What is required for traffic load balancing in A/A HA configurations?

In an Active/Active High Availability (A/A HA) configuration, the proper distribution of traffic across multiple nodes is crucial to ensure optimal performance and reliability. A load balancer or Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) is necessary because it manages the routing of incoming traffic, directing requests to the various active nodes based on their current load and health status.

Using a load balancer provides intelligent decision-making capabilities, allowing for effective utilization of resources and helping to prevent any single node from becoming overwhelmed. ECMP facilitates load balancing by utilizing multiple paths for routing traffic, ensuring that data packets can traverse several routes that are equally cost-effective, thereby distributing the load among the available nodes efficiently.

In contrast, simply relying on default settings or configurations that require no additional setup would not accommodate the dynamic nature of workload distribution necessary in an A/A configuration. Additionally, direct configuration on a firewall is not typically involved in the load balancing of application traffic, and manual intervention would likely lead to inefficiencies and increased risks of downtime or uneven distribution of traffic, negating the purpose of having an A/A HA setup.