Product Documentation
ADC
14.1 - Current Release 13.1 13.0 12.1
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Dynamic round trip time method

September 14, 2021
Contributed by: 
S C

Dynamic round trip time (RTT) is a measure of time or delay in the network between the client’s local DNS server and a data resource. To measure dynamic RTT, the Citrix ADC appliance probes the client’s local DNS server and gathers RTT metric information. The appliance then uses this metric to make its load balancing decision. Global server load balancing monitors the real-time status of the network and dynamically directs the client request to the data center with the lowest RTT value.

When a client’s DNS request for a domain comes to the Citrix ADC appliance configured as the authoritative DNS for that domain, the appliance uses the RTT value to select the IP address of the best performing site to send it as a response to the DNS request.

The Citrix ADC appliance uses different mechanisms, such as ICMP echo request or reply (PING), UDP, and TCP to gather the RTT metrics for connections between the local DNS server and participating sites. The appliance first sends a ping probe to determine the RTT. If the ping probe fails, a DNS UDP probe is used. If that probe also fails, the appliance uses a DNS TCP probe.

These mechanisms are represented on the Citrix ADC appliance as Load Balancing Monitors and are easily identified due to their use of the “ldns” prefix. The three monitors, in their default order, are:

  • ldns-ping
  • ldns-dns
  • ldns-tcp

These monitors are built into the appliance and are set to safe defaults. But they are customizable like any other monitor on the appliance.

You can change the default order by setting it explicitly as a GSLB parameter. For example, to set the order to be the DNS UDP query followed by the PING and then TCP, type the following command:

set gslb parameter -ldnsprobeOrder DNS PING TCP
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Unless they have been customized, the Citrix ADC appliance performs UDP and TCP probing on port 53, however unlike regular load balancing monitors the probes need not be successful to provide valid RTT information. ICMP port unavailable messages, TCP Resets and DNS error responses, which would usually constitute a failure are all acceptable for calculating the RTT value.

Once the RTT data has been compiled, the appliance uses the proprietary metrics exchange protocol (MEP) to exchange RTT values between participating sites. After calculating RTT metrics, the appliance sorts the RTT values to identify the data center with the best (smallest) RTT metric.”

If RTT information is not available (for example, when a client’s local DNS server accesses the site for the first time), the Citrix ADC appliance selects a site by using the round robin method and directs the client to the site.

To configure the dynamic method, you configure the site’s GSLB virtual server for dynamic RTT. You can also set the interval at which local DNS servers are probed to a value other than the default.

Configure a GSLB virtual server for dynamic RTT

To configure a GSLB virtual server for dynamic RTT, you specify the RTT load balancing method.

The Citrix ADC appliance regularly validates the timing information for a given local server. If a change in latency exceeds the configured tolerance factor, the appliance updates its database with the new timing information and sends the new value to other GSLB sites by performing a MEP exchange. The default tolerance factor is 5 milliseconds (ms).

The RTT tolerance factor must be the same throughout the GSLB domain. If you change it for a site, you must configure identical RTT tolerance factors on all Citrix ADC appliances deployed in the GSLB domain.

To configure a GSLB virtual server for dynamic RTT by using the command line interface

At the command prompt, type:

set gslb vserver <name> -lbMethod RTT -tolerance <value>
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Example:

set gslb vserver Vserver-GSLB-1 -lbMethod RTT -tolerance 10
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To configure a GSLB virtual server for dynamic RTT by using the configuration utility

Navigate to Traffic Management > GSLB > Virtual Servers and double-click the virtual server.

Set the probing interval of local DNS servers

The Citrix ADC appliance uses different mechanisms, such as ICMP echo request or reply (PING), TCP, and UDP to obtain RTT metrics for connections between the local DNS server and participating GSLB sites. By default, the appliance uses a ping monitor and probes the local DNS server every 5 seconds. The appliance then waits 2 seconds for the response. If a response is not received in that time, it uses the TCP DNS monitor for probing.

However, you can modify the time interval for probing the local DNS server to accommodate your configuration.

To modify the probing interval by using the command line interface

At the command prompt, type:

set lb monitor <monitorName> <type> -interval <integer> <units> -resptimeout <integer> <units>
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Example:

set lb monitor ldns-tcp LDNS-TCP -interval 10 sec -resptimeout 5 sec
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To modify the probing interval by using the configuration utility

Navigate to Traffic Management > Load Balancing > Monitors, and double-click the monitor that you want to modify (for example, ping).

Dynamic round trip time method
September 14, 2021
Contributed by: 
S C
September 14, 2021
Contributed by: 
S C

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