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Install Kemp virtual load balancer on VMware

Before installing a second Exchange Server, we like to have a virtual load balancer in front of it. You don’t have to use a virtual load balancer and can use round-robin DNS as a technique to load balance. Using a dedicated load balancer will give more insight into what’s happening and distribute the load smarter on the Exchange Servers. In this article, you will learn how to install Kemp virtual load balancer on VMware ESXi.

Kemp FREE LoadMaster load balancer

The Kemp Free LoadMaster is a version of the Kemp load balancers that runs as a virtual machine within a hypervisor and can provide all the features and functions of a hardware-based LoadMaster. It’s free forever, which is excellent.

The limitation is the 20 Mbps throughput, and there is no technical support. Do you want to get technical support? Try the 30-day trial. You can easily upgrade with a license from trial to paid license.

Bear in mind that if you want to upgrade from the free version to a trial or paid license, you have to back up the configuration and install a new instance of the load balancer. After that, you can restore the configuration. That’s because the trial/paid instance and the free instance use different images.

Compare Free LoadMaster vs. Paid.

Download Kemp Free LoadMaster

Go to the Kemp homepage and click Download to create a KEMP account. Make sure to fill in your correct email address. You have to activate your email address because that’s how you will license your free LoadMaster later on.

Virtual LoadMaster supports:

  • VMware ESXi 5.5 and above
  • vCenter Server 5.5 and above

We have VMware ESXi 6.7 running, and we will select the VMware OVF files. Select the country and agree to the terms. Click Download.

Install Kemp virtual load balancer on VMware 1

Extract the Kemp load balancer files when the download completes to the desktop or C:\temp folder.

Install Kemp LoadMaster on VMware ESXi

To install Kemp LoadMaster on VMware ESXi, follow the below steps.

1. Create/Register VM in VMware

Sign in to VMware ESXi or VMware vCenter. In our example, we will sign in to VMware ESXi and click on Create/Register VM.

2. Select creation type

Select Deploy a virtual machine from an OVF or OVA file. Click Next.

Install Kemp virtual load balancer on VMware 3

3. Select OVF and VMDK files

Enter a name for the virtual machine, for example, KLB01. Browse to the extracted folder and select the OVF and VMDK files. Click Next.

Install Kemp virtual load balancer on VMware 4

4. Select storage

Select the storage type and datastore that you want to install the VM on. Click Next.

5. Deployment options

Kemp recommends using Thick disk provisioning. Uncheck power on automatically. Click Next.

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6. Ready to complete

Review the settings and click Finish.

Now that we did install the Kemp LoadMaster load balancer in VMware, what’s next?

Verify VM settings

Check that the values are showing:

  • 2x virtual processors
  • 2 GB RAM
  • 16 GB virtual hard disk capacity (sparse where possible)
Install Kemp virtual load balancer on VMware 8

Power on VM Kemp LoadMaster

Power on the Kemp load balancer VM. The VM will start, and you will see a screen similar to the one below. Write down the IP address, default username, and password.

Install Kemp virtual load balancer on VMware 9

We did successfully install Kemp load balancer on VMware ESXi. In the next step, we will configure Kemp virtual load balancer.

Read more: An error occurred while creating the IIS virtual directory »

Conclusion

In this article, you learned how to install Kemp virtual load balancer on VMware. Download the OVF file from Kemp’s download page and deploy the VM in VMware. Verify that the VM settings are configured with the recommended values. Power on the VM Kemp LoadMaster.

Did you enjoy this article? If so, you may like Configure power plan in Exchange Server. Don’t forget to follow us and share this article.

ALI TAJRAN

ALI TAJRAN

ALI TAJRAN is a passionate IT Architect, IT Consultant, and Microsoft Certified Trainer. He started Information Technology at a very young age, and his goal is to teach and inspire others. Read more »

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. I am new to NLB, can i ask you why you are not using Microsoft NLB verses Kemp. I want to understand and decide which way to go. Thank you

    1. Microsoft NLB will not work with Exchange Server DAGs.

      Be aware that DAGs use Microsoft Clustering Services. These services can’t be enabled on the same server as Windows Network Load Balancing (NLB). Accordingly, Windows NLB is not an option when using DAGs. There are third-party software and virtual appliance solutions in this case.

      That’s why I recommend going for Kemp.

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