5900 & MS NLB

[manuel.bitzi]

Hi guys

Has anybody of you real experience with Microsoft NLB in Multicast Mode on HP 5900 (Routing & Switching)?

I know to configure on Comware v5, but have not found it in the manual of 5900. I fear it's not supported.

br

Manuel

[3comold]

There are two modes of Multicast in Microsoft NLB cluster:

 - Mode-1 :  use the concept of a unicast IP address that is mapped to a multicast media access control address.

 - Mode-2 :  takes part in a multicast group. The multicast group that is used is 239.255.x.y, where x.y corresponds to the last two octets of the Network Load Balancing virtual IP address. For example, if the virtual IP address is 10.1.2.3, the multicast address that cluster nodes are a part of would be 239.255.2.3. Per the RFC document 2365, this address range is administratively scoped.

CONFIGURATION-ONE: Mode-1 is when you configure the NLB this way:

1.To start Network Load Balancing Manager, type nlbmgr at a command prompt, and then press ENTER.
2.If Network Load Balancing Manager does not already list the cluster, connect to the cluster.
3.Right-click the cluster, and then click Cluster Properties.
4.On the Cluster Parameters tab, in Cluster operation mode, click Multicast.

CONFIGURATION-TWO: Mode-2 is when you configure the NLB mode with CONFIGURATION-ONE  + CONFIGURATION-TWO. So, that is Multicast + IGMP both selected

1.To start Network Load Balancing Manager, type nlbmgr at a command prompt, and then press ENTER.
2.If Network Load Balancing Manager does not already list the cluster, connect to the cluster.
3.Right-click the cluster, and then click Cluster Properties.
4.On the Cluster Parameters tab, click to select the IGMP multicast check box to enable IGMP support on all the hosts in the cluster.

 IGMP snooping MUST then be enabled on the switch and you must make sure to connect each cluster node's virtual adapter to a unique switch port. When you select the IGMP option within the Network Load Balancing properties, each Network Load Balancing cluster node periodically sends an IGMP Join message that indicates the multicast group of which it is a member. Upon receiving these Join messages, the switch can associate the ports that have a Network Load Balancing cluster host attached to the multicast group. Incoming packets that are destined to the multicast media access control address are then passed only to those ports that have an attached Network Load Balancing cluster node.

This is on Microsoft NLB cluster starting with Windows Server 2003.

[manuel.bitzi]

Great thanks. But that was not my question. Anybody else?

[Peter_Debruyne]

Hi,

No real experience. This is comes from the config guide of the R2207, IP Services Guide:

Configure a multicast MAC address entry:
mac-address multicast mac-address interface interface-list vlan vlan-id

Configure a multiport ARP entry:

arp multiport ip-address mac-address vlan-id

That seems to be all there is required for the NLB mcast. Would be nice of they could include "Microsoft NLB" in the manual (like cmw5 docs do), so the implementation scenario would be easier to figure out for readers.

Best regards,Peter.

[3comold]

This way Microsoft NLB cluster will work. Do you mean you do not want it working :) or maybe are you looking for a specific feature that is not yet available on the switch?

Kind Regards

[3comold]

Peter,

Thanks!

If we use IGMP option on NLB and we have to work with a switch that DOESNOT feature these commands, then we can do the following:

 - undo arp check enable ( required)

 - configure a static ARP entry for the VIP of the NLB cluster ( OPTIONAL)

 - configure igmp snooping for the switch and VLAN ports where the NLB are directly connected

In the past, I have had few NLB installations operating as expected this way using switches that did not feature the commands "arp multiport" and "mac-address multicast"

Thanks again, and

Kind Regards

[manuel.bitzi]

Hi guys

I dont have a 5900 to test it. But I want to buy a couple of the for a customer.

In the beginning MS NLB was not supported with CW5. The commands were available as well, but the CW5 hat problems with the arp entry, especially when the servers were on VMware. They added the feature step by step to each model. 5120 EI got it in autumn (R2212). 5800 last spring (R1206).

Because that I dont believe it before I see it or somebody had tried it of sure.

Thanks. I will request HP vor a Demo 5900.

br

Manuel