Lab 7.2.9 Load Balancing Across Multiple Paths

Objective

- Configure Load balance across multiple paths.

- Observe the load balancing process.

Step 1

a) Create the topology above.

b) Open the edit dialog for the clouds and click Auto Config.

c) Configure the IP addressing for the routers accordingly. This will vary depending on the IP addresses on the cloud.

Step 2

a) Configure the hosts with the proper IP address, subnet mask and default gateway and test the connectivity between the two hosts.

Step 3

a) Configure the router to load balance on a per-packet basis. Both serial interfaces must use process switching. Process switching forces the router to look in the routing table for the destination network of each routed packet. In contrast, fast-switching, which is the default, stores the initial table lookup in a high-speed cache and uses the information to route packets to the same destination.

b) Enable process switching on both serial interfaces:

GAD(config-if)# no ip route-cache

BHM(config-if)# no ip route-cache

Step 4

a) Enter into Simulation Mode.

b) Verify per-packet load balancing is working. Do this by creating a packet from one host to the other. Click forward on the timeline once, and create another packet with the same source and destination.

c) Click play and watch the path each packet takes. Did they take the same path?