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Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB) for Enterprise:

Part 1. Concept and Service Logic
August 12, 2015 | By Chris Yoo (tech@netmanias.com)

GSLB service enables users (clients) to connect to the most optimized server among those that serve the same
purpose, improving service reliability. In addition, it helps to prevent traffic from being concentrated on a
small number of servers, enhancing server availability.
This post will discuss the benefits that GSLB can bring to an enterprise with distributed servers, and its service
logic.

Comparison of GSLB and Conventional DNS

Figure 1 below shows a case of an enterprise which has its servers at two sites (datacenters) - in Korea and the
US. The left column illustrates Round-Robin DNS process, and the right one shows GSLB-based process.

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Netmanias Tech-Blog: Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB) for Enterprise: Part 1. Concept and
Service Logic

Round-Robin DNS (Domain Name System) GSLB (Global Server Load Balancing)
DNS has no knowledge of “Site/Server Health” GSLB selects “Surviving Site/Server”
1 Disaster Recovery

DNS has no knowledge of “Site/Server Load” GSLB selects “Under-loaded Site/Server”

2 Site Load Balancing

Load 50% Load 50%

Load 95% Load 95%

Existing Connection Existing Connection

New Connection New Connection

DNS has no knowledge of “Latency between Site/Server and User” GSLB selects “Lowest Latency Site/Server” from the User
3 Network Proximity

RTT 250ms

RTT 30ms

80ms
300ms

DNS has no knowledge of “Distance between Site/Server and User” GSLB selects “Geographically Closest Site/Server” from the User
4 Geographic Proximity

Figure 1. Comparison of GSLB and conventional DNS

1. Disaster Recovery
 [DNS] The DNS server cannot check the health status of application servers. So, for 50% (as it is
Round-Robin DNS) of users, connection attempts are made to the server in the US even when it was
down.
 [GSLB] The GSLB server can check the health status of application servers on a regular basis. So, it
prevents users from being connected to the one that is down.

2. Site Load Balancing

 [DNS] The DNS server does not know whether the application servers are over-loaded or not. So,
even when the load at the server in Korea exceeds threshold, and becomes over-loaded, connection
attempts for 50% of users are still made to the over-loaded server.

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Netmanias Tech-Blog: Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB) for Enterprise: Part 1. Concept and
Service Logic

 [GSLB] The GSLB server can check the load status of connected application servers on a regular basis.
So it prevents users from being connected to the over-loaded server.
▶ Note: To be accurate, what the GSLB server checks is the load status of SLB (no. of currently
available sessions, network usage, etc.), rather than that of application servers (Detail will be
explained in the next post).

3. Network Proximity
 [DNS] The DNS server cannot measure Round Trip Time (RTT) over the link between clients and
application servers. So, when selecting an application server, the decision cannot be based on the
current conditions of the network.
 [GSLB] The GSLB server can find the application server with the fastest response time (i.e. the best
network conditions) through RTT measurement, allowing users to be connected to it.
▶ Note: To be accurate, what the GSLB server measures is the RTT between local DNS server (one
that is allocated/configured on clients and SLB, rather than the RTT between clients and application
servers (Details will be explained in the next post).

4. Geographic Proximity
 [DNS] The DNS server does not consider the location of a user when selecting an application server
for the user. So, a user located in Korea can be connected to the server in the US.
 [GSLB] The GSLB server can select an application server based on the location of a user, allowing the
user to connect to the nearest server.

▶ Note: In general, proximity means smaller RTT. So, the results of No. 3 and No. 4 are the same
very often, but can be different in case of network failure or congestion.

As seen so far, using GSLB in an environment where servers are geographically distributed can give you the
following benefits:
(1) High service availability (Disaster recovery)
(2) More efficient server load distribution (Server/Site load balancing)
(3) Fast service response (Low latency due to network proximity)
(4) Connection to the nearest server (due to geographic proximity)

GSLB Service Logic

Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB) is an upgraded concept of Server Load Balancing (SLB). While SLB can
check the health status of a server (whether it is down or not) and distribute server loads through L4 switching
in just a single site, GSLB can do the same in multiple sites over a wider geographic area.

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Netmanias Tech-Blog: Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB) for Enterprise: Part 1. Concept and
Service Logic

Local DNS
1. DNS Query DNS Proxy
(www.example.com)
GSLB example.com DNS
Root DNS
.com DNS

2. DNS Query (www.example.com) 3. DNS Query (www.example.com)

4. DNS Response (Host IP = 2.2.2.2, 1.1.1.1, TTL = 300s)

7. DNS Response 6. DNS Response (Host IP = 1.1.1.1, TTL = 10s) 5. Select Server based on GSLB Policy
(1.1.1.1, TTL = 10s) & Change TTL to small

Server 1
Get Info 10.1.1.10
SLB 1
from SLBs 1.1.1.1
Server 2
10.1.1.11

Data Center 1 (KR)

8. HTTP GET to 1.1.1.1
Server
Health Server 3
User Check 10.1.1.12
SLB 2
2.2.2.2
Server 4 § SLB 1: IP address = 1.1.1.1 is
10.1.1.13 virtual IP for Sever 1 & 2
Data Center 2 (US) § SLB 2: IP address = 2.2.2.2 is
virtual IP for Sever 3 & 4

Network Scenario
 There are four web servers for www.example.com - two in Korea and the other two in the US.
 SLBs (SLB 1 and SLB 2) are located at the front end of the web servers at each site. The user's
connection request is sent to the virtual IP addresses (1.1.1.1 and 2.2.2.2) of the SLBs, instead of
directly to the IP addresses (10.1.1.10 ~ 13) of the four web servers at www.example.com. Then the
SLBs forward it to the web servers after converting the destination IP addresses of the request.
 At the sites in Korea, GLSB and example.com DNS server are located.

Service logic
1. The user sends a DNS query to the local DNS server to access www.example.com. Then the local DNS
server forwards the query to Root DNS server, and then to .com DNS server.
2. The query is sent on to GSLB.
3. As the GSLB works as DNS server proxy, it simply forwards the DNS query to example.com DNS server.
4. At the example.com DNS server, the IP addresses (SLB's virtual IP) of www.example.com (i.e. 1.1.1.1
and 2.2.2.2) are pre-configured. So, the server forwards the values to the GSLB. Time to Live (TTL)
during the delivery is assumed to be 300 seconds.
5. Of the two IP addresses, the GSLB selects one that would work best for the user according to its own
policy (to be explained later). It also replaces the TTL with a lower value (e.g. 10 seconds). This is to
have the local DNS server cache the binding information (IP address of www.example.com) for the
minimum period of time.
6. The IP address of the web server 1.1.1.1 that was selected according to the GSLB's policy, and the
changed TTL value are forwarded to the local DNS server.
7. The local DNS server then sends the values to the user.
8. Now the user sends HTTP GET message with its destination address set as the IP address of
www.example.com, 1.1.1.1, to SLB1 at the site in Korea. And SLB1 forwards the HTTP GET message
to the final destination server 10.1.1.10 after applying its policy (considering server health, load, etc.)

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Netmanias Tech-Blog: Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB) for Enterprise: Part 1. Concept and
Service Logic

GSLB's policy on server/site selection

GSLB's policy on server/site selection is as follows. We will explain it in detail in the next post.

1. Server Health
Site Selected? Yes
No

Site (SLB) Selection Completed

2. SLB Session & Network Capacity Threshold
Site Selected? Yes
No
Site (SLB) Selection Order

3. Network Proximity
Site Selected? Yes
No
4. Geographic Proximity
Site Selected? Yes
No
5. SLB Connection Load
Site Selected? Yes
No
6. Site Preference
Site Selected? Yes
No
7. Least Selected
Site Selected? Yes
No
8. Static Load Balancing
Site Selected? Yes
Figure 3. GSLB's site selection policy

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