Content Switch as a simple load balancer ?

[arto.oltaci]

I am fairly new to content switching. I have a relatively simple requirement ... I need some type of front-end to a farm of Web servers. The front-end should load balance and be aware of back-end failures. It should also be highly-available itself, and be accessible by a single ip address (a la HSRP).

Is a content switch overkill for this application ? Caching is not very important, but high availability is.

Is there a better tool? I suppose NAT can be used, but there are other issues with that.

Thanks all

Arto Oltaci

[yhatami]

Yes, if you have a 6500 code (12.2 13E) you can use ip slb in dispatch mode with out having to buy cisco CSM or CSS. with dispatch mode you create a serverfarm and enter the real ip of the server part of the server farm. second you specify a VIP address for the server farm and also do nat server option. you must also perform loopback interface with the vip address on the server farm.

this url should help. good luck

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/modules/ps2706/products_configuration_example09186a0080094066.shtml