Barracuda Load Balancer
 
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load balancing and network intrusion prevention
Barracuda Load Balancer
According to industry analysts, fewer than 20% of mission critical
Internet applications achieve internal objectives for continuous
availability. Challenges include maintaining uptime when servers
fail, scaling data center capabilities to handle increased load,
and protecting infrastructure from network vulnerabilities.
Designed to help organizations achieve their availability objectives,
the Barracuda Load Balancer integrates IP load balancing and network
intrusion prevention into an affordable and easy to use appliance.
The Barracuda Load Balancer provides comprehensive failover capabilities
in case of server failure, distribution of traffic across multiple
servers, and integrated protection from network intrusions.
Powerful Enterprise-Class Solution
The Barracuda Load Balancer is designed to provide comprehensive
IP load balancing capabilities to any IP-based application, including:
- Internet sites with high traffic requirements, such as Web,
FTP, media streaming, and content delivery networks
- Hosted applications using thin-client architectures, like Citrix
or Windows Terminal Services
- Other IP services requiring optimal performance, including SMTP,
DNS, RADIUS, and TFTP
The Barracuda Load Balancer's integrated Service Monitor ensures
that servers and their associated applications are operational.
In the event of server or application failure, the Barracuda Load
Balancer facilitates automatic failover among servers to ensure
continuous availability. The Barracuda Load Balancer also assists
in orchestrating scheduled maintenance windows on specific servers
while maintaining application availability through other servers
in the server farm.
To mitigate risks associated with failures of the load balancers
themselves, two Barracuda Load Balancers can be deployed in an active/passive
configuration. In the event of failure of a primary active Barracuda
Load Balancer, the secondary Barracuda Load Balancer will automatically
activate and assume the identity of the primary load balancer so
as to maintain application availability.
Easy to Use and Maintain
The Barracuda Load Balancer is extremely easy to deploy, featuring
automatic discovery and configuration tools through an intuitive
Web interface. To minimize ongoing administration associated with
security, the Barracuda Load Balancer automatically receives current
intrusion prevention and security updates from Barracuda Central,
an advanced technology operations center where engineers continuously
monitor and mitigate the latest Internet threats.
The Barracuda Load Balancer also facilitates automatic configuration
through a Web-based application programming interface (API) and
system monitoring through SNMP.
Affordable
While price and complexity have historically restricted some organizations
from deploying load balancers, the Barracuda Load Balancer is designed
for organizations of all sizes. With no per port or per server license
fees, the Barracuda Load Balancer is the most affordable enterprise-grade
load balancing solution in its class.
The Barracuda Load Balancer is designed to provide fast and comprehensive
IP load balancing capabilities to any IP-based application, including:
- HTTP
- HTTPS (SSL)
- SSH
- SMTP
- IMAP
- RDP (Citrix/Terminal Services)
- POP3
- NNTP
- ASP
- Streaming Media
- DNS
- LDAP
- RADIUS
- TFTP
- Other TCP/UDP based services
Intrusion Prevention System
Many security technologies are integrated into the Barracuda Load
Balancer. The set-and-forget, best of breed Intrusion Prevention
System (IPS) helps secure your network, even if you miss a patch
or if an exploit manages to get past your existing security. In
addition to the full Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection
provided for all load balanced servers by the built-in IPS, the
Barracuda Load Balancers will also automatically block any exploits
that are detected across multiple protocols, with no extra configuration
required. Exploit signatures are regularly updated at Barracuda
Central, and are automatically delivered to your Barracuda Load
Balancer via Energize Updates.
Auto-Discovery Mode
All models of the Barracuda Load Balancer support real server service
auto-discovery, to ensure quick and easy deployment of new servers.
For common services, there's no need to manually configure each
port. The Barracuda Load Balancer automatically detects which services
are running on a specified server, which saves on deployment and
configuration time.
Layer 4 IP Persistence
The Barracuda Load Balancer supports technology that directs clients
back to the same server to establish session server persistence.
In environments where session persistence is required, Layer 4 IP
persistence provides a fast and reliable solution for most configurations
including most encrypted e-commerce traffic, database, and Citrix/Terminal
Services configurations. The timeout is fully configurable and can
be enabled on a service level.
Load Balancer Scheduling Logic
Multiple scheduling technologies are supported by the Barracuda
Load Balancer, including server weighting, Weighted Least Connection
(WLC), and Weighted Round Robin (WRR).
Automated Service Monitor
A fully integrated service monitor is available on all
Barracuda Load Balancers, which allows for easy re-configuration
of your servers based on the availability of your upstream and downstream
infrastructure components. Downed servers are automatically removed
from the farm within seconds of server failure.
Multiple Deployment Modes
The Barracuda Load Balancer supports three different operating
modes for the most flexibility of any load balancer on the market.
Route-path offers the most flexibility, while bridge-path
allows deployment without changes to existing IP infrastructure.
Direct Server Return allows up to 10GB throughput,
ideal for content delivery networks.
High Availability
High Availability is easy to set up with the Barracuda
Load Balancer's Web interface. Simply point the secondary (backup)
Barracuda Load Balancer to the primary Load Balancer's management
IP address, and the load balancer synchronizes configurations to
establish a highly available network that brings your server farm
to enterprise grade availability.
Web User Interface
The Barracuda Load Balancer configuration is executed through
an intuitive Web user interface. With features such as quick server
and service adding, health monitoring, and auto-discovery, the Barracuda
Load Balancer is easy to use -- a typical configuration can be performed
in less than ten minutes!
The Barracuda Load Balancer supports three different operating
modes for the most flexibility of any load balancer on the market.
Route-path offers the most flexibility, while bridge-path
allows deployment without changes to existing IP infrastructure.
Direct Server Return allows up to 10GB throughput,
ideal for content delivery networks.
Route-path provides the most flexibility, allowing
load balancing of servers that are downstream from the Barracuda
Load Balancer. In this configuration, the WAN and LAN interfaces
of the Barracuda Load Balancer must be on separate logical networks.
Bridge-path is the simplest deployment
to configure. Users may place the Barracuda Load Balancer in line
with their existing IP infrastructure, and add load balanced servers
as required without changing IP addresses. With this type of deployment,
the WAN and LAN interfaces must be on physically separate networks,
with the LAN interface on the same logical switch as the servers
being load balanced.
Direct Server Return (DSR) provides an
optimal throughput configuration, while allowing existing servers
to maintain their original IP addresses. With DSR, requests come
through the WAN interface of the Barracuda Load Balancer and are
handed off directly to the real servers via the WAN port, while
the servers respond directly to the request through their own interfaces.
This implementation requires the use of a Loopback adapter placed
on the load balanced servers.
Deployment Chart:
LB Topology Requirements By Mode
|
(WAN/LAN Interfaces)
|
Logical Networks
|
Physical Networks
|
|
Route Path
|
2
|
1+
|
|
Bridge Path
|
1+
|
2
|
|
Direct Server Return
|
1
|
1
|
Configuration of the Barracuda Load Balancer is accomplished through
a simple Web interface. All you need is a Web browser on a system
with network access to the Barracuda Load balancer -- there is no
software to install, or any media to lose.
The Web screens are comprehensive, allowing you to configure virtually
every part of the system. Administrators can choose to use a "quick
add" function that assumes default settings for servers, or they
can edit individual real servers/services and manually specify settings
for optimal configurations.
The Barracuda Load Balancer's administrative tools feature state-of-the-art
statistical reporting tools that give you a visual edge on performance
of your highly available network.
The Load Balancer's Health Status feature allows quick and easy
access to the health and performance of your configured servers
and services.
Pricing
Pricing for the Barracuda Load Balancer is from:
- Model 240 with 1 Year Energize Update £1,448
- Model 340 with 1 Year Energize Update £1,998
- Model 440 with 1 Year Energize Update £3,998
- Model 640 with 1 Year Energize Update £8,998
The prices shown are the Recommended Retail Prices and are to be used as guidelines which are subject to change at the time of sale based on the quantities ordered and the discounts available at the time of sale.
Download the Barracuda
Load Balancer Datasheet in pdf format.
Visit www.barracudastore.co.uk/balancer-overview.htm
for more information
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