You can configure ColdFusion to work with a third-party hardware load balancing device to provide comprehensive load balancing and failover support for the virtual servers in your local Web site.
Cisco LocalDirector is a network device with a secure, real-time, embedded operating system that intelligently load balances IP traffic across multiple servers. ColdFusion can be configured to provide availability and load information to the LocalDirector using Cisco's Dynamic Feedback Protocol (DFP). The LocalDirector then actively manages HTTP traffic across the servers, based on the load information provided to it by ColdFusion.
To use Cisco LocalDirector, you must configure the Cisco LocalDirector on the Hardware Integration page of the ColdFusion Administrator.
Requirements for using Cisco's LocalDirector
Use Cisco LocalDirector version 3.1.4 or later.
Do not use round-robin DNS.
Do not use LocalDirector's dynamic-feedback-pw command. ColdFusion does not support secure DFP hosts.
Assign the LocalDirector IP address and subnet mask with the ip address command. If you want to use this device for failover, use the failover ip address to set the IP address.
Verify the LocalDirector has connectivity using the ping command.
Define virtual servers with the virtual command.
Associate each virtual server to a real server with the in-service command.
Special Considerations for using Cisco's LocalDirector
To optimize the LocalDirector setup, we recommend that you set the LocalDirector dynamic-feedback command option for timeout to at least two minutes and for retry to zero.
For more information about dynamic-feedback commands, refer to Cisco's LocalDirector Command Reference documentation. For other information about Cisco's LocalDirector, refer to the documentation supplied with the device or visit the Cisco Web site.
To verify that all the LocalDirector interfaces are configured properly, use the ping utility to test for network connectivity.