Fault Tolerant Load Balancing ConsultingIn situations where a single server or cluster can’t provide the throughput required for a critical application, load balancing of multiple servers offers a solution that not only enhances performance but, as a natural byproduct, provides fault tolerance by working around failed servers in a load-balanced farm. Firewalls and routers can also be set up in a load-balanced and fault-tolerant configuration, so that failures of a single device have limited impact on overall system functionality. It is far easier for users and organizations to manage the impacts of reduced resources or bandwidth than to deal with complete outages.

Load balancing solutions area well suited for many web based applications where the front-end web servers can utilize the services of a back-end clustered SQL Server data repository. Applications such as web-based eCommerce are ideal candidates for a load-balanced configuration. Load balancing can provide greatly improved operational reliability because failed servers are transparently removed from the resource farm, thus making such failures nearly invisible to users.

Once you have established a base architecture for a load balancing environment, you have cleared the way for future growth and scalability because adding additional resources to the server farm is a seamless process.

Progent is experienced with a wide range of load balancing technologies covering server balancing, application balancing, and LAN/WAN infrastructure routing. Progent offers consulting expertise with products from the leading vendors of load balancing technology including Microsoft, Cisco, Citrix, and F-5 networks.

Windows Server 2016 Virtual Machine Load Balancing
VM Load Balancing is a new feature of Windows Server 2016 that can automatically and non-disruptively migrate virtual machines between nodes within a Failover Cluster. VM Load Balancing improves Failover Cluster availability and performance and can help you avoid the need to add physical servers to peak workloads. Virtual Machine M Load Balancing automatically determines whether a node has become over utilized and moves virtual machines from the over-committed node to an under-committed node, for example a server that has been freshly rebooted. This entails no cluster downtime, adheres to failure policies such as fault domains, and uses advanced heuristics for measuring VM memory pressure and CPU utilization of the node. Virtual Machine Load Balancing can be set up to run every 30 minutes or on demand. You can use PowerShell to pick one of three thresholds for establishing the aggressiveness of load balancing.

Windows Server 2016 VM Load Balancing Consultants

VM Load Balancing automatically performs live migration of virtual machines from over-utilized to under-utilized nodes

Cisco Content Services Switches and Cisco IOS-based Routers
Through content fast switching and forwarding, the Cisco CSS 11500 Series switches improve utilization, responsiveness, availability, scalability, and security of Web sites, server farms, cache clusters, and firewall systems. Load balancing is a standard functionality of the Cisco IOS router software, and is available across all router platforms. It is based on standard routing protocols, such as Routing Information Protocol (RIP), RIPv2, Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP), Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), and Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (IGRP), or derived from statically configured routes and packet forwarding mechanisms. Progent's Cisco-certified network engineers can help you select and deploy a Cisco-based network infrastructure that makes good business sense for your environment and can configure Cisco's IOS Server Load Balancing (SLB) service. To find out more about Progent's Cisco consulting services, see Cisco Consulting Support.

Citrix Metaframe, Presentation Server, and Access Gateway
Citrix Presentation Server is an application delivery system offering client-side and server-side application virtualization for enhanced application performance and flexible delivery options. Citrix Presentation Server allows organizations to centralize applications and data in secure data centers, reducing costs of management and support, increasing data security, and ensuring consistently high performance. MetaFrame Secure Access Manager technology has been integrated into Citrix Access Gateway, an SSL VPN that securely delivers any application with policy-based SmartAccess control. Users have easy-to use secure access to the applications and data they need to be productive. Organizations can cost effectively extend access to datacenter resources from outside the office while maintaining control through comprehensive SmartAccess policies. Progent's Citrix-certified consultants can help you implement Citrix products to help optimize application performance and availability.

F5 Networks BIG-IP and BIG-IP Global Traffic Manager
F5 Networks’ BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is an application delivery networking system featuring a set of unified application infrastructure services. BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager removes single points of failure and virtualizes the network and applications using L7 intelligence. LTM improves application performance, increases the capacity of existing infrastructure, and lowers infrastructure costs. BIG-IP Global Traffic Manager uses topology-based load balancing to inspect a user's IP and determine the most efficient data center. When users try to access a data center that is overloaded or unreachable, BIG-IP Global Traffic Manager automatically and seamlessly directs them to a secondary data center. This capability makes BIG-IP GTM especially important for enterprises that need to maintain operations in the event of a natural disaster, power failure, or any other large-scale service disruption. Learn more about Progent's disaster recovery consulting.

Additional Zero-Downtime Solutions Provided by Progent
Progent's Microsoft and Cisco consultants can help your business to implement a sensible, non-stop network that addresses major issues covering a wide range of networking solutions and processes such as:

Business Continuity Planning
Progent's disaster recovery planning consultants can show you how to design a workplace recovery plan in order to restore IT functionality in case of an IT system catastrophe. Progent can assist you to create a complete disaster recovery plan that incorporates scheduled disaster recovery evaluations and drills. Progent's Microsoft and Cisco-certified consultants can also help you build an affordable, fault-tolerant network architecture that takes into account reliability issues involving a wide range of infrastructure technologies and procedures. To find out more, go to Business Continuity Consulting Services.

Fully Managed Cloud Backup: ProSight Data Protection Services
ProSight Data Protection Services provide small and mid-sized organizations a low cost and fully managed solution for reliable backup/disaster recovery. For a fixed monthly cost, ProSight DPS automates and monitors your backup activities and enables fast restoration of critical data, apps and VMs that have become unavailable or corrupted due to hardware failures, software bugs, disasters, human mistakes, or malicious attacks such as ransomware. ProSight Data Protection Services can help you protect, retrieve and restore files, folders, apps, system images, as well as Hyper-V and VMware virtual machine images. Critical data can be backed up on the cloud, to an on-promises storage device, or mirrored to both. Progent's BDR specialists can deliver advanced expertise to set up ProSight Data Protection Services to to comply with government and industry regulatory standards like HIPPA, FIRPA, and PCI and, whenever needed, can assist you to restore your business-critical information. Read more about ProSight DPS Managed Backup and Recovery.

Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Disaster Recovery
Progent's Windows Server 2016 disaster recovery experts can assist your organization to plan and deploy a disaster recovery solution built around Microsoft's cloud-tested Failover Clustering technologies including Cluster OS Rolling Upgrade for non-intrusive migration to Windows Server 2016, Storage Replica for crash-consistent Recovery Point Objective (RPO), Storage Spaces Direct for enterprise-class network-attached storage using commodity hardware, VM Load Balancing for improving the performance and fault-tolerance of Failover Clusters while minimizing capital investment and operational expenses, and Cloud Witness for easy, affordable deployment of a failover cluster quorum witness. For details, go to Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Support.

Windows Server 2012 Failover Clustering
Windows Server 2008 R2 brought world-class fault tolerance and recoverability to Microsoft's clustering solution. Windows Server 2012 R2 adds to this foundation and provides significant new and enhanced features offering increased expandability, better storage availability for server applications, easier administration, faster automatic failover, and more flexibility for designing clusters. For more information, go to Windows Server 2012 R2 Failover Clustering Consulting and Support.

VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) Disaster Recovery Solutions
VMware's Site Recovery Manager (SRM) is a component of VMware vCenter that allows you to define, automate and test a consistent workflow for restoring services rapidly after a breakdown. Site Recovery Manager supports centrally controlled and automated recovery, application mobility, and transparent site migration, failback and site re-protect. SRM also allows non-intrusive testing for disaster recovery, upgrades and patches and can produce audit reports to confirm full service recovery, validate SLAs and prove DR compliance. Progent can provide the support of a VCDX certified VMware SRM consultant to help your organization to design, deploy, test and manage a DR solution based on VMware SRM.

NetApp MetroCluster High Availability and Disaster Recovery Technology
NetApp MetroCluster is a high-availability and disaster recovery platform that uses failover storage clustering with synchronous replication to deliver fast, zero RPO disaster recovery between datacenters located up to 185 miles (300km) apart. Progent offers access to a certified NetApp MetroCluster expert who can help your business to design, deploy, administer, upgrade, test and troubleshoot a disaster recovery system built around NetApp MetroCluster. Progent can assist you to choose a topology for your MetroCluster deployment that aligns with your technical requirements and IT budget. Progent can ensure you adhere to best practices for installing your MetroCluster solution by providing guidance with procedures such as assigning disk pools and shelf IDs, determining plexes layout, setting up NetApp FlexVol volumes, setting up NetApp Snapshot, installing switches, designing a tiebreaker mechanism, designing a TCP/IP configuration replication network between your peered clusters, and testing your disaster recovery system to show adherence with information assurance standards and government requirements.

Non-stop Colocation
Progent's Data Center engineers can show you how to select fault-tolerant data centers that meet the particular requirements of your company. Fault tolerant Internet Data Centers are particularly attractive to small and mid-size businesses because of their affordability and convenience compared to taking a do-it-yourself approach. Attempting to build an on-site data center with even a minimum level of fault tolerance is too expensive for typical small businesses. Progent is ready to help you get all the advantages of high-availability Internet data centers by offering a full range of engineering and maintenance services. For details, go to Fault Tolerant Data Centers Expertise.

24x7 Interoffice Networking
Progent’s inter-site connection consultants can help businesses achieve fault tolerant interoffice connectivity by means of fully redundant networks featuring automatic failover. Progent’s Cisco-premier CCIE engineers can plan and deploy high-availability Inter-office networks supported by zero-downtime EIGRP network routers or non-stop OSPF configurations of Cisco routers. Progent can demonstrate how redundant connections and automatic fail-over can provide affordable 24x7 interoffice networking. To learn more, go to High-Availability Interoffice Networking.

Non-stop Internet Connectivity
Progent's Cisco-certified IT engineers can help you create an affordable, fault tolerant Internet configuration architecture that can deliver 24x7 Internet access via a broad array of high availability Internet network solutions including fault tolerant BGP, transparent fail-over, and redundant ISPs. Progent can provide CCIE professionals to help you utilize the latest techniques for high availability Internet connections to build an economical, fully redundant Internet interface with automatic failover and other features to create non-stop Internet access. To read more, visit Non-stop Internet Access Architecture.

Backup and Restore Technology Consultants
Progent can provide affordable remote support from engineers with expertise in a wide array of utilities and services that provide solutions for backing up Microsoft Windows, Mac, and Linux physical and virtual servers and desktops plus laptops and smartphones. Progent offers help for leading backup platforms including Acronis Backup and Recovery, Symantec Backup Exec, BackupAssist, CrashPlan PRO, Double-Take Software, Mozy, Retrospect, Time Machine, VMware Data Recovery, and FLARs. Progent's consultants can help you to deploy, enhance, or maintain backup/restore systems for a variety of architectures such as local, remote, cloud-based, or a mix. For more information, visit Backup and Recovery Solutions Consulting and Support Services.

System Center Data Protection Manager (SCDPM) Backup and Recovery Consulting
Progent's expert System Center Data Protection Manager engineers can help you to develop a practical workplace recovery plan, implement a cost-effective high-availability IT infrastructure, configure a Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager-based backup and restore system, comprehensively validate your DPM system, train your administrative personnel or local service providers how to manage Microsoft SCDPM, or provide extensive IT outsourcing such as remote hosting of System Center Data Protection Manager machines in Progent's data center facility. To learn more, go to System Center Data Protection Manager Consulting.

Barracuda Backup Cloud and Offsite Data Backup and Disaster Recovery
Barracuda Backup is an affordable, subscription backup/restore service for small and mid-size organizations. A Barracuda Backup solution can incorporate a custom-designed hardware storage device manufactured by Barracuda or a virtual appliance with similar functionality but which uses your own storage hardware. Barracuda Backup protects critical company data generated locally, at one or more remote locations, or in the cloud. For disaster protection, you can replicate data to the Barracuda Cloud, to Amazon Web Services (AWS), or to any site with a physical or virtual Barracuda appliance. Progent is a Barracuda partner and Progent's Barracuda Backup consultants offer a wide range of consulting services to help your business to plan, configure, operate and repair a BDR system based on Barracuda technology. For additional information, visit Barracuda Backup and disaster recovery consultants.

Altaro VM Backup Software for Data Protection and Disaster Recovery
Altaro VM Backup offers small organizations a dependable and affordable platform for backing up and recovering Hyper-V and VMware-powered virtual machines. Altaro VM Backup can be used for local, remote, multi-site, and cloud-hosted environments and also supports cost-effective backup to Microsoft Azure storage. Top features include state-of-the-art inline deduplication to cut backup storage needs, Continuous Data Protection with backup intervals as short as five minutes for reducing your Recovery Point Objective (RPO), advanced encryption, item-level recovery options for specific files and emails, extensive support for Windows Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV) and for vCenter for managing larger deployments, and the ability to leverage Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to back up online VMs without downtime. Progent is an Altaro partner and offers a broad range of services to assist you to design, install, manage and troubleshoot a backup/restore system powered by Altaro VM Backup software. To read more, visit Altaro VM Backup Consulting Services.

Consulting Services Double-Take Software for Data Backup and Recovery
Double-Take Software offers a family of products designed to provide small and midsize businesses a variety of cost-effective solutions for backing up and restoring vital applications including Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft SQL Server, Blackberry, and SharePoint. Progent’s disaster recovery planning consultants have extensive backgrounds incorporating Double-Take Software technology into small company information networks to achieve an advanced level of availability and disaster recovery capability at an affordable price. To find out more, see Consulting for Double-Take Solutions for Backup.

CRISC-Certified IT Risk Control
The CRISC certification program was initiated by ISACA in 2010 to validate an IT professional's skills to plan, implement, and support IS controls to reduce risk. Progent offers the services of a CRISC-certified engineer to help you to develop and carry out a business continuity strategy based on industry best practices promoted by CRISC and geared to align with your company's risk tolerance, business objectives, and budgetary guidelines. For more information, see CRISC-Premier network risk control specialists.

Why Pick Progent for Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity Planning Solutions?
Because Progent is a Microsoft Partner and offers high-level application support for a broad range of business applications, Progent is able to help customers to find efficient IT solutions that optimize the productivity of your IT network. As a Registered Partner for Cisco, Progent offers the expertise of premier engineers and specialists with expertise in architecting, installing and maintaining networking environments based on Cisco products. The extent of Progent's IT experience and Progent's familiarity with the requirements of small and midsize businesses make Progent a great partner for building and running an affordable, fault-tolerant network.

How to Get Help from Progent's Experts for Fault Tolerant System Support
If you wish to ask Progent about consulting support for non-stop infrastructure, phone 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.

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