Upgrading an NLB Cluster – Managing Data in a Hybrid Network

Upgrading an NLB cluster is a fairly straightforward process. The first thing that you have to do is stop the NLB cluster. There are two ways to do so:

       Use the stop command to stop the cluster immediately. This also means that any current connections to the NLB cluster are killed.

       Use the drainstop command. The cluster stops after answering all of the current NLB connections. So the current NLB connections are finished but no new connections to that node are accepted.

So, to do your upgrade, you should execute a stop or drainstop on the NLB cluster node that you want to upgrade or to remove existing connections to the application on the local host. After the NLB cluster is stopped, you then perform an in-p lace upgrade in a rolling manner.

If you want to stop the entire cluster from running, while in the NLB manager (type NLBmgr in the Run command), right-c lick the cluster, point to Control Hosts, and then choose Stop.

If you want to stop a single node in the cluster from running, while in the NLB manager (type NLBmgr in the Run command), right- click the node, point to Control Hosts, and then choose Stop.

PowerShell Commands for a NLB Cluster

Table 13.2 shows some of the PowerShell commands that you can use to manage the NLB cluster.

TABLE 13.2 PowerShell commands for NLB

Add- NlbClusterNodeThis command adds a new node to the NLB cluster.
Add- NlbClusterNodeDipThis command adds a dedicated IP address to a cluster.
Add- NlbClusterPortRuleThis command adds a new port rule to a cluster.
Add- NlbClusterVipThis command adds a virtual IP address to a cluster.
Disable- NlbClusterPortRuleThis command disables a port rule on a Network Load Balancing (NLB) cluster.
Enable- NlbClusterPortRuleThis command enables a port rule on a cluster.
PowerShell commandDescription
Get- NlbClusterThis command allows you to view information about the Network Load Balancing (NLB) cluster.
Get- NlbClusterDriverInfoThis command allows you to see information about the NLB drivers on a machine.
Get- NlbClusterNodeThis command gets the information about the cluster object.
Get- NlbClusterPortRuleThis command gets the port rule objects.
New- NlbClusterThis command creates a cluster on the specified interface.
New- NlbClusterIpv6AddressThis command generates IPv6 addresses to create cluster virtual IP addresses.
Remove- NlbClusterThis command deletes a cluster.
Remove- NlbClusterNodeThis command removes a node from a cluster.
Remove- NlbClusterPortRuleThis command deletes a port rule from a cluster.
Resume- NlbClusterThis command resumes all nodes in the cluster.
Set- NlbClusterThis command allows you to edit the configuration of an NLB cluster.
Set- NlbClusterNodeThis command allows you to edit the NLB cluster node settings.
Set- NlbClusterPortRuleThis command allows you to edit the NLB port rules.
Start- NlbClusterThis command will start all of the nodes in a cluster.
Start- NlbClusterNodeThis command will start one of the nodes in a cluster.
Stop- NlbClusterThis command stops all nodes in the cluster.
Stop- NlbClusterNodeThis command will stop one of the nodes in a cluster.
Load Balancing with Azure

If you are using Azure for your network, then Azure has a number of tools that will help you with load balancing as well. As of this writing, Azure has the following tools available for load balancing:

Azure Traffic Manager ADNS- based traffic load balancer that will spread traffic to services across global Azure regions by using DNS- based traffic routing methods. It prioritizes user access, helps to make sure that data sovereignty is adhered to, and for app upgrades and maintenance can adjust traffic. Azure Traffic Manager supports HTTP, HTTPS, HTTP/2, TCP, UDP, Layer 7, and global apps.

Azure Load Balancer A network- layer load balancer that improves network performance and availability of your applications by using low- latency Layer 4 load balancing capabilities. Azure Load Balancer can balance traffic between virtual machines inside your virtual networks and across multitiered hybrid apps. It supports TCP, UDP, Layer 4, and global/regional apps.

Azure Application Gateway An application delivery controller as a service that turns web front- ends into highly available apps by using Layer 7 load balancing capabilities by securely distributing regional apps. It supports HTTP, HTTPS, HTTP/2, Layer 7, regional apps, web application firewall, and SSL/TLS offloading.

Azure Front Door Microsoft’s cloud content delivery network (CDN) that safeguards the delivery of global apps by delivering real- time performance by using the Microsoft global edge network. The Microsoft global edge network is one of the biggest backbone networks in the world. Azure Front Door provides access between your apps’ static and dynamic web content and your users around the world. It supports HTTP, HTTPS, HTTP/2, Layer 7, global apps, web application firewall, and SSL/TLS offloading.

Azure also has a service selection tool that can help you choose the best Azure cloud load- balancing service for your needs by answering a few questions regarding your app,

workloads, and performance requirements. To access the tool, log into your Azure portal at

https://portal.azure.com/#blade/Microsoft_Azure_Network/ LoadBalancingHubMenuBlade/overview and answer a few questions.

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