Designing Content Switching Solutions

Today's successful E-business relies on web-based applications hosted in data centers and dependent on content switching solutions, including the robustness and scalability of Server Load Balancing (SLB); the security of SSL; and the disaster recovery and load distribution provided by various global server load balancing (GSLB) techniques. Designing Content Switching Solutions is an advanced reference for network designers and data center architects that focuses on these content switching solutions. Each solution is illustrated by real-world case studies. This book is divided into three parts. Part I focuses on Server Load Balancing and includes an introduction to SLB concepts and terminology. It details Cisco content switching products and overviews some vital protocols, including UDP, TCP, HTTP, RTSP, WCCP, and IPSec. Several case studies with solutions ranging from HTTP/DNS load balancing to firewall load balancing are included with design caveats and details. Part II focuses on SSL-based solutions, including SSL offloading, Back-End SSL, and SSL VPNs between data centers. This part includes protocol details and issues related to SSL. Part III focuses on Data Centers Disaster Recovery and GSLB. Both DNS and IP-based GSLB solutions are addressed in this part. Each chapter in the Designing Content Switching Solutions is independent and presents a new solution with case study, however, design concepts build from one chapter to the next.