Avi Load Balancer can run with a single Controller (single-node deployment) or a three-node Controller Cluster. In a deployment that uses a single Controller, the Controller performs administrative functions and analytics, data gathering, and processing.
Adding two nodes to create a three-node cluster provides node-level redundancy for the Controller and also maximizes the performance for CPU-intensive analytics functions. In this case, one node is the leader that performs the administrative functions. The other two nodes are the followers that perform data collection for analytics, in addition to being on standby as backup for the leader.
This section explains the cluster virtual IP (VIP) configuration for the Controller in the GCP environment. It applies to docker-based and GCP full-access -based controller deployments.
Prerequisites
Ensure that the default service account associated with the Controller virtual machines have appropriate permissions to configure the Controller Cluster IP on its interfaces. Use the cluster_vip_role.yaml file to create a role with permissions required for configuring the Controller Cluster IP.
Choose a free IP in the same subnet for the cluster IP.
Set up firewall rules to allow access to all the Controller ports mentioned here using the cluster IP explicitly.
