traffic management in the cloud - web2.0

Traffic Management in the CloudThe Challenges of Network OptimizationWeb 2.0 Happy Hour

11/18/2009

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James Willett

Senior Director, Professional Services & Sales Engineering

[email protected]

© Neustar Inc. / Proprietary and Confidential

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Agenda• What is Traffic Management?

» Definition» Traffic Management at different OSI Layers» What is Traffic Management in the Cloud?

• Why do You Need It?• Who Needs It?

» Various deployment scenarios

• When to Deploy It?» Options for deployment

• What to Take Away?• Q&A


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What is Traffic Management?

• Traffic Management by Wikipedia» Doesn’t exist!» Bandwidth management, traffic shaping, etc. – do exist» Loosely used term in industry

• Defined (here) as directing users to proper resource » Increase Reliability» Enhance Performance» Improve Operational Control & Flexibility» Increase Network Utilization & Optimization» Increase Profitability

• Happens at many layers (OSI)» Physical: Routers, Switches and Ethernet in General» Data Link: ARP (HA Failover, VIPs)» Network: Routing Protocols (BGP, OSPF)» Application: Enhanced DNS or DNS TM

− According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSI_model

• Today Focusing on DNS Traffic Management


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSI_model

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSI_model

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What is Traffic Management in the Cloud?

• DNS as a Managed Service for Delivery» Centralized platform providing economies of scale» No cost for new hardware, software, or maintenance» Service Level Agreement

• Key benefits of DNS-based Services» Push Traffic Mgmt functionality to the edge» Reliability and Performance (IP Anycast/BGP)» Ease of Deployment» Incremental growth» Flexibility to combine services


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Why Do Organizations Need It?• Increases Performance

» Faster page/application load times

• Better Reliability» Uptime, Uptime, Uptime!

• Scalability and Capacity Enhancements» Do more with less (mantra of IT)

• Better customer experience» Happier Customers» Reduced Customer Service costs

This typically means…

• Distinct ROI


Who Needs It?

• If You Need…» Disaster Recovery» Utilize Multiple Data Centers» Session Persistence» CDN Alternatives or CDN Load Balancing» Combinations or All of the Above» Meet these needs on reduced budget and

limited resources

Then …

• YOU NEED IT

6 © Neustar Inc. / Proprietary and Confidential

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Disaster RecoveryChallenge

• Organization» International Company providing Financial Trading software» Website used for:

− Drive brand recognition− Providing information− Offering download services for its software packages

• Challenge» Maintain a single data center facility» Secondary site acting as failover for Disaster Recovery» Both data centers are hosting providers

− Limited ability to deploy their own hardware solution


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Failover Between Data CentersTM Cloud Solution

• Failover pool: one facility primary and the other backup» Primary data center serves all content unless its unavailable» Performance probes checking application determine up-time

End User

10.10.10.10

10.10.10.20(myweb.com Primary)

10.10.10.30

10.10.10.40

10.10.10.50(myweb.com Backup)

10.10.10.60

Data Center A

Data Center B

Recursive Server SiteBacker MonitorPerformance Probes

Connected toMyweb.com!

IP Traffic

DNS Response:IP directed to Backup


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Utilizing Multiple Data Centers Challenge

• Organization» SAAS provider using Amazon’s Cloud Services to deliver service» Revenue based on SAAS (hosted in cloud)

• Challenge» Five IP Addresses allocated from Cloud» Announce multiple IP addresses when DNS resolved» Problematic IP address must be pulled from service


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Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB) TM Cloud Solution

• Monitoring and Round Robin Load Balancing» Configured to serve two IP addresses for each request» Monitor probes checking application» When all GSLB records fail, All Fail record is served as last resort» Failover for last resort being static “We’re Sorry” web page (not 404 error)

End Users

Recursive Server

IP Traffic

Traffic directed based on performance probes

60% Traffic

40% Traffic

Content Server C

Data Center A

Content Server B

Content Server C

Content Server B

Data Center B

Content Server A

Content Server A

Performance Probe AgentISP

UltraDNS Global Network


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Session Persistence Challenge

• Organization » Online Insurance and Finance Product Comparison Website» Helps consumers select products» Non-profit

• Challenge» Balancing traffic between two data centers» Required session persistence for a quoting application» Low Budget as a non-profit


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Geo-Based Load BalancingTM Cloud Solution

• Geo-targeting with monitoring and failover» User “Directed” to same data center resource based on their location» Probes ensure the data center resources are active» Avoided costly software development to achieve persistence

HTTP Request/IP Traffic

Content Server C

Data Center A

Content Server B

Content Server C

Content Server B

Data Center B

Traffic Controller Monitoring Probes

ISP 1

User 2ISP 2

Internet

User 1

Content Server A

Content Server A

Recursive Server

Recursive Server

DNS

HTTP Redirect


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CDN ReplacementChallenge

• Organization » Special Event Technology Coordination Committee» Maintains an important set of websites associated with a

global event− Requires maximum uptime and performance

• Challenge» Multiple CDNs contracted» Wanted to utilize both CDNs concurrently

− Maximize performance but balance cost− But automatically failover between CDNs with any failure


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Geo-Based Load Balancing to CDNsTM Cloud Solution

• Geo-targeting at the CNAME level was used» Configured for optimal cost savings» Targeted cheaper CDN in locations it performed well» Targeted more robust (but more expensive) CDN in all other locations» Cost savings paid for the DNS Traffic Management Services

High-Cost CDN

Low-Cost CDN

Size = Performance


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CDN AlternativeChallenge

• Organization» Online travel booking organization» B2C with a global user presence » Primary functions in APAC

• Challenge» Building multiple data centers more economical than CDN» Must balance end-user traffic between core application in APAC

and imaging servers in APAC, US and UK to speed page loads» End user location best option for load balancing

− Targeting content based on location this way


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Geo-Based Load Balancing TM Cloud Solution

• Geo-targeting for content distribution» Selected locations to maximize end user performance» Targeted content on imaging servers» “Tweaking” configurations to adjust geography connections

USA

UK

Australia

Hong Kong


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Grouping Services Challenge

• Organization» Investment Management Companies group» 21 Locations around the World

• Challenge» Four existing VPN deployments» Need to direct remote users to closest VPN instance» Provide automatic backup VPN in case of failure» Load Balance in the US because of heavy load


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Geo-Based Pools with Failover TM Cloud Solution• Geo-targeting with Failover (LB in US)

» Asia Pac users connect to VPN in Japan with two backups» European users to connect to VPN in London with two backups» U.S. and all other users connect to VPNs in U.S. with 50/50 traffic split

− US Backup in London

Tokyo

Advanced Directional (AD) w/ Sitebacker (SB) and Traffic Controller (TC)

London

San Antonio

Phoenix

InternetInternetInternet

VPN Servers

VPN Users

USA

Europe

SE Asia

Primary connectionBackup connection


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When To Deploy?

• Right Now!

• Many Vendor Offerings

• Varying technologies» Software» Open Source» Appliances/Purpose-built hardware» Services

• Cloud has never been more popular» Service offerings are typically built on cloud

technology or cloud principles


Now, a Test: what did we learn?Traffic Management in the Cloud

11/18/2009

20

James Willett

Senior Director, Professional Services & Sales Engineering

[email protected]


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Just Kidding!

Test???

Not Tonight

It’s a happy hour!

But we do have some takeaways


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What to Take Away• Traffic Management Means Many Things, But…

• ‘Traffic Management in the Cloud’ means:» Leveraging DNS protocol and global infrastructure» Directing end users to the optimal server, application or DC

• Drive Network Optimization» Increase Reliability» Improve Performance» Enhance Scalability» Increase Network Utilization

• Increase Profitability» Revenue Protection» Revenue Enhancement» Cost Savings

− Operational Expense− Capital Expenditure


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Have Questions? Feel free to email me:

[email protected]

To learn more about our services, visit us online at: www.ultradns.com

Thank You


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