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Load Balancing GridFTP¶

GridFTP is designed for high throughput data transfers and in many cases can handle all of the transfers for a site. However, in some cases it may be useful to run multiple GridFTP servers to distribute the load. For such sites, we recommend using a load balancer to distribute requests and present the appearance of a single high-throughput GridFTP server.

One general-purpose technology for implementing a load balancer on Linux is Linux Virtual Server (LVS). To use it with GridFTP, a single load balancer listens on a virtual IP address, monitors the health of the set of real GridFTP servers, and forwards requests to available ones. Optionally, there can be one or more inactive, backup load balancers that can activate and take over the virtual IP address in case the primary load balancer fails, resulting in a system that is more resilient to failure. LVS is implemented by the IP Virtual Server kernel module, which can be managed by userspace services on the load balancers such as keepalived.

This guide explains how to install, configure, run, test, and troubleshoot the keepalived service on a load balancing host for a set of GridFTP servers.

Before Starting¶

Before starting the installation process, consider the following requirements:

There must be a shared file system for file propagation across GridFTP servers
You must have reserved a virtual IP address and associated virtual hostname

As with all OSG software installations, there are some one-time (per host) steps to prepare in advance:

Ensure the host has a supported operating system
Obtain root access to each host

Designing Your Load-Balanced GridFTP System¶

Before beginning the installation process, you will need to plan the overall architecture of your load-balanced GridFTP system: the number of GridFTP servers, the type of shared file system to run on the GridFTP servers, whether or not backup load balancers are required, and hardware requirements.

GridFTP servers¶

The number of GridFTP servers that you should run is determined first and foremost by the expected GridFTP transfer load at your site and the speed of the links available to each server. For example, if you expect a 20Gbps peak transfer load and have 10Gb links with 80–90% efficiency, you would need a minimum of 4 GridFTP servers: 3 to satisfy your desired throughput + 1 for failover or growth.

Shared file system¶

The number of GridFTP servers can also be determined by your hardware needs and by your choice of shared file system. If you choose a POSIX-based shared file system, plan for machines with more cores, or more GridFTP hosts to distribute the CPU load. If you are running GridFTP with Hadoop, plan for machines with more memory, or more GridFTP hosts to distribute the memory load.

Note

If you determine that you need only a single GridFTP host, you do not need load balancing. Instead, follow the standalone-GridFTP installation guide.

Load balancer(s)¶

In the recommended direct routing mode, load balancers simply rewrite initial packets from a given request so the hardware requirements are minimal. When choosing load balancer hosts, aim for stability. If your chosen host is unstable or if you do not want to introduce downtime for operating system or hardware updates, at least one additional load balancer will be needed as a backup.

Preparing the GridFTP Servers¶

Before adding your GridFTP hosts to the load-balanced system, each host requires the following:

GridFTP software
Special host certificates
Load-balancing configuration

Acquiring host certificate(s)¶

When authenticating with a GridFTP server, clients verify that the server's host certificate matches the hostname of the server. In the case of a load-balanced GridFTP system, clients contact the GridFTP server through the virtual hostname, so the GridFTP server will have to present a certificate containing the virtual hostname as well as the GridFTP server's hostname. Use the OSG host certificate reference for more information on how to request these types of certificates.

If your GridFTP servers are also running XRootD, you will need unique certificates for each GridFTP server. Otherwise, you can request a single certificate that can be shared among the GridFTP servers.

Without XRootD¶

The single shared certificate must have the hostname associated with the load-balanced GridFTP system as its common name and each GridFTP servers hostname listed as subject alternative names.

Request and generate the shared certificate:

[email protected] $ osg-cert-request --hostname <VIRTUAL-HOSTNAME> \
            --country <COUNTRY> \
            --state <STATE> \
            --locality <LOCALITY> \
            --organization <ORGANIZATION>
            --altname <GRIDFTP-SERVER-#1-HOSTNAME> \
            --altname <GRIDFTP-SERVER-#2-HOSTNAME>

Take the resulting CSR and get it signed by the appropriate authority. Most institutions can use InCommon as outlined here.

Create a directory to contain the shared certificate:

[email protected] # mkdir /etc/grid-security/gridftp

Place the shared certificate-key pair in the newly created directory:

[email protected] # mv <PATH-TO-SERVICE-CERT> /etc/grid-security/gridftp/gridftp-hostcert.pem
[email protected] # mv <PATH-TO-SERVICE-KEY> /etc/grid-security/gridftp/gridftp-hostkey.pem

Edit /etc/sysconfig/globus-gridftp-server to identify the shared certificate-key pair:

export X509_USER_CERT=/etc/grid-security/gridftp/gridftp-hostcert.pem
export X509_USER_KEY=/etc/grid-security/gridftp/gridftp-hostkey.pem

With XRootD¶

XRootD requires that the certificate's common name refers specifically to the host it resides on. To ensure each GridFTP server can authenticate using the virtual hostname, add it as the subject alternative name for each certificate.

Create a list of GridFTP server hostnames in load-balanced-hosts.txt:

<GRIDFTP-SERVER-#1-HOSTNAME> <VIRTUAL-HOSTNAME>
<GRIDFTP-SERVER-#2-HOSTNAME> <VIRTUAL-HOSTNAME>
[...]

Submit a batch request for the per-GridFTP server certificates:

::: console
[email protected] $ osg-gridadmin-cert-request -f load-balanced-hosts.txt

Copy the resulting certificates and keys to their corresponding GridFTP servers in /etc/grid-security/hostcert.pem and /etc/grid-security/hostkey.pem, respectively.

Installing GridFTP¶

Whether you are starting from scratch or adding more GridFTP servers to your load-balanced GridFTP system, follow the documentation for installing a standalone GridFTP server for each of your intended GridFTP servers (skip section 2.2, requesting a certificate). For hosts with GridFTP already installed, skip this section.

Configuring your GridFTP servers¶

Each GridFTP server requires changes to its IP configuration and potentially its arptables:

Adding your virtual IP address
Disabling ARP − if your GridFTP servers are on the same network segment as the virtual IP

Adding your virtual IP address¶

Use the virtual IP address of your load balancer(s) as the secondary IPs of each of your GridFTP servers.

Add the virtual IP using the ip tool:

[email protected] # ip addr add <VIRTUAL-IP-ADDRESS>/<SUBNET-MASK> dev <NETWORK-INTERFACE>

To persist the virtual IP changes across reboots, edit /etc/rc.d/rc.local, and add the same command as used above.

Make sure that /etc/rc.d/rc.local is executable:

[email protected] # chmod u+x /etc/rc.d/rc.local

Disabling ARP¶

If your GridFTP servers and load balancer(s) are on the same network segment, you will have to disable ARP on the GridFTP servers to avoid ARP race conditions. Otherwise, skip to the section on preparing keepalived.

Select the appropriate RPM:

If your operating system version is... Then use the following package(s)...

Enterprise Linux 6 arptables_jf

Enterprise Linux 7 arptables

Install the arptables software:

[email protected] # yum install <PACKAGE>

Disable ARP:

[email protected] # arptables -F 
[email protected] # arptables -A IN -d <VIRTUAL-IP-ADDRESS> -j DROP 
[email protected] # arptables -A OUT -s <VIRTUAL-IP-ADDRESS> -j mangle --mangle-ip-s <GRIDFTP-REAL-IP-ADDRESS>

Save ARP tables to survive reboots:

[email protected] # arptables-save > /etc/sysconfig/arptables

Preparing Keepalived Load Balancer(s)¶

Installing Keepalived¶

Whether you run a single load balancer, or have one active load balancer and some inactive backups, each load balancer host must have the keepalived software installed, configured, and running.

Note

Do not install keepalived on the GridFTP servers themselves.

The keepalived package is available from standard operating system repositories. Install it on each load balancer host using the following commands:

Clean yum cache:

[email protected] # yum clean all --enablerepo=*

Update software:
```
[email protected] # yum update
```
This command will update all packages
Install the keepalived package:
```
root@host # yum install keepalived
```

Required configuration¶

On the primary load balancer, edit /etc/keepalived/keepalived.conf:

global_defs {
   router_id <STRING-LABEL-FOR-YOUR-LOAD-BALANCED-SYSTEM>
}

vrrp_instance VI_gridftp {
    state MASTER
    interface <NETWORK-INTERFACE>
    virtual_router_id <INTEGER-BETWEEN-0-AND-255>
    priority 100
    virtual_ipaddress {
        <VIRTUAL-IP-ADDRESS>/<SUBNET-MASK> dev <NETWORK-INTERFACE>
    }
}

virtual_server <VIRTUAL-IP-ADDRESS> 2811 {
    delay_loop 10
    lb_algo wlc
    lb_kind DR
    protocol tcp

    real_server <GRIDFTP-SERVER-#1-IP ADDRESS> {
        TCP_CHECK {
            connect_timeout 3
            connect_port 2811
        }
    }
    real_server <GRIDFTP-SERVER-#2-IP-ADDRESS> {
        TCP_CHECK {
            connect_timeout 3
            connect_port 2811
        }
    }
    [...]
}

Note

Use the same VIRTUAL-IP-ADDRESS throughout the configuration of your load-balanced GridFTP system.

Note

In the virtual_server section, write one real_server subsection for each GridFTP server behind the load balancer.

Optional configuration¶

The following configuration steps are optional and will likely not be required for setting up a small cluster of GridFTP hosts. If you do not need any of the following special configurations, skip to the section on using keepalived.

Adding backup load balancers
Enabling e-mail notifications

Adding backup load balancers¶

If you need to add backup load balancers, copy /etc/keepalived/keepalived.conf from your primary load balancer and change the state and priority attributes under your vrrp_instance VI_gridftp section:

Note

Priority specifies the order of preferred load balancer fallback, where larger values corresponds to a higher preference.

vrrp_instance VI_gridftp {
    state BACKUP
    interface <NETWORK-INTERFACE>
    virtual_router_id <SAME-ID-AS-MASTER-LOAD-BALANCER>
    priority <PRIORITY-INTEGER>
    virtual_ipaddress {
        <VIRTUAL-IP-ADDRESS>/<SUBNET-MASK> dev <NETWORK-INTERFACE>
    }
}

Enabling e-mail notifications¶

To receive e-mails when the state of your load-balanced system changes, update the global_defs section of /etc/keepalived/keepalived.conf for each of your load balancer nodes:

notification_email {
<NOTIFY-EMAIL-ADDRESS-#1>
<NOTIFY-EMAIL-ADDRESS-#2>
[...]
}
notification_email_from <FROM-EMAIL-ADDRESS>
smtp_server <SMTP-SERVER-IP-ADDRESS>
smtp_connect_timeout 60
router_id <MACHINE-IDENTIFYING-STRING>

Using Your Load Balanced GridFTP System¶

Using GridFTP¶

On the GridFTP servers, arptables is the only additional service required for running a load-balanced GridFTP system. The name of the arptables service depends on the version of your host OS:

Select the appropriate RPM:

If your operating system version is... Then use the following package(s)...

Enterprise Linux 6 arptables_jf

Enterprise Linux 7 arptables

Manage the service with the following commands:

To ...	On EL 6, run the command...	On EL 7, run the command...
Start a service	`service SERVICE-NAME start`	`systemctl start SERVICE-NAME`
Stop a service	`service SERVICE-NAME stop`	`systemctl stop SERVICE-NAME`
Enable a service to start during boot	`chkconfig SERVICE-NAME on`	`systemctl enable SERVICE-NAME`
Disable a service from starting during boot	`chkconfig SERVICE-NAME off`	`systemctl disable SERVICE-NAME`

For information on how to use your individual GridFTP servers, please refer to the Managing GridFTP section of the GridFTP installation guide.

Using Keepalived¶

On the load balancer nodes, keepalived is the only additional service required for running a load-balanced GridFTP system. As a reminder, here are common service commands (all run as root):

To...	On EL 6, run the command...	On EL 7, run the command...
Start a service	`service keepalived start`	`systemctl start keepalived`
Stop a service	`service keepalived stop`	`systemctl stop keepalived`
Enable a service to start during boot	`chkconfig keepalived on`	`systemctl enable keepalived`
Disable a service from starting during boot	`chkconfig keepalived off`	`systemctl disable keepalived`

Getting Help¶

To get assistance with keepalived in front of OSG Software services, please use the this page.

If your operating system version is...	Then use the following package(s)...
Enterprise Linux 6	`arptables_jf`
Enterprise Linux 7	`arptables`