Prerequisites #

• AWS Environment:
  • An active AWS account.
  • Access to the AWS Management Console.
  • Basic knowledge of EC2, VPC, and networking concepts.
• Load Balancer Virtual Appliance:
  • An Amazon Machine Image (AMI) for the virtual load balancer (e.g., RELIANOID, HAProxy, NGINX Plus, or a vendor-provided appliance).
• Resources:
  • Appropriate EC2 instance type (CPU, RAM, network performance).
  • Sufficient EBS storage.
• Networking:
  • An existing VPC with at least one subnet.
  • Elastic IP (optional but recommended for management).
• Permissions:
  • IAM permissions to manage EC2, VPC, Elastic IPs, and security groups.

Step 1: Access the AWS Environment #

1. Log in to the AWS Management Console.
2. Select the desired AWS region.
3. Navigate to EC2.

Step 2: Launch a New EC2 Instance #

1. Click Launch Instance.
2. Select the load balancer AMI from:
   • AWS Marketplace
   • Community AMIs
   • Private AMIs
3. Click Next.

Step 3: Choose Instance Type #

1. Select an instance type suitable for load balancing workloads.
2. Ensure adequate network performance.
3. Click Next.

Step 4: Configure Instance Details #

1. Select the target VPC.
2. Choose the appropriate subnet.
3. Disable source/destination check for the instance.
4. Optionally assign an IAM role.
5. Click Next.

Step 5: Configure Storage #

1. Review and adjust EBS volume size and type.
2. Ensure sufficient storage for logs and configuration.
3. Click Next.

Step 6: Configure Security Groups #

1. Create or select a security group.
2. Allow required inbound traffic:
   • Management access (SSH/HTTPS).
   • Frontend traffic (HTTP/HTTPS or custom ports).
3. Allow outbound traffic to backend servers.
4. Click Next.

Step 7: Review and Launch #

1. Review the instance configuration.
2. Select or create an SSH key pair.
3. Click Launch.

Step 8: Assign Elastic IP (Optional) #

1. Allocate a new Elastic IP.
2. Associate it with the EC2 instance.
3. This ensures persistent management access.

Step 9: Initial Configuration of the Load Balancer #

Access the Virtual Appliance #

1. Connect to the instance using SSH or HTTPS.
2. Confirm the management IP address.
3. Update system packages if required.

Configure Basic Settings #

1. Configure:
   • Hostname
   • Static or Elastic IP
   • DNS servers
   • Time zone and NTP
2. Save and apply changes.

Step 10: Configure Load Balancer Functionality #

Backend Pool Configuration #

1. Add backend server private IP addresses.
2. Define service ports (e.g., 80, 443).

Frontend Listener Configuration #

1. Define frontend listeners.
2. Assign Virtual IPs or bind to the instance interface.
3. Specify protocols and ports.

Health Checks #

1. Configure health checks:
   • HTTP, HTTPS, or TCP probes.
   • Timeouts and retry thresholds.

SSL/TLS Settings (if applicable) #

1. Upload SSL/TLS certificates.
2. Configure SSL termination or passthrough.

Load Balancing Algorithms #

1. Select an algorithm (Round Robin, Least Connections, Hash-based).
2. Apply and save the configuration.

Step 11: Cluster Deployment with Two Virtualized Nodes #

For high availability in AWS, deploy at least two load balancer instances.

Cluster Architecture #

• Deploy two identical EC2 instances in different Availability Zones.
• Ensure identical AMIs, instance types, and network configurations.
• Enable configuration and state synchronization.

High Availability and Failover #

• Use a floating Virtual IP mechanism or AWS route updates.
• Optionally integrate with AWS Elastic IP reassignment.
• Ensure automatic failover logic is enabled.

State Synchronization #

• Synchronize sessions and runtime state.
• Use private subnets for synchronization traffic.

Step 12: Security Architecture with IPDS and MFA #

Network-Level Security with IPDS #

• Inspect inbound and outbound traffic.
• Detect and mitigate DDoS attacks and scans.
• Apply rate limiting and anomaly detection.

Application-Level Security #

• Protect against SQL injection, XSS, and application abuse.
• Apply per-service security policies.
• Log and monitor security events.

Authentication and Access Control with MFA #

• Enable MFA for administrative access.
• Integrate with LDAP, Active Directory, or IAM-based authentication.
• Apply role-based access control (RBAC).

Step 13: Testing and Validation #

1. Ping or connect to the management interface.
2. Access the frontend service from a client.
3. Verify traffic distribution across backend servers.
4. Test failover by stopping one node.
5. Review logs and health check results.

Step 14: Backup and Monitoring #

1. Create AMI backups or EBS snapshots.
2. Schedule regular configuration backups.
3. Integrate with AWS CloudWatch and SIEM platforms.

By following these steps, you can deploy a scalable, secure, and highly available virtual load balancer architecture in AWS, fully aligned with cloud-native and enterprise best practices.