Multi-Site Cluster Management

This chapter introduces the idea of combining several Virtual Traffic Manager clusters into one centrally managed cluster spanning multiple sites.

Introduction

The multi-site cluster management functionality discussed in this chapter builds on the sophisticated capabilities of the Virtual Traffic Manager by adding support for management of multiple distributed physical, virtual or cloud-based Virtual Traffic Manager clusters. These clusters could be present at various geographic locations, on various platforms and include varying numbers of Virtual Traffic Manager instances. Each might host specific services that you want to administer from one central location.

This chapter discusses how your globally distributed Virtual Traffic Manager infrastructure can be pulled together into one centrally managed cluster - while retaining the location-specific configuration of your Virtual Traffic Manager systems.

This feature is not to be confused with Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB), which involves geographically aware load balancing across services hosted at multiple locations around the world. The implementation of GSLB in the Virtual Traffic Manager is discussed in Global Load Balancing.

This chapter assumes you are familiar with the Virtual Traffic Manager user interface and general configuration concepts described elsewhere in this manual. It is strongly recommended that you refer to Key Features in the Virtual Traffic Manager Administration Interface before continuing.