According to VMware, the vShield Edge is an edge network security solution for virtual datacenters. It provides essential security features as gateway services, load balancing for Web, performance and availability.
With this, you can use the vShield Edge to load balance cells of the vCloud Director.
Ports used by vCloud Director:
Web Access - HTTP (80) and HTTPS (443)
Console Proxy - TCP (443)
1) Open the vShield Edge and the View Host & Cluster, click Datacenters > your datacenter > Network Virtualization > Edges > Add ( + );
2) Set the name, hostname and description;
* If necessary, enable the HA option for high availability of the Edge.
3) Set the access credentials or keep the default credentials of the vShield Manager (User: admin | Password: default);
4) Set the size of the Edge, enable automatic generation of rules and click Add ( + ), then set the Cluster / Resource Pool and datastore for the appliance vShield Edge. If necessary, the Edge size can be changed later;
5) Click on Add ( + ), set the name of the network interface, type, network will be connected and add the IP's to be used for balancing. As load balancing is configured for two services (Web Access and Proxy Console) is necessary to use two IP's (10.1.1.1 and 10.1.1.2);
6) Enter the Default Gateway of the network;
7) Configure the firewall and HA according to your needs;
8) Check the summary and if everything is ok, click Finish to start the deployment of the appliance;
9) Click the right button on the vShield Edge > Manage > Load Balancer > Pools;
10) To create the pool for the Web Access service click Add ( + ) > define a name (vCloud_Web_Access_Pool) > select HTTP (80), HTTPS (443) and ROUND_ROBIN > URI HTTP Service is setting the path "/ cloud / server_status"> add the IP of Cells Web Access vCloud > check the summary and click Finish;
* After clicking Publish Changes, click to enable the Load Balancer service.
11) To create the pool for Proxy Console service click Add ( + ) > define a name (vCloud_Console_Proxy_Pool) > select TCP (443) and ROUND_ROBIN > URI HTTP Service is setting the path "/sdk/vimServiceVersions.xml"> change the port to TCP 443 > add the IP of Cells Console Proxy vCloud > check the summary and click Finish;
After applying the changes, you can view the poles as follows:
12) Load Balancer, click Virtual Server > Add ( + ) > set the name of the virtual server (vCloud_Web_Access_VS) > enter the IP (created in Edge earlier) > select the existing pool (in this case vCloud_Web_Access_Pool) > set the HTTP options (80) and HTTPS (443) > click save;
13) Load Balancer, click Virtual Server > Add ( + ) > set the name of the virtual server (vCloud_Console_Proxy_VS) > enter the IP (created in Edge earlier) > select the existing pool (in this case vCloud_Console_Proxy__Pool) > set the TCP (443) > click save;
After applying the changes, you can view the virtual servers as follows:
Perfect, load balancing is ready.
Now just create an entry in your DNS pointing to the virtual IP Edge set to Web Access, for example, create a record called "cloud" pointing to the IP 10.1.1.1.
References:
http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/products/vShield/VMware-vShield5-Edge-Datasheet.pdf
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vshield_50_quickstart.pdf
http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/techpaper/vShield-Edge-Design-Guide-WP.pdf