If you would like to read the first part in this article series please go to Microsoft Forefront UAG – How to configure arrays in Forefront UAG (Part 1).
Let’s begin
In part I of this article series we created a Forefront UAG array with two Forefront UAG members. In this article we will provide high availability for the Forefront UAG array with integrated Windows NLB (Network Load Balancing).
To enable NLB for the Forefront UAG array start the Forefront UAG management console, click Admin – Network Load Balancing.
Figure 1: Start the NLB wizard
Define a virtual IP address (VIP) for the networks which you want to enable NLB. For this article we would like to enable NLB for the external interface of the Forefront UAG Server. Each Forefront UAG Server has one or more dedicated IP addresses (DIP) which must be in the same IP subnet as the VIP. Depending on your network environment you are able to use Multicast – Multicast with IGMP or Unicast NLB. Each NLB mode has some pros and cons and you should get in contact with your network infrastructure department to find the right NLB operation mode.
Figure 2: Enable NLB on the external network card
Save and activate the configuration from the Forefront UAG console.
As you can see in the following screenshot, the NLB configuration will be activated also in the Forefront TMG management console, but we have to start NLB with the Forefront UAG Web Monitor.
Figure 3: Configuring NLB
Start the Forefront UAG Web Monitor, navigate to the Array monitor, select both Forefront UAG array members and select Start and hit the Apply button. NLB will now be activated.
Figure 4: Start NLB configuration with the Forefront UAG Web Monitor
It takes some time until both Forefront UAG array members are converged.
Figure 5: NLB is converging
Forefront UAG will automatically configure the NLB in the Windows NIC properties. The Windows Server feature Network Load Balancing was automatically installed during the Forefront UAG installation.
Figure 6: NLB activated on the external network card
After some time, the NLB status in the Forefront UAG Web Monitor is converged.
Figure 7: NLB is converged
You can also see the running NLB configuration in the Monitoring – Services tab of the Forefront TMG management console as shown in the following screenshot.
Figure 8: NLB is running on the TMG Server
After you have checked the successful NLB implementation, it is now time to enable the integrated NLB for the Portal trunk in the Forefront UAG management console.
Figure 9: Use integrated NLB for the UAG portal trunk
Save and activate the configuration in the Forefront UAG management console.
NLB operations
Windows NLB provides some operation modes which can be configured with the Forefront UAG Web Monitor as shown in the following screenshot.
Figure 10: NLB operations
Start
The start command can be used after a stop or suspend command. It restarts NLB operations, but it does not enable the use of cluster control commands which have been disabled by a previous suspend command.
Stop
The Stop command stops NLB on the host but does not affect the other NLB cluster control commands.
Drain Stop
Drain disables new traffic handling for the NLB rule that contains the specified port in the port range. New connections to the specified NLB hosts are not allowed, but all active connections are maintained
Suspend
The suspend command stops NLB on the host and suspends all NLB cluster control commands on the host.
Resume
If you want to resume cluster operations on all NLB cluster hosts, click Resume in the Forefront UAG Web Monitor.
Conclusion
In this second article we configured the Forefront UAG array with NLB (Network Load Balancing) to provide high availability.
Related links
- Array deployment guide
- Configuring NLB for a Forefront UAG DirectAccess array
- Configuring NLB for a Forefront UAG array
- UAG Array and Network Load Balancing
- Microsoft Forefront UAG – Overview of Microsoft Forefront UAG
- Forefront UAG technical overview
If you would like to read the first part in this article series please go to Microsoft Forefront UAG – How to configure arrays in Forefront UAG (Part 1).