How do I distribute traffic through multiple default gateways?

Products

• ProxySG Software - SGOS

Issue/Introduction

 I have multiple default gateways and want to distribute traffic evenly or unevenly, depending on the upstream bandwidth or capacity, through the default gateways.

Resolution

Which default gateway the ProxySG uses at a given time is determined by the preference group configuration assigned by the administrator. A ProxySG can have from 1 to 10 preference groups. A group can contain multiple gateways or only a single gateway.

 

Each gateway within a group can be assigned a relative weight value from 1 to 100. The weight determines how much bandwidth a gateway is given relative to the other gateways in the same group. For example, in a group with two gateways, assigning both gateways the same weight, whether 1 or 100, results in the same traffic distribution pattern. Alternatively, assigning one gateway a value of 10 and the other gateway a value of 20 results in the ProxySG sending approximately twice the traffic to the gateway with a weight value of 20.

 

If there is only one gateway, it automatically has a weight of 100. All gateways in the lowest preference group are considered to be active until one of them becomes unreachable and is dropped from the active gateway list. Any remaining gateways within the group continue to be used. If all gateways in the lowest preference group become unreachable, the gateways in the next lowest preference group become the active gateways (unless a gateway in a lower preference group becomes reachable again).

 

To configure multiple gateway load balancing:

1. Select the Configuration > Network > Routing > Gateways tab.

2. Click New. The console displays the Add List Item dialog.

3. Configure the gateway options:

  a. In the Gateway field, enter the gateway IP address (IPv4 or IPv6).

  b. From the Group drop-down list, select the preference group for this gateway.

  c. In the Weight field, enter the relative weight within the preference group.

  d. Click OK to close the dialog.

4. Repeat steps 2 to 4 until IP addresses, groups, and weights have been defined for all of your gateways.

5. Click Apply.