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Load Balanced Network Service Architecture (LBNSA)

Applicable to all Industries

Use Case

Organizations that deploy on-premises or public load balancer services often encounter challenges such as organically mixing production and non-production environments, omitting High Availability (HA) configurations, and lacking proper management, reporting, and access controls. These gaps can lead to performance issues and security vulnerabilities.


To address these concerns, a well-defined Service Architecture should focus explicitly on the load balancing platform. This approach can provide scalability, establish clear Role-Based Access Controls (RBAC) for managing the platform, and ensure the implementation of firewall access control rules. Such measures enable network segmentation and support a Zero Trust Network Architecture (ZTNA). By emphasizing these areas, organizations can improve platform management, ensure security, and optimize performance while preparing for future growth.

Load Balanced Network Service Architecture (LBNSA)

Overview

Historically, load balancing in the datacenter has been reserved for organizations with large budgets and mature IT infrastructures. However, shifts in the IT marketplace, along with more flexible licensing models, have made enterprise-grade load balancing more accessible and affordable for companies of all sizes. Whether outsourced as Load Balancing as a Service (LBaaS) or privately hosted on-premises, it is crucial to deploy this network service with a strategic, holistic approach.


Beyond the immediate technical implementation, several key elements must be considered to ensure long-term success. These include High Availability (HA) to maintain uptime, as well as robust management tools for efficient operation. A comprehensive solution should also feature dashboarding, logging, and alerting capabilities to provide visibility and transparency into system performance and health.


Security is another critical factor, as load balancers often sit at key junctions in the network, making them essential for traffic control and defense. Implementing firewalls, access control policies, and adhering to Zero Trust principles can mitigate risks. Additionally, integration with Development Operations (DevOps) is increasingly important, enabling continuous delivery and automation while ensuring scalability.


By considering these factors from the outset, organizations can deploy load balancing solutions that not only support current needs but are also capable of adapting to future growth, complexity, and evolving security requirements.

Actionable Items

As part of Unilogic's Network Service Architecture Portfolio, we provide a comprehensive framework to help organizations either establish a new load-balanced network service platform or enhance an existing one. Our approach is driven by best practices and the forward-looking intelligence needed to secure, scale, and ensure the availability of your applications. Key steps include:

  1. License Review: Assess the licensing agreement with your load balancer provider and develop a strategy to focus billing on actual needs.

  2. Asset Inventory: Catalog the necessary load balancers and related assets for your service architecture.

  3. Network Design: Separate management from the data plane in your deployment, ensuring Virtual IPs (VIPs) are properly allocated for load balancing.

  4. Centralized Management: Implement centralized management for both production and non-production environments, with an optional Out-of-Band Management (OBM) architecture for access during network outages.

  5. Standardized Configuration: Establish a standard configuration covering DNS, NTP, Syslog, SMTP, SNMP, and LDAP for consistent management and operation.

  6. Firmware and Patch Management: Maintain regular updates to quickly address vulnerabilities and system instabilities.

  7. Platform Segmentation: Create distinct external and internal platforms for production and non-production environments, and further isolate compliance-related deployments.

  8. Controlled Routing: Limit routing visibility to essential subnets, ensuring access is restricted to required backend pool members.

  9. Cloud Compatibility: Ensure load balancing is compatible with both public and private clouds, while maintaining access to legacy hardware.

  10. Firewall Integration: Implement firewall rules to support network segmentation and Zero Trust Network Architecture (ZTNA) requirements.

Architecture Outputs

The Load Balancer Network Service Architecture (LBNSA) is designed to ensure effective network service delivery in the datacenter, providing the following key deliverables:

  1. Load Balancer Network Service Narrative: A detailed document outlining the primary reasons for the service’s implementation and its role in the organization’s datacenter.

  2. Bill of Materials (BOM): A comprehensive list of assets involved in the LBNSA, serving as a valuable resource for the CMDB team to track assets and their dependencies within the organization.

  3. Executive Diagrams: Visual representations that show asset groupings across datacenters, including IP addresses, management access points, and dependencies on external services.

  4. Engineering Diagrams: Detailed technical diagrams for each load balancer instance in the infrastructure, covering specifications such as CPU, memory, disk, IP addresses, cabling or virtual links, IP assignments, and routing tables.

  5. Application Flow Diagram: A clear visualization of traffic flow from source to destination, identifying ports, protocols, and application IDs.

  6. Firewall Services Template: A blueprint for firewall rule creation, specifying hosts, service ports, application IDs, and whitelisted URLs and IP networks.

  7. High-Level Project Plan: A roadmap outlining key milestones, tasks, and the Level of Effort (LOE) required for delivering a new service or overhauling an existing one.

  8. Non-Branded Slide Deck: A presentation-ready slide deck to effectively communicate the LBNSA approach to stakeholders.

Benefits

By investing in a structured, organized, secure, and scalable network service, the organization can now provide essential application load balancing services to support application teams in hosting and maintaining access to data collection and display services for their customer base. The immediate benefits include:

  1. Streamlined Workflow: Improved workflows and attribute definitions for each application, along with standardized load balancer configurations, enable faster time-to-market deployments.

  2. Comprehensive Documentation: Creation of detailed documentation and reference materials ensures consistency in architecture enhancements and daily operations, even during staff turnovers.

  3. Enhanced Security: Reduced attack surface and improved security by utilizing additional load balancer services such as DDoS protection, application-layer security, and network segmentation for isolated access.

  4. Cost Transparency: Clear visibility into the platform’s capital and operational expenses, including licensing costs, helps manage and control spending.

  5. Rapid Deployment: Quick provisioning of hardened load balancers supports new deployments, migrations, and scalability across different datacenters, optimizing performance and resilience.

  6. Forecasting and Road-Mapping: Easier forecasting and planning for the LBNSA platform, enabling management to allocate resources, request budget adjustments, and align future goals with business needs.

Interested?

If your organization is planning to deploy or evaluate an existing load-balanced platform within your IP network infrastructure, the Unilogic Load Balanced Network Service Architecture (LBNSA) offers a structured and transparent approach to service delivery for all key stakeholders.


We invite you to book a free, one-hour consultation for an open discussion on how this service can benefit your organization. 


Additionally, the LBNSA template is available for purchase, providing immediate, self-service solutions for your load balancing platform needs.

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