Load balancer configuration
When deploying Bravura Security Fabric in a replicated, multi-node environment, a load balancer distributes incoming web and API traffic across the active application nodes and monitors node health to provide automatic failover. Proper load balancer configuration is essential for the reliable operation of the product.
Because Bravura Security Fabric uses stateful sessions that are stored locally on each application node, the load balancer must be configured to maintain session persistence (also known as "sticky sessions"). Without session persistence, requests from an active user session may be routed to a different node that has no knowledge of that session, causing failures across the product's web interface, API integrations, privileged access workflows, and single sign-on.
This chapter covers:
Why load balancing is important in the Bravura Security Fabric architecture
General requirements for load balancer configuration, applicable to any load balancer product
Product system variables that must be configured for load-balanced environments
A step-by-step example using the F5 BIG-IP LTM load balancer
The general requirements and recommendations in this chapter apply regardless of which load balancer product you use. The F5 BIG-IP configuration is provided as a reference implementation; adapt the concepts to your specific load balancer as needed.