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Load balancing design

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Updated: February 1, 2010

Applies To: Unified Access Gateway

You can load balance traffic between Forefront Unified Access Gateway (UAG) array members using a hardware load balancer, or using Forefront UAG integrated Network Load Balancing (NLB), which uses the NLB features provided by Windows Server 2008 R2.

This topic provides information to help you plan your deployment of integrated NLB in Forefront UAG.

Selecting a load balancing method

You can load balance requests to Forefront UAG array members as follows:

  • Using a hardware load balancer─You can use a hardware load balancer to balance servers configured as Forefront UAG array members. The hardware load balancer must support IP affinity. The main advantage of using a hardware load balancer is scalability. Using integrated NLB supports up to approximately 8 array members. For partner information on Forefront UAG and Forefront UAG DirectAccess hardware load balancing solutions, see Find a partner at the Microsoft site.

  • Using integrated NLB─Forefront UAG provides integrated NLB. This is the recommended method for implementing load balancing for Forefront UAG arrays, and provides a number of advantages:

    • Cost savings; no NLB hardware device needs to be purchased.

    • Simplified management; NLB can be managed directly in the Forefront UAG Management console. You can easily apply the NLB configuration to all array members.

    • Simplified monitoring; NLB status can be monitored using the Forefront UAG Web Monitor.

    • Ease of node management; nodes can be managed and drained using the Web Monitor.

    • Forefront TMG is automatically installed and runs as a firewall to protect the Forefront UAG server. When you use configure integrated NLB, Forefront TMG firewall rules and settings are configured automatically.

Next steps

After you have completed the planning of your load balancing design, see the Array deployment guide for deployment instructions.