How to Create VIP Templates for Hardware Load Balancers in VMM

Updated: May 13, 2016

Applies To: System Center 2012 SP1 - Virtual Machine Manager, System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager, System Center 2012 - Virtual Machine Manager

You can use the following procedure to create a virtual IP (VIP) template for a hardware load balancer in Virtual Machine Manager (VMM). A VIP template contains load-balancer-related configuration settings for a specific type of network traffic. For example, you can create a template that specifies the load-balancing behavior for HTTPS traffic on a specific load balancer by manufacturer and model. These templates represent the best practices from a load-balancer configuration standpoint.

When users create a service, they can select a VIP template to use when they want to load-balance a service tier. For an overview of the load-balancer and VIP workflow, see the “Load Balancer Integration” section of the topic Configuring Load Balancing in VMM Overview.

To create a VIP template for a hardware load balancer

1. In Virtual Machine Manager (VMM), open the Fabric workspace.

2. In the Fabric pane, expand Networking, and then click VIP Templates.

3. On the Home tab, in the Show group, click Fabric Resources.

4. On the Home tab, in the Create group, click Create VIP Template.

   The Load Balancer VIP Template Wizard starts.

5. On the Name page, enter the following information, and then click Next:

   1. The template name and description.

   2. The VIP port to use. The VIP port is the port that is used for the type of network traffic that you want to load balance.

   For example, enter the name Web tier (HTTPS traffic) and a description of Use for HTTPS traffic to production Web servers. Enter the VIP port 443. When you are finished, click Next.

6. On the Type page, do either of the following, and then click Next:

   • Click Generic to create a VIP template that can be used on any supported hardware load balancer.

   • Click Specific to create a VIP template that applies to a specific hardware load balancer, and then specify the manufacturer and model.

     Note

     In the Manufacturer list, the Microsoft entry is for NLB. For information about creating a VIP template for NLB, see How to Create VIP Templates for Network Load Balancing (NLB) in VMM.

   Click either of the options, depending on your test environment, and then click Next.

7. On the Protocol page, click the protocol for which you want to create the virtual IP template. You can select one of the following options:

   • HTTP

   • HTTPS passthrough

     If you click this option, encryption carries all the way through to the virtual machine, and it is not decrypted at the load balancer.

   • HTTPS terminate

     If you select this option, the traffic is decrypted at the load balancer. When traffic is decrypted at the load balancer, the load balancer has access to more detailed information to direct traffic, such as cookies and header information. For this option to be used, a certificate must be loaded previously on the load balancer.

     In Certificate subject name, enter the subject name of the certificate, for example, C=US,ST=WA,L=Redmond,O=Contoso,OU=Test,CN=www.contoso.com/emailAddress=contoso@contoso.com.

     To help secure the traffic from the load balancer to the virtual machine, select the Re-Encrypt check box. This action reencrypts the HTTPS traffic from the load balancer to the virtual machine.

   • Custom

     If you select this option, enter a protocol name in the Protocol name list, or select one from the list (if values are available).

   For example, click either HTTPS passthrough or HTTPS terminate, depending on your test environment.

8. On the Persistence page, you can select the Enable persistence check box to enable session persistence (also known as affinity). If you enable persistence, the load balancer will always try to direct the same client to the same virtual machine that is behind the load balancer. This is based on the source IP address and the subnet mask that you specify (for example, 255.255.255.0), the destination IP address, or other persistence types, such as cookie or Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) session ID. (The options vary, depending on the selected protocol.) You can also click Custom and then select a custom persistence type. For a custom persistence type, the persistence value is optional, depending on the load balancer manufacturer.

9. On the Health Monitors page, you can specify a request that will occur at regular intervals against the load balancer to verify that a load balancer is available. (Adding a health monitor is optional.) To add a health monitor, do the following:

   1. Click Insert.

   2. In the Protocol list, click the desired protocol to monitor.

   3. Under the Request column, click the empty field, and then enter the request.

      For example, type GET /. Typically, this command makes an HTTP GET request for the home page of the load balancer and checks for a header response, such as 200 OK.

   4. To modify the response type, interval, timeout, and retries values, click the field in the desired column, and then enter a new value.

      For example, under Response, enter 200.

      Note

      The time-out value should be less than the interval value. The interval and time-out values are in seconds.

10. On the Load Balancing page, select the load balancing method to use for new connections, and then click Next. You can configure new connections to be directed to a server based on the least connections or on the fastest response time, or by using round robin, where each server takes a turn. You can also click Custom, and then in the Custom method list, click a custom method that your load balancer supports.

11. On the Summary page, review the settings, and then click Finish.

    The Jobs dialog box appears. Make sure that the job has a status of Completed, and then close the dialog box.

12. Verify that the VIP template that you added appears in the VIP Templates pane.

Configuring Load Balancing in VMM Overview
Configuring Networking in VMM
How to Add Hardware Load Balancers in VMM
How to Configure a Hardware Load Balancer for a Service Tier