I have to windows 2003 servers that will doing Network Load Balancing using Multicast. I was told that the switch port the servers are connected to require a static arp setup on the ports.
Can someone explain the reason for that? Thanks
if you want to know because one is necessary static arp or static mac in the port of switch, it is necessary because this brings security from a point of view that does not allow another network interface card that is not the one of the server. In addition it allows to optimize switch because it will always know where to send the data, when they want to communicate with the server.
perhaps has been able to help in you question
Microsofts white paper on NLB for Windows Server 2003 would be a good place to start if you are going to implement NLB.
Network Load Balancing implements the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) functionality needed to ensure that the cluster's primary IP address and other virtual IP addresses resolve to the cluster's multicast MAC address. (The dedicated IP address continues to resolve to the cluster adapter's station address.) Experience has shown that Cisco routers currently do not accept an ARP response from the cluster that resolves unicast IP addresses to multicast MAC addresses. This problem can be overcome by adding a static ARP entry to the router for each virtual IP address, and the cluster's multicast MAC address can be obtained from the Network Load Balancing Properties dialog box or from the Wlbs.exe remote control program. The default unicast mode avoids this problem because the cluster's MAC address is a unicast MAC address.
There is a lot more info explaining unicast, multicast, igmp, proper design, etc related to nlb in the white paper. Check it out.
Cabling-Design.com Forums website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.