce development overheads.
We strive to keep low over heads with minimal marketing so that you get
these great appliances for half the price you would expect.
Can
I load balance SAP, SIEBEL, ORACLE, PEOPLESOFT, etc?
You can load balance ANY TCP or UDP packets,
but you meant to say:
Will the load balancer
magically fix a poorly designed application?
No. If your application does
not have a persistent backend storage device (a database) then you only
get increased performance, failover will loose the session. THIS
IS THE SAME FOR ALL LOAD BALANCERS - NO PERSISTENCE IN THE APPLICATION
= NO SESSION FAILOVER.
Persistence by source ip address is useful for: Terminal Services,
Streaming Media and HTTPS. Persistence is fully supported by every
Loadbalancer.org appliance. Loadbalancer.org appliances also support
cookie insertion and re-write.
Don't I
need a layer 7 switch?
Loadbalancer.org appliances
fully support Layer 7 switching utilising the high performance Ha-Proxy.
But, a layer 7 switch is basically a proxy server. Layer 7 switching is
very slow.
Instead of switching by URL just switch at layer 4 using DNS. For
example instead of switching on /shop and /browse switch on
shop.mysite.com and browse.myshop.com.
Don't believe the marketing hype over a very simple and slightly
pointless technology.
If you want to scale out a Layer 7 solution then take a look at Willy
Tarreau's excellent article.
Don't I need SSL switching or acceleration?
Loadbalancer.org appliances fully support SSL termination using Pound.
This is to enable the load balancer to process SLL Layer 7 traffic
including cookies etc.
If you want to scale a soloution like this you may want to invest in
some cheap SLL accelerators.
If you are working at Layer 4 as recommended you don't need to worry
about SSL acceleration, what the heck do you think you have a load
balancer for?
Just add more SSL capable web servers.
NB. If anyone can explain what
possible use SSL switching is please let us know.
Don't I
need Cookie/URL/SSL persistence?
Loadbalancer.org appliances
fully support Layer 7 switching and cookie persistence utilising the
high performance Ha-Proxy.
But, you should never require persistence
on your load balancers that's just poor design.
If your application is so poorly coded that it needs persistence then
source ip persistence works fine, whereas cookie/url/SSL are client
dependent.
Persistence is sensible for something like Windows Terminal Server
(to keep the same session) or HTTPS (to avoid excessive re-negotiation
of keys).
Remember, remember that if your REQUIRE persistence you'll get NO
FAILOVER!
HOW TO: Configure
ASP.NET for Persistent SQL Server Session State Management
Don't I
need GSLB (Global Server Load Balancing)?
Nice idea, shame it doesn't
work. The only method that works is to use multiple DNS A records and
BGP which your ISP can sort out for you.
GSLB is a marketing gimick and does not work.
Why DNS Based Global
Server Load Balancing (GSLB) Doesn’t Work.
Before you use GSLB for failover have you first made your primary site
indestructible? i.e.
2 x Internet feeds
2 x Switch fabrics
2 x firewalls
2 x Load balancers
3+ x Web Servers
2+ x Database Servers
Can't
I just use the load balancer in Windows Advanced Server?
Um, its expensive, CPU & network intensive and doesn't even
support application health checking.
Don't I
need a consultant?
No. It's childs play to set up a
Loadbalancer.org appliance.
NB. This is also why your
consultant
will try to sell you a product that requires a week long boot camp to
understand how to switch it on.
If you would prefer to use a consultant just ask one of your choice to
contact us directly for back up and support.
Can I have
24*7 support?
Yes, Our Premium support package
is 24*7 with a 1 hour SLA.. Send an email to support@loadbalancer.org
and we will endevour to answer your question as fast as we can. If you
prefer you can use the 24 hour call center to do exactly the
same
thing.
Can I have
on site 4 hour response hardware maintenance?
No. Why not buy a Hot Spare /
Dev unit instead? We give a large discount on a 3rd load balancer
appliance purchased at the same time. However if on an site support
engineer is what you need then check out our sister company ClusterScale
Ltd. They have great load balancing appliances on Dell
hardware with 24*7 on-site support.
Can I have
next day hardware replacement?
Yes, we can offer next day
hardware replacement in America & Europe, with best effort in
other locations.
Can I load
balance two Internet connections?
No. That's called 'link
balancing' or'WAN balancing' .. try Riverbed.