About Load Balancing Using VRRP

You can configure Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) load balancing for iSLB. The host is configured with a VRRP address as the portal address. When the VRRP master port receives the first iSCSI session from an initiator, it assigns a backup port to serve that particular host. The information is synchronized to all switches through CFS if recovery is needed when a master port fails. The initiator gets a temporary redirect iSCSI login response. The host then logs in to the backup port at its physical IP address. All iSCSI interfaces in a VRRP group that has load balancing enabled must have the same interface VSAN, authentication, proxy initiator mode, and forwarding mode.

You can distribute the configuration for iSLB initiators and initiator targets on an MDS switch. This feature lets you synchronize the iSLB configuration across the fabric from the console of a single MDS switch. The iSCSI initiator idle timeout, global authentication, and iSCSI dynamic initiator mode parameters are also distributed. CFS distribution is disabled by default.



Copyright © 2002-2007, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.