Overview #

Web application security is a foundational capability of the RELIANOID ADC platform. Unlike basic load balancers, RELIANOID includes an enterprise-grade Web Application Firewall (WAF), DoS protection, access control through whitelists and blacklists, and integration with real-time blackhole lists (RBL). These advanced features make it a comprehensive solution for securing modern digital services such as online banking, healthcare systems, e-commerce, and cloud-native applications.

This technical guide provides a detailed walkthrough for migrating your Application Delivery Controller (ADC) services from Loadbalancer.org to RELIANOID, covering key concepts and practical migration steps.

Prerequisites #

This guide is intended for systems administrators or DevOps engineers who meet the following requirements:

1. RELIANOID ADC must be installed and running on bare-metal, VM, or a public cloud instance. If needed, you can request an evaluation.
2. Administrator access to the RELIANOID Web GUI (Admin Panel) is required. Refer to the installation documentation if not yet configured.
3. You are currently using Loadbalancer.org and require an open-source or cost-optimized alternative.
4. You are comfortable editing or understanding HAProxy-based configurations.
5. You have at least one existing virtual service/farm set up on Loadbalancer.org for reference during the migration.

Terminology Mapping #

Real Servers → Backends: Servers that handle client requests.
SSL Termination → SSL Offloading: Decryption of HTTPS traffic at the load balancer.
Virtual Services → Farms: Virtual endpoints that define IP\:PORT listeners and associated balancing logic.
HA Pairing → Cluster: Failover mechanism involving a Master and Backup node.
Statistics Reports → Monitoring: Historical graphs and real-time analytics for traffic and resources.
Health Checks → Farmguardian: Active checks to validate service availability on backends.
System Overview → Dashboard: Real-time metrics for CPU, RAM, disk I/O, and interfaces.

Migration Strategy #

Before starting the actual configuration, we recommend the following preparatory steps:

1. Export current Loadbalancer.org configuration for backup and reference.
2. Document virtual services, persistence rules, and SSL certs.
3. Check HAProxy configs manually if Loadbalancer.org advanced features were in use.
4. Plan network maintenance windows for minimal disruption.

Step-by-Step Migration Example: GSLB #

RELIANOID’s GSLB (Global Server Load Balancing) module allows DNS-based redirection of client traffic to the nearest or healthiest data center using metrics such as latency, priority, or geolocation.

Loadbalancer.org GSLB #

Typical Loadbalancer.org GSLB configuration involves the creation of Global Names, Members, Pools, and Topologies via its GUI.

RELIANOID GSLB Migration #

Create the GSLB Farm #

1. Navigate to GSLB > Farms.
2. Click Create Farm.
3. Name your farm and assign a virtual IP address.
4. Set the protocol to UDP and port to 53 for DNS.
5. Click Apply.

Define GSLB Services #

1. Select the newly created GSLB farm.
2. Click Services > New Service.
3. Specify a name and algorithm (e.g., Round Robin or Priority).
4. Click Apply.

Configure Backends #

1. Edit the service and click Backends.
2. Add data center IPs as Custom IPs.
3. Set TCP port (e.g., 443 for HTTPS).
4. Select check_https as health check via Farmguardian.
5. Apply changes.

Configure DNS Zones #

1. Navigate to GSLB > Zones.
2. Create a new zone (e.g., example.com).
3. Edit the zone and add DNS records (A, CNAME, NS, etc.).
4. Apply and restart the GSLB farm.

Step-by-Step Migration Example: High Availability #

Loadbalancer.org HA #

In Loadbalancer.org, HA is configured under Cluster Configuration. The primary node syncs config/state with its peer and performs failover using VRRP or custom scripts.

RELIANOID Cluster Configuration #

1. Go to System > Cluster.
2. Assign the Local IP (current node IP).
3. Enter Remote IP (peer node IP).
4. Provide and confirm the remote node password.
5. Click Apply.
6. Once synced, edit the cluster settings.
7. Set Failback to the preferred primary node hostname.
8. Click Apply again to finalize.

Additional Resources #

• Automated SSL Certificates with Let’s Encrypt
• Uplink Load Balancing (DSL/Bonding)
• IPDS & DDoS Protection Module
• Advanced Monitoring and Stats Dashboard