CSS equivalent of Local Director backup command

I am migrating applications from the LD to the CSS. One of the apps is using the LD function backup. The situation is:
Currently the LD uses the backup command for some servers. In simple
terms:
Web1 is backed up by Web3
Web2 is backed up by Web4
In normal operational mode, Web1 and Web2 load balance. If Web1 goes down Web3 becomes active and load balances with Web 2. Similarly for Web2 and Web4.
The reason for this configuration is because of the prohibitively expensive
software licensing. Thus, we pay for 2 licenses and share across 4
servers. All servers are in the same subnet.
regards
Tony Barnett

the closest thing that the CSS has to offer is the command "primary sorry-server" or "secondary sorry server" . Seen here in the command reference:
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/webscale/css/css_510/cmdrefgd/cmdowcnt.htm#xtocid40
The "Primary sorry server" will only become active if all other servers are dead in the content rule. It will become inactive when one or more servers become available again. I hope this helps!

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Using the Local Director static command

A few questions:-
1. I understand that this can be used to change the source IP address for real server oubound connections. Please confirm if this is just for connections that are initiated by the stipulated real servers.
2. I have a group of servers already being load balanced by a virtual using port 80 and want to use the static command to change the source IP address for connections that are initiated by the real servers to port 80. Could some just provide a few lines of sample config for this. Many Thanks

Yes, for outbound connections that the real server makes (not in response to a user accessing the virtual server), the IP address is translated to the virtual IP address identified by the static command. If the real_ip exists as a real server, then the outbound connection is counted toward the number of connections for that real server (that is, it will affect load balancing); otherwise, the connection is only translated and does not affect load balancing.
I am not sure about the static configuration for a particular port. Anyone else would like to comment?

Migrating Local Director to CSM - commands "name" "oos"

On a CSM v4.2(3) on a 6509: I'm trying to make the real servers have names (like on the local director) instead of IP addresses:
VOC-SW15#conf t
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
VOC-SW15(config)#mod csm 4
VOC-SW15(config-module-csm)#serverfarm TEST1
VOC-SW15(config-slb-sfarm)#real ?
A.B.C.D real server IP address
name use a named real server
VOC-SW15(config-slb-sfarm)#real name webtest
% Config not found for module real WEBTEST
VOC-SW15(config-slb-sfarm)#real name ?
WORD real server name
VOC-SW15(config-slb-sfarm)#real name webtest
% Config not found for module real WEBTEST
VOC-SW15(config-slb-sfarm)#
VOC-SW15(config-slb-sfarm)#real webtest
VOC-SW15(config-slb-module-real)#address 10.1.250.37
This is what I end up with (I want the real server under server farm test1:
real WEBTEST
address 10.1.250.37
serverfarm TEST1
nat server
no nat client
real 10.1.250.38
inservice
Also, if anyone has an easy way to take a box out of service (like on the local director) please let me know. On CSM we're having to do this:
VOC-SW15#conf t
VOC-SW15(config)#mod csm 4
VOC-SW15(config-module-csm)#serverfarm relays
VOC-SW15(config-slb-sfarm)#real 10.1.11.23
VOC-SW15(config-slb-real)#no inservice
on ld it was just: oos real relay-01
Thank you for all the posts. They have been tremendous help in getting the CSM in production.
ps (Gilles, My Christmas wish is that you're working on a CSS/CSM Book for Cisco Press. One is definately needed)
Thank you, Sheila

We figured out the name configuration.
real MLXWEBTEST
address 10.1.250.36
inservice
serverfarm TEST1
nat server
no nat client
real 10.1.250.38
inservice
real name MLXWEBTEST
no inservice
real server farm weight state conns/hits
10.1.250.38 TEST1 8 OPERATIONAL 0
MLXWEBTEST TEST1 8 OUTOFSERVICE 0
Is this the best configuration? We have to migrate
250+ servers over to the CSM. Thanks, sheila

Using the Local Director "alias ip address" command

I believe it is possible to have real servers in a different subnet to the local director virtual address by using the "alias ip address" command. This eliminates the need to use a router between the Local Director and the real servers. Does this mean that the Local Director is routing between subnets? Do the real servers use the Local Director alias address as their default gateway? Can someone provide an example config using the "alias ip address" command?

no, the local director will not route. there are two ways to make this work.
1
the router on the front side of the local director must be configured with a secondary ip address from the real server subnet plus add the alias command
or
2
use the alias command, plus each real server must be configured with a static ARP entry. the ARP entry is for the ip address of the servers configured default gateway and the MAC address of the router interface.

Local director 417 replacement? CSS 11501 software 8.20

Hi,
i would like to ask if CSS 11501 (software 8.20) is still the replacement hardware for local director 417? currently we use this local director to load balance http and https traffic using a flat network implementation meaning virtual IP is in the same netwoork as the physical server. will CSS 11501 can support this implementation?
Current Local Director setup example
web server virtual IP   10.10.10.1
real server ip 1   10.10.10.2
real server ip 2   10.10.10.3
rgds,
mc.malinao

local director is well before my time, so I can't comment on those and their official replacement.
I'd say you're better off going straight to ACE modules or appliances.
They're the latest generation of Cisco's load balancers.
We're very happy w/ our ACE-20 modules.

CSS and Local Director comparison

I am new to this technology and I want to know what are advantages and disadvantages of Local director over the CSS and vice versa besides the price. What functionality does one has that is not supported by the other ?

If you are looking at implementing a load balancer then I would suggest to go for the CSS. The CSS is the next generation of load balancer and will replace the Local Director. The CSS functionality and extensibility is far greater than that of the local director. Another point is that feature developement is far more aggessive on the CSS.
Phil

Local Director Load Balancing question

Using IOS 3.2.2
I have a local director 416 with 2 real servers. I would like to send all traffic to 1 server and if it fails to switch over to the secondary server. The way I see to do it is to use weighted load balancing and set the weight of the 2nd server to zero. But if the primary server fails what will happen since the secondary server has a weight of zero.
Jason

Not being a Cisco employee, I guess I can't define what "proper" is, but with the backup command, you don't need to play with the weights at all.
You just bind the primary real server to the virtual, then assign a backup to the primary. The backup server does not get directly bound to the virtual, so the only way it's going to get any traffic is if the primary server is down.

Local Director Questions

Our web folks are testing an application that currently does not support server clustering. They want to have all web traffic be directed to one server(server1) and have a second (server2) identical server as a backup.
I was wondering if can bind the real server (server1) to the virtual server and have the second real server (server2) backup the first real server using the backup command? Is there any potential pitfalls that I may need to take into account by doing it this way?
Also they wanted to know if the Local Director would work in the previous scenario if the two servers are physically connected to the same switch but reside in different VLANs?
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

This is exactly how you would configure it. There is only one potential pitfall that I can think of in your particular scenario. If server1 fails, server2 starts getting the connections. As soon as server1 comes back into service all the new connections will be sent to server1. This is a good thing in most situations but you need to see if the application can deal with this.
Regarding location of the backup box. When you say the two servers are connected to the same switch but reside in different VLANs do you also mean that the servers are in different subnets? If so, this is a little more complex depending on the topology but can easily be worked out. If the servers are simply located in separate VLANs on the switch but are in the same subnet then this configuration should work without issue.

Using the Cisco Local Director

Hello All-
We are attempting to set up a server farm that is load balanced with the Cisco Local Director and are experiencing difficulties with some clients whose networks have multiple proxy servers. We have used both the generic sticky command as well as the cookie-insert sticky without total success. Our next option looks like we should put our own proxy server in front of the LD and use SSL. Has anyone experienced these problems and come up with a solution. Unfortunately we don't have weblogic clustering licenses so our state is lost whe a client gets redirected to a new server. Thanks for your time!
-Adam
[email protected]
415.887.9106

In directed mode, the client browsers are configured to point to a proxy to a virtual IP address on the Local Director. I know the Local Director does not support a real server that does not have a virtual address defined so it can't transparently forward like the CSS.

Server load balancing on Local Director implementing HTTP redirection

Hi, got an interesting problem when implementing the HTTP redirection method of session persistance or stickiness when balancing a couple of web servers on a Local Director 416. The session persistance works fine but it looks like one of the two servers is getting all the traffic rather than balancing accross the two. The servers are equally spec'd and when it comes to the predictor setting for the virtual, I'm just using the defaults i.e. leastconns/roundrobin. Is there a better predictor setting to use?? Any input would be appreciated.
Rgds
Adam Lacoba

The loaded argument has worked well. Take note that this requires a value to be set with the weight command. It gives a specific amount of traffic to one, and then moves to the other.

Local Director SNMP for CPU and Memory

Is there any way to get the CPU and memory utilization from a Local Director using SNMP? When I do an SNMP walk, I don't see any objects for CPU and memory.
Thank you

There's a "Show cpu " commmand availabe. Type help or '?' for a list of available commands.

Local Director replacement

On Cisco site Local Director 400 series has been classified as End of Sales. Does anybody know what product replaces them?
Also I would like to know if IOS Server Load Balancing feature does the same job of Local Director as far load balancing between Web server s is concerned.
Thanks for any input.

The Local Director has a few potential replacements.
IOS SLB can perform the same function and if you have a 6500 already, it may be a good choice.
Also, the Content Swtiching Module (CSM) is more robust and has additional fuinctionality such as one-armed load balancing and firewall load balancing, among others...
The Content Services Switch (CSS) is a separate appliance that also has additional functions from the LD. It is comparable to the CSM in features.
Both the CSM and CSS have optional SSL modules to integrate SSL temination allowing the Load Balancer to do layer 5 inspection of "encrypted" traffic.
Hope this helps!
-Steve

Does the Cisco Cache Engine Work with the Cisco Local Director ?

I need to know if it is possible and how to use cisco local director to redirect traffic to the cache engine in reverse proxy configuration and transparent proxy configuration.

In directed mode, the client browsers are configured to point to a proxy to a virtual IP address on the Local Director. I know the Local Director does not support a real server that does not have a virtual address defined so it can't transparently forward like the CSS.

Local Director unable to detect a failed web site

Hi all,
I have configured the local director to load balance several web sites on two real servers. One of these sites is required to be configured in backup mode.
For some reason the local director is unable to detect the site has gone down (by stopping the site to update the web content), therefore not directing requests to the backup real server.
I am using IIS 5.0, since its quite popular out there, has anyone experienced a similar situation and if so, how did you resolve it?
thanks

Your problem is based in the Operating system, not the Local Director. The LD is a layer 3 device. Microsoft put their application architecture together different from the Unix world, ie: Any ip address bound to a MS box is answered for by the OS - not the application (IIS in this case) If IIS is hosed up the OS will still answer for the IP you have bound to the NIC of the OS - the OS does not care at layer 3 that you want a higher level reply - LD does its availability checking at Layer 3 - the OS layer for MS. In the Unix world when an application is bound to a port - ie: Apache to port 80, then the apache deamon answers for that ip/port - not the OS - Apache panics and it will not respond at Layer 3 - the OS could be fine, but the LD will know that ip/port is not responding and will take the appropriate actions by your LD config.
Check out the httpprobe feature of the LD - it lets you test for a file in a URL inside the LD.
Cheers

Local Director Remote Management

Is there any way to use SNMP to manage the Local Director. I have the SNMP community but I can't seem to change the server status from out of service to in service using snmpset (from UCD-SNMP). Am I doing this in vain. Are there any ways to do remote management of the LD or can it easily be scripted. Thanks.

you cannot SET values for the Local Director through SNMP. Just GET them.
There used to be a GUI for the LD, that works up to version 3.x. It no longer works in version 4.x. The name for it is CVS and it can take servers out of service. It does it by telnetting to the LD and issueing commands.
Also, the LD support Dynamic Feedback Protocol (DFP) which is a protocol that allows the LD to talk to an agent application (installed on the server) and can dynamically adjust the server weight according to load.
Hope that helps,
-Steve

CSS equivalent of Local Director backup command

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