2.2.3. Lab – Load Balancing¶

2.2.3.1. Task – Load Balancing¶

In the task, you will look and the various effects of different load balancing configurations.

1. Open the www_pool Members tab.

2. Note the load balancing method on the pool and the Ratio and Priority settings on the members. Select each member and update them to the following:

   Member	Ration	Priority
   10.1.20.11	5	10
   10.1.20.12	1	10
   10.1.20.11	1	5

3. Go to Local Traffic > Pools > Statistics and clear the www_pool statistics.

4. Browse to http://10.1.10.100 and refresh or <ctrl> F5 several times.

   Attention

   Q1. Which www_pool members was traffic sent to?

   Q2. Did member 10.1.20.11 receive the most traffic? Why not?

5. Under the Members tab change Load Balancing Method to Ratio (member) then Update.

6. Clear stats for www_pool and browse http://10.1.10.100 several times.

   Attention

   Q3. Which www_pool members was traffic sent to?

   Q4. Did member 10.1.20.11 receive the most traffic?

2.2.3.2. Task – Priority Group Activation¶

1. Change Priority Group Activation to less than 2 and Update.

2. Clear stats for www_pool and browse to http://10.1.10.100.

   Attention

   Q1. Which www_pool members was traffic sent to?

3. On the pool statistics page, select member 10.1.20.11:80 and change the State to Disable.

4. Clear the statistics for the www_pool and browse to http://10.1.10.100 several times.

   Attention

   Q2. Which www_pool members was traffic sent to? Why?

   Q3. Would the results have been different if 10.1.20.11:80 had been marked offline or marked with a yellow triangle?

   Important

   Once you have complete the lab, change the Load Balancing Method to Round Robin, Priority Group to Disabled, and Enable pool member 10.1.20.11:80

2.2.3.3. Task – The Effects of Persistence on Load Balancing¶

In this task, you will enable persistence on the www_vs and see the effects of persistence on load balancing. You will also see where to view persistence records that are maintain by the BIG-IP.

1. Enable a Persistence Profile on www_vs by opening the virtual server and selecting the Resources tab.

2. Assign the following persistence profiles;

   Default Persistence Profile	cookie
   Fallback Persistance_Profile	source_addr

   If you see an error requiring an HTTP profile, go to Properties and assign the default HTTP profile.

   Attention

   Q1. Why was a http profile required?

3. Clear stats for www_pool and browse to http://10.1.10.100.

   Attention

   Q2. Was traffic evenly distributed to all www_pool members? Why not?

4. In the web page under HTTP Request and Response Information is Display Cookie link.

   • Select Display Cookie to view the cookie created by the BIG-IP.
   • Open Statistic > Module Statistics > Local Traffic > Persistence Records.
   • Click on pool member displayed on persistence record and Disable the pool member.
   • Browse to http://10.1.10.100.

   Attention

   Q3. Did you persist to the Disabled member? Why?

5. Change status of persisted pool member to Forced Offline.

6. Note: Persisted Records still exist. Browse to http://10.1.10.100.

   Attention

   Q4. Does traffic continue to persist to the member Forced Offline?

   Q5. If cookies were disable on your browser would persistence still work? Why?

   Alternate method to display persistence is: tmsh show ltm persistence persist-records.