For the BIG-IP® Global Traffic Manager system to operate
effectively, you need to define the components that make up the segments of
your network. These components include physical components, such as data
centers and servers, as well as logical components, such as wide IPs,
addresses, and pools. By defining these components, you essentially build a
network map that the Global Traffic Manager can use to direct Domain Name
System (DNS) traffic to the best available resource.
·
A listener that is a
specific virtual server that identifies network traffic for global traffic
management
·
A data center that
contains at least one server
·
A server that contains
at least one resource, or virtual server
Once this basic configuration is complete, the Global Traffic
Manager has enough information available to begin directing DNS traffic. You
can increase the systems capabilities by adding additional network components
as appropriate.
The components that you define in the Global Traffic Manager can
be divided into two basic categories:
·
Physical components
·
Logical components
Introducing physical
network components
Several components that you can configure on the
Global Traffic Manager system have a direct correlation to a physical location
or device on the network. These components include:
·
Data centers
·
Servers
·
Links
·
Virtual servers
Data centers
Data centers are the top level of your physical network setup. You must configure one data center for each physical location in your global network. When you create a data center in the Global Traffic Manager, you define the servers (Global Traffic Manager systems, Local Traffic Manager systems, Link Controller systems, hosts, and routers) that reside at that location.
A data center can contain any type of server. For example, one data center can contain a Global Traffic Manager and a host, while another might contain two Global Traffic Manager systems and eight Local Traffic Manager systems.
Data centers are the top level of your physical network setup. You must configure one data center for each physical location in your global network. When you create a data center in the Global Traffic Manager, you define the servers (Global Traffic Manager systems, Local Traffic Manager systems, Link Controller systems, hosts, and routers) that reside at that location.
A data center can contain any type of server. For example, one data center can contain a Global Traffic Manager and a host, while another might contain two Global Traffic Manager systems and eight Local Traffic Manager systems.
Important: The data center name is limited to 63
characters.
Servers
A server is a physical device on which you can configure
one or more virtual servers. The servers that you define for the Global Traffic
Manager to manage can include both BIG-IP systems and third-party servers, for
example, Local Traffic Manager systems and Windows® 2000 Servers.
One server that you must define is the Global Traffic Manager.
This places the system on the network map. You can also define Local Traffic
Manager systems, and the virtual servers that these servers manage.
Virtual servers
Servers, excluding Global Traffic Manager systems and Link
Controller systems, contain at least one virtual server. A virtual server,
in the context of the Global Traffic Manager, is a combination of an IP address
and a port number that points to a resource that provides access to an
application or data source on your network. In the case of host servers, this
IP address and port number likely point to the resource itself. With load
balancing systems, such as the Local Traffic Manager, these virtual servers are
often proxies that allow the load balancing server to manage the resource
request across a multitude of resources. Virtual servers are the ultimate
destination for connection requests.
Introducing logical network components
In addition to the physical components of your
network, the Global Traffic Manager also handles DNS traffic over logical
components. Logical network components consist of network elements that may not
represent a physical location or device. These components include:
·
Listeners
·
Pools
·
Wide IPs
·
Distributed applications
To communicate with the rest of your network, you must configure
the Global Traffic Manager so that it can correctly identify the resolution
requests for which it is responsible. A listener is an object that
monitors the network for DNS queries, and thus is critical for global traffic
management. The listener instructs the system to monitor the network traffic
destined for a specific IP address.
In most installations, when you define a listener for the Global
Traffic Manager, you use the IP address of the Global Traffic Manager; however,
there are many different ways you can configure listeners so that the system
handles DNS traffic correctly.
A pool is a collection of virtual servers that can
reside on multiple network servers. When you define the virtual servers to
which the Global Traffic Manager directs DNS traffic, you combine those virtual
servers into pools. You can then configure the Global Traffic Manager to direct
traffic to a specific virtual server within a pool, using a specific load
balancing method.
You can apply a
different set of options to the same resources as a virtual server. When you
add a virtual server to a pool, it becomes a pool member to which you can apply
monitors, iRules®, and other configuration options.
Wide IPs
One of the most common logical components you create in the Global
Traffic Manager is a wide IP. A wide IP maps a fully-qualified domain
name to one or more pools of virtual servers that host the domains content.
When an local DNS requests a connection to a specific domain name,
the wide IP definition specifies which pools of virtual servers are eligible to
answer the request, and which load balancing modes to use in choosing a pool.
The Global Traffic Manager then load balances the request across the virtual
servers within that pool to resolve the request.
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