The Load Balancing Visualizer

The Load Balancing Visualizer

The Load Balancing Visualizer is a tool that you can use to view and modify the load balancing configuration in graphical format. Following is an example of the Visualizer display

You can use the visualizer to view the following:

a. The services and service groups that are bound to a virtual server.

b. The monitors that are bound to each service.

c. The policies that are bound to the virtual server.

d. The policy labels, if configured.

e. Configuration details of any displayed element.

f. Load balancing virtual server statistics.

g. Statistical information such as the number of requests received per second by the virtual server and the number of hits per second for rewrite, responder, and cache policies.

h. A comparative list of all the parameters whose values either differ or are not defined across service containers.

You can also use the Visualizer to add and bind new objects, modify existing ones, and enable or disable objects. Most configuration elements displayed in the Visualizer appear under the same names as in other parts of the configuration utility. However, unlike the rest of the configuration utility, the Visualizer groups services that have the same configuration details and monitor bindings into an entity called a service container.

A service container is set of similar services and service groups that are bound to a single load balancing virtual server. Next to the service container is a number that shows the number of services in the group. The services in the container have the same properties, with the exception of the name, IP address, and port, and their monitor bindings should have the same weight and binding state. When you bind a new service to a virtual server, it is placed into an existing container if its configuration and monitor bindings match those of other services; otherwise, it is placed in its own container.

The service container display can help you troubleshoot your configuration if something is not functioning as you expect. More than one container for a particular virtual server is an indication that something is wrong with the configuration of that virtual server and its services. To correct the problem, you must first identify the container that has the desired configuration. You can do so by using the Service Attributes Diff feature, described below. After you identify the container, you right-click the container and click Apply Configuration.

The following procedures provide only basic steps for using the Visualizer. Because the Visualizer duplicates functionality in other areas of the Load Balancing feature, other methods of viewing or configuring all of the settings that can be configured in the Visualizer are provided throughout the Load Balancing documentation.

To view load balancing virtual server properties by using the Visualizer

1. In the navigation pane, expand Load Balancing, and then click Virtual Servers.

2. In the details pane, select the virtual server that you want to view, and then click Visualizer.

3. In the Load Balancing Visualizer dialog box, you can adjust the viewable area as follows:

• Click the Zoom In and Zoom Out icons to increase or decrease the size of the viewed objects. You can click and drag the viewable area if an item that you want to see disappears from view after zooming in.

• Click the Best Fit icon to optimize the viewing area.

• Click the Save Image icon to save the graph as an image file.

• Click the image, hold down the mouse button, and drag the image to pan the view.

• In the Search in text field, begin typing the name of the item you are looking for. The item’s location is then highlighted. To restrict the search, click the dropdown menu and select the type of element that you want to search for

To view configuration details for services, service groups, and monitors by using the Visualizer

1. In the navigation pane, expand Load Balancing, and then click Virtual Servers.

2. In the details pane, select the virtual server that you want to view, and then click Visualizer.

3. In the Load Balancing Visualizer dialog box, to view configuration details for entities that are bound to this virtual server, you can do the following:

• To view a summary of bound services, position the cursor over the virtual server icon.

• To view services in a service container, click the icon for a service group, click the Related Tasks tab, click Show Member Services, and then click the service group name. To view additional details about the services click Open.

• To view common properties of services in a service group, click the icon for the service group, click the Related Tasks tab, and view the Details section of the tab.

• To view a comparative list of the parameters whose values either differ or are not defined across service containers, click the icon for a container, click the Related Tasks tab, and then click Service Attributes Diff. To view monitor binding details for the services in a container, in the Service Attributes Diff dialog box, in the Group column for the container, click Details.

• To view the details for a monitor, position the cursor over the icon or click the icon for the monitor. For additional details, click the icon, click the Related Tasks tab, and then click View Monitor.

• To view binding details of a monitor, click the connecting line between the monitor and its related service.

To view configuration details for policies and policy labels by using the Visualizer in the configuration utility

1. In the navigation pane, expand Load Balancing, and then click Virtual Servers.

2. In the details pane, select the virtual server that you want to view, and then click Visualizer.

3. In the Load Balancing Visualizer dialog box, to view configuration details for entities that are bound to this virtual server, you can do the following:

• To view policies that are bound to this virtual server, select one or more policy icons in the tool bar at the top of the dialog box. For example, you can select Compression, Filter, Rewrite, and Responder. If policy labels are configured, they appear in the main view area.

• For bound policies that appear in the view pane of the Visualizer, to view a policy’s expression and actions, position the cursor over the policy icon. To view binding details, position the cursor over the line that connects the policy to the virtual server. To view these details, click the policy. The details of the policy appear in the details pane.

To view statistical information by using the Visualizer

1. In the navigation pane, expand Load Balancing, and then click Virtual Servers.

2. In the details pane, select the virtual server that you want to view, and then click Visualizer.

3. In the Load Balancing Visualizer dialog box, to view statistical information, you can do the following:

• To view detailed statistics for the load balancing virtual server, click the icon for the virtual server, click the Related Tasks tab, and then click Statistics.

• To view the number of requests received per second at a given point in time by the load balancing virtual server and the number of hits per second at a given point in time for rewrite, responder, and cache policies, click Show Stats. The statistical information is displayed on the respective nodes in the Visualizer. This information is not updated in real time and has to be refreshed manually. To refresh this information, click Refresh Stats.

To save configuration properties for any entity by using the Visualizer

1. In the navigation pane, expand Load Balancing, and then click Virtual Servers.

2. In the details pane, select the virtual server that you want to view, and then click Visualizer.

3. To copy configuration details for an element to a document or spreadsheet, click the icon for that element, click Related Tasks.

4. In the Related Tasks tab, click Copy Properties and then paste the information into a document.

To bind a resource to a load balancing configuration by using the Visualizer

1. In the navigation pane, expand Load Balancing, and then click Virtual Servers.

2. In the details pane, select the virtual server for which you want to configure bindings (for example, Vserver-LB-1), and then click Visualizer.

3. In the Load Balancing Visualizer dialog box, click the Available Resources tab, select a resource type in the drop-down menu, and do one or more of the following:

• To bind a new monitor to a service, select Monitors, click a particular monitor, and then drag it to the service container icon. Use CONTROL + click to select multiple monitors and drag them to the service.

• To bind a service or service group, select Services or Service Groups, respectively, click a particular service or service group, and then drag it to the virtual server icon. To bind multiple services or service groups at one time, press CONTROL + click to select multiple services and drag them over the virtual server.

• To bind a policy, select one of the policy groups, click a particular policy, and then drag it to a virtual server. To bind multiple policies (classic policies only) at one time, press CONTROL + policies and drag them over the virtual server. For details on classic and advanced policies, see the Citrix NetScaler Policy Configuration and Reference Guide. For a link to the guide, see the Documentation Library.

To unbind a resource by using the Visualizer

1. In the navigation pane, expand Load Balancing, and then click Virtual Servers.

2. In the details pane, select the virtual server from which you want to unbind a service, policy, or monitor (for example, Vserver-LB-1), and then click Visualizer.

3. In the Load Balancing Visualizer dialog box, on the Visualizer image, click the connecting line between the resources that you want to unbind, and then click Unbind. For example, to unbind a monitor, you would click the link between the monitor and its bound service and click Unbind.

4. In the Unbind dialog box, click Yes.

To modify a resource in a load balancing configuration by using the Visualizer

1. In the navigation pane, expand Load Balancing, and then click Virtual Servers.

2. In the details pane, select the virtual server that you want to configure (for example, Vserver-LB-1), and then click Visualizer.

3. In the Load Balancing Visualizer dialog box, on the Visualizer image, double-click the resource that you want to modify.

4. In the modify dialog box, enter new settings for the resource.

To add, remove, or disable a resource in a load balancing configuration by using the Visualizer

1. In the navigation pane, expand Load Balancing, and then click Virtual Servers.

2. In the details pane, select the virtual server that you want to configure (for example, Vserver-LB-1), and then click Visualizer.

3. In the Load Balancing Visualizer dialog box, right-click the icon for the resource that you want to add, remove, or disable, and then select the corresponding option from the menu.