Network Load Balancing

Hi,

I got a problematic of network load balancing and I dont seem to find the
tools to do what I wand on windows.

Here is the situation, I got 2 network cards on my machine, connected on
different subnet with different default gateway and I want the machine to do
load balancing on those 2 interfaces. Actually I want the output traffic to
be sent equally over those 2 interfaces.

Im looking for a real load balancing solutions, not some workaround by
splitting routing tables for exemple ...

If you got suggestions ...

Thx.

Julien.

Hi,
think over your situation.

if a client on subnet A requests data, the machine answers to that subnet A
/ to that client ( and i guess you want this).
if the requested data were to the different subnet B, they would have a
value (for the client - especially if there is no further routing) like they
have been send to mars.

you may have a research on "trunking".

regards jk

Well lets simplifiy. Imagine I got 2 network cards on my windows server and
each one of those cards is connected to a different ISP. I just want the
output traffic of the server ( an internet gateway for my LAN for exemple )
to be load balanced equally between those 2 connections ... hope its clearer
now.

Thx for your answer by the way.

Won't happen.
This has to be done at a router.

If these are commercial lines (like T1s, D3, etc) this has to be a "real"
router and will be done with routing protocols. It will involve the router
at the ISP side and therefore requires that both lines come from the same
IP. Typically the ISP performs this for you.

If these are home user lines (DSL, CableTV) then this must be done with a
broadband "router" that has two WAN ports and is designed for this purpose.

Network Load Balancing in the Windows "context" is balancing "servers" as
in clustering, mirroring, whatever term your want to use and has nothing to
do with Lines and "connections".


--
Phillip Windell
www.wandtv.com

The views expressed, are my own and not those of my employer, or Microsoft,
or anyone else associated with me, including my cats.
-----------------------------------------------------

"Julien" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
newsA5D3A08-46BC-4156-AEB9-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Well lets simplifiy. Imagine I got 2 network cards on my windows server
> and
> each one of those cards is connected to a different ISP. I just want the
> output traffic of the server ( an internet gateway for my LAN for
> exemple )
> to be load balanced equally between those 2 connections ... hope its
> clearer
> now.
>
> Thx for your answer by the way.

Hi,

Thx for your answers but actually im not sure we're clear about what I want
to do. I dont want to load-balanced the input traffic, which I could have
done with the solutions you suggested : DNS round robin ...
What I want is to load-balanced the output traffic. If you want an exemple
look at this howto for linux system :

http://lartc.org/howto/lartc.rpdb.multiple-links.html

The only thing is that I want to do the same thing on a windows server ...

Thx again.

Julien.

"Julien" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:44DDA663-98ED-4231-84C6-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi,
>
> Thx for your answers but actually im not sure we're clear about what I
> want
> to do. I dont want to load-balanced the input traffic, which I could have
> done with the solutions you suggested : DNS round robin ...

I didn't suggest DNS round robin,...and I wasn't speaking of inbound
traffic. DNS round robin does not load balance at the outbound IP
connection level or at the outbound packet level,...like what I was
suggesting will do.

Commercial Lines done as I described will balance both directions

Home user lines done as I described will load balance only internally
initiated outbound traffic.

> What I want is to load-balanced the output traffic. If you want an exemple
> look at this howto for linux system :
>
> http://lartc.org/howto/lartc.rpdb.multiple-links.html
>
> The only thing is that I want to do the same thing on a windows server ...

It is the way I said.

--
Phillip Windell
www.wandtv.com

The views expressed, are my own and not those of my employer, or Microsoft,
or anyone else associated with me, including my cats.
-----------------------------------------------------

Hi,

Sorry, I answered too quickly and I mut have msitaken your answer with
another one somebody made me on another forum. Whatever.

So to be clear for you there's absolutely no way to loadbalanced Home user
lines directly from windows server ? I got to use specific network equipement
to do that ?

That seems strange as long as that problematic seems quite common , but i
cant find anything on the web about such a solution so I begin to believe you
actually ...

Thx .

"Julien" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:89F90284-84E5-4049-8F96-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Sorry, I answered too quickly and I mut have msitaken your answer with
> another one somebody made me on another forum. Whatever.
>
> So to be clear for you there's absolutely no way to loadbalanced Home user
> lines directly from windows server ? I got to use specific network
> equipement
> to do that ?

Windows can do "Dead Gateway Detection" which is a very "crude" form of
Fail-Over (not load balancing)

128978 - Dead Gateway Detection in TCP/IP for Windows NT
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;EN-US;128978

171564 - TCP/IP Dead Gateway Detection Algorithm Updated for Windows NT
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;EN-US;171564

> That seems strange as long as that problematic seems quite common , but i
> cant find anything on the web about such a solution so I begin to believe
> you
> actually ...

It has been that way for years (about 10 years actually). So it is old news
to those of us that have been with Windows for a long time. The generic
TCP/IP Protocol, by itself, alone, just is not capable of such things.
Therefore it has to be over come with "software" at a higher lever in the
OSI model,..perhaps ever completely above the OSI model (hard to pin down
exactly where it all has to happen at). But anyway, Windows as an OS just
doesn't do it.

In routers,..that is "real" routers,...not home-user/consumer boxes that are
falsely called routers,...this would be done with Dynamic Routing Protocols
(like IGRP). Dynamic Routing Protocols are idealy suited to do this and it
is more or less what they do naturally anyway.

When "home user" line technologies were invented, meaning DSL and CableTV
Internet, they introduced new methodologies into how lines work. These
"home-user" boxes,...and even now some of the middle-range devices (like the
$400-$500 boxes from Cisco, Sonicwall, Watchgaurd) have the ability to do
this wilt two lines that are not even from the same ISP. IT is done with
some proprietary or semi-proprietary methods that do not involve Dynamic
Routing Protocols. Some companies may even be producing high-end Firewall
appliances that do this as well.

However because the two lines are seen on the Internet by two different IP#s
it only works outbound as far as I know. But the commercial lines (like
T1s) this can be done in both directions because the Destination via both
"paths" is identified by the same IP# and the Dynamic Routing Protocols make
it all happen.


--
Phillip Windell
www.wandtv.com

The views expressed, are my own and not those of my employer, or Microsoft,
or anyone else associated with me, including my cats.
-----------------------------------------------------

What about that ? :

http://www.geekswhoknow.com/articles...onnections.htm

Oh and by the way, you were talking about "software" at a higher lever in the
OSI model ... do you have exemple of such soft that permits to do load
balancing on multiple NICs ?

Thx.