As explained in the knowledge base of VMware, in the case of Microsoft NLB multicast mode, you need to manually configure static ARP resolution at the switch or router for each port that connects to the cluster. Deployment of the Microsoft NLB multicast mode in an unknown network environment can prove to be a complex and strenuous task.
With Microsoft NLB unicast mode, you must configure the ESXi/ESX host to not send RARP packets when any of its virtual machines is powered on. That's why, VMware recommends configuring the cluster to use NLB multicast mode with the previously mentioned problems.
With the SafeKit software, network load balancing is implemented by filtering packets in the network stacks as with Microsoft NLB. The virtual IP address is set as an alias IP address on the NIC card of each physical or virtual machine. A single network is sufficient to implement network load balancing.
The virtual IP address configuration does not require any special network configuration and the network load balancing can run in any environment (thanks to the vmac_directed technology). An important feature when the solution must be deployed in an unknown infrastructure: unknown switches or routers, physical servers or virtual servers.
Note that the solution is available on Windows and Linux (even on Windows editions for PCs).
Evidian SafeKit farm cluster with load balancing and failover | ||
No load balancer or dedicated proxy servers or special multicast Ethernet address | |
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All clustering features | |
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Remote sites and virtual IP address | |
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Uniform high availability solution | |
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High availability architectures comparison | ||
Feature | SafeKit cluster | Other clusters |
Software clustering vs hardware clustering | | |
Shared nothing vs a shared disk cluster | | |
Application High Availability vs Full Virtual Machine High Availability | Smooth upgrade of application and OS possible server by server (version N and N+1 can coexist) | Smooth upgrade not possible |
High availability vs fault tolerance | Software failure with restart in another OS environment. Smooth upgrade of application and OS possible server by server (version N and N+1 can coexist) | Software exception on both servers at the same time. Smooth upgrade not possible |
Synchronous replication vs asynchronous replication | | |
Byte-level file replication vs block-level disk replication | | |
Heartbeat, failover and quorum to avoid 2 master nodes | | |
Virtual IP address primary/secondary, network load balancing, failover | | |
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