Server load balancing from a 6509 - Etherchannel?

[s.durham]

I am looking at options for adding server load balancing to a cluster comprising of 4 identical new NT servers which will all be running the same application. I may not be able to use the IOS SLB feature set because the LAN switches use hybrid CATOS/IOS as a global standard - IOS SLB I believe only runs on Native IOS. I started looking at Etherchannel but do not feel that this is really a "server load balancing" technique. All of the NT servers have 2*100Mb NICs - one connection to an Intranet and the other to the general network. I want to load balance the Intranet connections of the 4 servers as this is the network that several thousand clients will be using.

Has anyone used Etherchannel for server load balancing? Has anyone used IOS SLB on a 6509 using hybrid CATOS/IOS? Will I have to justify making an exception to our Cat6509 standards and use IOS SLB on Native IOS.

Apologies for the multiple questions.

Thanks

Steve Durham

[tim.negron]

I don't believe it is possible to use Ethernetchannel to load balance between servers. So, that is not an option.

I also believe one needs to use the Native IOS on the 6500's to make use of IOS SLB. This is probably your best option. I have had some experience with IOS SLB on the 6513 and I think it is great.

Alternatively, you can always purchase a dedicated load balancing device or Cisco's CSS add-on resulting from their Arrowpoint purchase.

-Tim