Load Balancing Between Server Blades Within ATCA Platforms

Many application platforms within a network are architected as a conglomerate of identical server blades, each supporting their own set of assigned clients. Very often, these services act as "bumps in the wire," meaning that the servers sit between the client and the client's real, intended server. When the client's packets arrive at the service platform, they are addressed for the ultimate intended target, and not for the intermediate server, which is providing some invisible value-add function.

An important function in such architectures is the Load Balancer. For every incoming packet, the Load Balancer needs to be able to quickly determine which intermediate server is assigned to handle this particular traffic flow. This paper looks at how various solutions can be implemented to provide such a Load Balancing function. A detailed explanation is provided of how such solutions can be architected and implemented on an AdvancedTCA platform.