HAProxy ALOHA Documentation 11.5

Direct Server Return

Use Direct Server Return to have responses from backend servers bypass HAProxy ALOHA and go directly to the client, improving performance.

Direct Server Return, also known as Direct Routing, is a good option when you need to service a high volume of traffic, since it prevents the HAProxy ALOHA from becoming a bottleneck for packets that are returning to the client. While packets flow through the HAProxy ALOHA on their way from the client to the backend servers, they skip the HAProxy ALOHA on their way back to the client. You accomplish this by configuring each backend server's default gateway to be the network's external gateway.

In this configuration, which does not use NAT, the destination IP address is not changed. So, the backend server must receive traffic on the same IP address as the one on which the HAProxy ALOHA listens, and that the client originally requested. Doing so is easist on Linux backend servers because they provide a special loopback interface that can be configured with an IP alias (virtual IP). Windows servers do not define a loopback interface.

The advantages of this mode include the ability to service a high volume of traffic efficiently, such as video and audio streams. The disadvantages of this mode include needing to configure the backend server's loopback interface in a special way to listen on a virtual IP address (IP alias), the need to manage ARP replies so that the network does not detect an IP conflict, and that the HAProxy ALOHA is unable to log responses from servers. This mode is not well supported on Windows servers due to Windows not defining a loopback interface.

This mode can be used only when load balancing traffic via the LB Layer 4 tab, which supports the raw TCP and UDP protocols.

Traffic flow

Direct Server Return diagram
  1. The client connects to your application at the configured public IP address. The HAProxy ALOHA listens at that address and receives the packets.

  2. The HAProxy ALOHA routes unmodified packets to one of your backend servers.

    Although any of the servers in the server farm may be chosen, and each listens on a unique private IP address, the packets themselves are not modified. Therefore, they still contain the ALOHA's public IP address as the destination. The backend servers must be configured to receive traffic on this IP too. They accomplish this by setting up a virtual IP (IP alias) on a virtual interface (the loopback interface).

  3. The backend server accepts the request on its private IP address and then forwards the packets to its loopback interface where the virtual IP matching the packet's destination IP is configured. The loopback interface is a virtual interface found on Linux servers.

  4. The server responds directly to the source IP address it finds in the packet, which is that of the client. Because the client's IP address is outside of the local network, the response is sent to the network's external gateway and then out, skipping the HAProxy ALOHA on the return.

Enable Direct Server Return

  1. In the web UI's LB Layer 4 tab, add the mode gateway directive to your existing configuration, and apply your changes.

    Load balancing TCP with Direct Server Return

    director exchange 10.0.0.9:443 TCP
       balance roundrobin                               # load balancing algorithm
       mode gateway                                     # forwarding mode
       check interval 10 timeout 2                      # check parameters
       option tcpcheck                                  # adv check parameters
       server exchange1 10.0.0.13:443 weight 10 check   # server exchange1
       server exchange2 10.0.0.14:443 weight 10 check   # server exchange2
  2. On each backend server, assign the virtual IP to a loopback interface.

Configure VIPs on Linux

The VIP must be handled on each server's loopback interface to accept connections, but can't be advertised on the network or it will be identified as an IP conflict by some network components. To avoid IP address collisions, disable ARP for IP addresses managed by the loopback interface.

  1. Manage the VIP through a loopback interface.

    Specify a /32 netmask.

    1. Manage the 10.0.0.9 VIP through the lo:1 loopback interface.

      $ sudo ifconfig lo:1 10.0.0.9 netmask 255.255.255.255
    2. Check your changes.

      $ ifconfig lo:1
      lo:1: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING>  mtu 65536
              inet 10.0.0.9  netmask 255.255.255.255
              loop  txqueuelen 1000  (Local Loopback)
  2. Add the following lines to /etc/sysctls.conf, then reboot the server.

    net.ipv4.conf.all.arp_ignore=1
    net.ipv4.conf.all.arp_announce=2
    $ sudo sysctl -w net.ipv4.conf.all.arp_ignore=1
    $ sudo sysctl -w net.ipv4.conf.all.arp_announce=2
  3. Configure the backend server's default gateway to be the network's external gateway.


Next up

Client IP preservation