--- canonical: https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/aws-load-balancing-cluster-failover/ --- SafeKit: Amazon AWS Load Balancing & Application High Availability Farm Cluster - SafeKit HA [![Evidian Logo](/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/eviden-logo-black-265-54.png)](https://eviden.com) * [SafeKit](/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/) + - * SafeKit --- * [Home SafeKit](https://safekit.evidian.com/) * [Elevator pitch](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/high-availability-software-ha-cluster-windows-linux/) * [Customer use cases](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/#safekit-use-cases) - * Use cases --- * [Best/Worst Use Cases](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/best-worst-use-cases-high-availability/) * [OEM use case for a software publisher](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/application-clustering-software/) * [Distributed Enterprise use case](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/business-continuity-software/) * [Remote sites and disaster recovery use case](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/business-continuity-and-disaster-recovery-software/) - * High Availability in Physical Security Market --- * [Physical Security Software](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/physical-security-software-redundancy/) * [Video Management Software (VMS)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/video-management-software-vms-redundancy/) * [Electronic Access Control Software (EACS)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/electronic-access-control-software-eacs-redundancy/) * [Building Management System Software (BMS)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/building-management-system-software-bms-redundancy/) * [SCADA Software](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/scada-software-redundancy-high-availability/) * [Solutions](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/cluster-configuration/) + - * New application (real-time replication and failover) --- * [Windows (mirror.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/windows-high-availability-software-synchronous-replication-failover/) * [Linux (mirror.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/linux-high-availability-software-synchronous-replication-failover/) * New application (network load balancing and failover) --- * [Windows (farm.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/windows-load-balancing-failover/) * [Linux (farm.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/linux-load-balancing-failover/) - * Full VM or container real-time replication and failover --- * [Hyper-V (hyperv.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/hyper-v-replication-automatic-failover-load-balancing/) * [KVM (kvm.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/linux-kvm-high-availability-replication-automatic-failover-load-balancing/) * [Docker (mirror.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/docker-container-high-availability-cluster-synchronous-replication-failover/) * [Podman (mirror.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/podman-the-simplest-high-availability-cluster-between-two-redundant-servers/) * [Kubernetes (k3s.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/kubernetes-k3s-the-simplest-high-availability-cluster-with-synchronous-replication-and-failover-between-two-redundant-servers/) - * Database (real-time replication and failover) --- * [Microsoft SQL Server (sqlserver.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/sql-server-high-availability-synchronous-replication-failover/) * [PostgreSQL (postgresql.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/postgresql-high-availability-synchronous-replication-failover/) * [Oracle (oracle.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/oracle-high-availability-synchronous-replication-failover/) * [MySQL (mysql.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/mysql-high-availability-synchronous-replication-failover/) * [MariaDB (mysql.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/mariadb-simplest-high-availability-cluster-synchronous-replication-failover-redundant-servers/) * [Firebird (firebird.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/firebird-high-availability-synchronous-replication-failover/) * Web (network load balancing and failover) --- * [Apache (apache\_farm.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/apache-load-balancing-failover-2/) * [Microsoft IIS (iis\_farm.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/iis-load-balancing-failover/) * [NGINX (farm.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/nginx-the-simplest-load-balancing-cluster-with-failover/) - * Amazon AWS --- * [AWS (mirror.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/aws-high-availability-cluster-synchronous-replication-failover/) * [AWS (farm.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/aws-load-balancing-cluster-failover/) * Google GCP --- * [GCP (mirror.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/gcp-high-availability-cluster-synchronous-replication-failover/) * [GCP (farm.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/gcp-load-balancing-cluster-failover/) * Microsoft Azure --- * [Azure (mirror.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/azure-high-availability-cluster-synchronous-replication-failover/) * [Azure (farm.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/azure-load-balancing-cluster-failover/) * Other clouds --- * [All cloud solutions](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/cluster-in-cloud-computing-generic-solution-amazon-aws-microsoft-azure-google-gcp-other-clouds/) * [Cloud (mirror.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/cloud-high-availability-cluster-synchronous-replication-failover/) * [Cloud (farm.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/cloud-load-balancing-cluster-failover/) - * Physical security (real-time replication and failover) --- * [Milestone XProtect (milestone.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/milestone-xprotect-corporate-high-availability-synchronous-replication-failover/) * [Nedap (nedap.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/nedap-high-availability-synchronous-replication-failover/) * [Genetec SQL Server (sqlserver.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/genetec-sql-server-the-simplest-high-availability-cluster-with-synchronous-replication-and-failover-between-two-redundant-servers/) * [Bosch AMS (hyperv.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/bosch-ams-the-simplest-high-availability-cluster-between-two-redundant-servers-without-shared-disk/) * [Bosch BIS (hyperv.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/bosch-bis-the-simplest-high-availability-cluster-between-two-redundant-servers-without-shared-disk/) * [Bosch BVMS (hyperv.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/bosch-bvms-the-simplest-high-availability-cluster-between-two-redundant-servers-without-shared-disk/) * [Hanwha Vision (hyperv.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/hanwha-vision-cluster-without-shared-storage-on-a-san/) * [Hanwha Wisenet (hyperv.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/hanwha-wisenet-wave-the-simplest-high-availability-cluster-between-two-redundant-servers-without-shared-disk/) - * Siemens (real-time replication and failover) --- * [Siemens Siveillance suite (hyperv.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/siemens-siveillance-redundancy-high-availability-cluster-active-active/) * [Siemens Desigo CC (hyperv.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/siemens-desigo-cc-redundancy-high-availability-cluster-active-active/) * [Siemens Siveillance VMS (SiveillanceVMS.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/siemens-siveillance-vms-the-simplest-high-availability-cluster-between-two-redundant-servers/) * [Siemens SiPass (hyperv.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/siemens-sipass-redundancy-high-availability-cluster-active-active/) * [Siemens SIPORT (hyperv.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/siemens-siport-redundancy-high-availability-cluster-active-active/) * [Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 (hyperv.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/siemens-simatic-pcs-7-redundancy-high-availability-cluster-active-active/) * [Siemens SIMATIC WinCC (hyperv.safe)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/siemens-simatic-wincc-redundancy-high-availability-cluster-active-active/) * [Architectures](#) + - * Basic architectures --- * [Overview](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/high-availability-architectures/) * [Mirror Cluster](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/file-replication-byte-level-with-failover-mirror-cluster/) * [Farm Cluster](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/network-load-balancing-cluster/) * [SafeKit Console](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/safekit-smart-console-your-high-availability-cluster-in-your-pocket/) - * Advanced architectures --- * [Farm+Mirror Cluster](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/clustering-software-load-balancing-mirroring/) * [Active Active Cluster with Replicaton](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/active-active-cluster-real-time-replication/) * [N-1 Cluster](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/n-1-redundancy/) - * Hypervisor architectures --- * [Hyper-V Cluster](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/hyper-v-replication-automatic-failover-load-balancing/) * [KVM Cluster](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/linux-kvm-high-availability-replication-automatic-failover-load-balancing/) - * Container architectures --- * [Docker Cluster](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/docker-container-high-availability-cluster-synchronous-replication-failover/) * [Podman Cluster](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/podman-the-simplest-high-availability-cluster-between-two-redundant-servers/) * [Best practises](#) + - * High availability best practises --- * [High Availability Architectures & Software Clustering Best Practices](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/high-availability-architectures-and-best-practices/) * [Shared Nothing vs. Shared Disk Architecture: Choosing the Best HA Cluster](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/shared-nothing-architecture-vs-shared-disk-architecture/) * [Software clusering vs hardware clustering](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/clustering-software-vs-hardware-clustering/) * [VM HA vs. Application HA: Choose Your Redundancy Level with SafeKit](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/vm-ha-vs-application-ha/) * [High Availability and Disaster Recovery (HADR)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/high-availability-disaster-recovery-hadr/) * [HA Cluster vs. Fault Tolerant System: Choosing the Right Redundancy Strategy](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/high-availability-cluster-vs-fault-tolerant-system/) * [How to Implement Redundant Servers with Simple HA Software](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/how-to-implement-redundant-servers-with-a-simple-software-windows-linux/) - * Replication best practises --- * [Data Replication Techniques for High Availability: A Complete Comparison](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/data-replication-techniques/) * [Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Replication: How SafeKit Ensures Zero Data Loss?](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/synchronous-replication-vs-asynchronous-replication/) * [Byte-Level File Replication vs. Block-Level Disk Replication for HA](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/byte-level-file-replication-vs-block-level-disk-replication/) * [Alternative to SQL Server Always On: HA for Express and Standard Editions](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/alternative-always-on-sql-server-express-standard-editions/) - * Clustering best practises --- * [How a Virtual IP Address (VIP) Works in High Availability Clustering?](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/how-a-virtual-ip-address-works/) * [Handling Power Outages and Network Isolation in a HA Cluster](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/power-outage-and-network-isolation-in-a-cluster/) * [Heartbeat, failover and quorum in a cluster](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/heartbeat-failover-quorum-windows-linux-aix-cluster/) * [SAN vs. NAS Shared Storage for Failover Clustering: A Detailed Comparison](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/san-vs-nas-shared-storage-for-a-failover-cluster/) * [What are RPO and RTO? Definitions, Examples, and HA Strategies](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/what-is-rpo-and-rto-with-examples/) * [Microsoft NLB vs SafeKit network load balancing](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/microsoft-nlb-vmware-multicast-unicast-alternative/) * [Resources](#) + - * Free trial --- * [SafeKit free trial](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/safekit-free-trial/) * [One-month license key](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/high-availability-and-load-balancing-cluster-key/) * [Demonstrations](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/high-availability-solutions-ha-solutions-videos/) * [Support](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/safekit-support/) * [Free Training & Certification](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/safekit-on-line-training/) - * Technical documentations --- * [SafeKit quick installation guides](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/safekit-quick-installation-guides/) * [SafeKit user's guide](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/safekit-user-guide-82/) * [SafeKit release notes](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/safekit-release-notes-8-2/) * [SafeKit SRB](https://safekit.evidian.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads_safekit/version-82/82softwarereleasebulletin.pdf) * [Knowledge Base](https://safekit.evidian.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads_safekit/version-82/knowledge-base.pdf) - * Product information --- * [Flyer](https://safekit.evidian.com/wp-content/uploads/documents/high-availability-overview.pdf) * [White Paper - Product](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/high-availability-white-paper/) * [White Paper - High Availability Guide](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/high-availability-guide/) * [Technical Reference for RFI and RFP](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/high-availability-technical-reference-for-rfi-and-rfp-preparation/) * [Support](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/safekit-support/) * [Price](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/get-a-quote-safekit-en/) * [Contact](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/contact-us-for-safekit/) * [![English](https://safekit.evidian.com/wp-content/uploads/flags/us.png)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/aws-load-balancing-cluster-failover/) [Eviden >](https://eviden.com/) [Products >](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/) [SafeKit: All-in-One SANless High Availability & Application Clustering Software >](https://safekit.evidian.com/) SafeKit: Amazon AWS Load Balancing & Application High Availability Farm Cluster # SafeKit: Amazon AWS Load Balancing & Application High Availability Farm Cluster ## Enhance the Cloud Load Balancer with Application-Level Monitoring and Self-Healing A SafeKit Farm Cluster for AWS is a software-defined high availability solution optimized for Cloud environments. By providing **Deep Monitoring & Self-Healing** directly on application nodes, it ensures that software failures are detected and resolved locally before they impact availability. It integrates seamlessly with **AWS Load Balancers**, using intelligent health checks to route traffic only to fully operational nodes. ### What are the advantages of a SafeKit Farm Cluster for AWS applications? * **AWS Load Balancer Integration:** Automatically provides precise health checks to AWS Load Balancers, ensuring traffic is routed based on the actual state of the AWS application rather than just server pings. * **Deep Monitoring & Self-Healing:** Detects "zombie" states where a Cloud instance is "Running" but the application has crashed. SafeKit triggers an automatic service restart locally before notifying the Cloud Load Balancer to failover. * **Hybrid Farm & Mirror Capability:** Uniquely allows mixing a Farm cluster (for scaling front-ends via Cloud LB) with a Mirror cluster (for synchronous data replication of back-ends), solving the persistent storage challenge in AWS. * **Kubernetes Alternative:** SafeKit provides high availability for both legacy and containerized applications (not designed for Kubernetes) without the operational overhead and complexity of Kubernetes orchestration. * **Uniform Deployment (On-Prem or Cloud):** Aside from configuring the [Virtual IP within a Cloud Load Balancer](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/how-a-virtual-ip-address-works/), the SafeKit deployment process remains identical across on-premises and cloud environments. ![SafeKit High Availability AWS Cluster Architecture providing Virtual IP, Automatic Failover, Automatic Failback, and Network Load Balancing](https://safekit.evidian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/safekit-farm-aws-app-1024.jpg "SafeKit Farm NLB Cluster for AWS") **SafeKit Farm NLB Cluster for AWS** [⚡ Quick farm cluster installation guide for AWS >](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/aws-load-balancing-cluster-failover/safekit-quick-installation-guide-in-aws-with-network-load-balancing-and-failover/) [🧑 Contact us](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/contact-us-for-safekit/) [🎁 SafeKit free trial](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/safekit-free-trial/) [🏅 Free certification](https://training.my.evidian.com/mod/page/view.php?id=712) [💰 Perpetual license cost](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/get-a-quote-safekit-en/) ## Table of Contents * [How the SafeKit software simply implements a AWS Network Load Balancing (NLB) cluster?](#safekit-farm-ha-cluster) * [How the SafeKit farm cluster works with AWS?](#safekit-farm-cluster) * [Comparison: SafeKit Farm Cluster On-Premises vs. SafeKit Farm Cluster in the Cloud](#safekit-farm-ha-comparison) * [Video Guide: Configuring a SafeKit Farm NLB Cluster](#videoguide-safekit-farm-cluster) * [🔍 SafeKit High Availability Navigation Hub](#hub) ## How the SafeKit software simply implements a AWS Network Load Balancing (NLB) cluster? ### What is the SafeKit Farm NLB solution for AWS? SafeKit provides network load balancing and high availability for AWS across two or more nodes. This article explains how to quickly implement a AWS cluster without requiring specialized High Availability (HA) expertise. The solution works by integrating SafeKit's **application health checks** with a virtual IP defined at the AWS load balancer level. By configuring specific application service names and application checkers, SafeKit ensures the load balancer only directs traffic to healthy, operational applications. SafeKit enables **network load balancing and automatic failover**, delivering seamless scalability and continuous service availability for your mission-critical applications. ### How does SafeKit application monitoring differ from standard NLB health checks? Unlike standard NLB hardware that rely on simple **pings** and port checks, SafeKit features **integrated application-level checkers**. While a traditional balancer only confirms if a server is "alive," SafeKit monitors the actual health of specific AWS applications. This deep monitoring allows the system to detect "zombie" states—where the server is up but the software has crashed—triggering **automatic service restarts** or traffic redirection that standard NLB solutions cannot perform. ### How does SafeKit handle Uniform Deployment and the Cloud Virtual IP? SafeKit is a cloud-agnostic solution, ensuring that the deployment process and architecture remain consistent across on-premises servers and all major cloud providers. The primary architectural difference lies in how the **[Virtual IP (VIP)](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/how-a-virtual-ip-address-works/)** is presented to the network: * **On-Premises:** SafeKit manages VIP load balancing directly on the application servers using efficient **kernel-level filtering**. Failover is handled by sending **GARP (Gratuitous ARP)** packets to local switches, which reassigns the IP to the active nodes instantaneously. * **In the Cloud:** Because cloud networks do not support GARP, the Virtual IP is hosted by a **Cloud Load Balancer**. In this configuration, **SafeKit provides the intelligent health checks** required to determine node status. This enables the Load Balancer to detect active nodes in real-time and route traffic automatically, ensuring seamless failover across Availability Zones. ### Why choose a unified All-in-One HA solution over fragmented tools? Unlike "bolt-on" solutions that combine separate products for clustering, **SafeKit** integrates **Virtual IP, Network Load Balancing, Automatic Failover, Automatic Failback and Synchronous Real-time File Replication** into a single engine. This eliminates the "house of cards" risk where updates break fragile links between disparate tools, provides a single point of accountability for the entire HA stack, and reduces human error by providing a single interface for **AWS application HA**. ### Is it possible to set up a AWS farm cluster without clustering skills? Yes. This article explains how to [**quickly implement a AWS farm cluster**](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/aws-load-balancing-cluster-failover/safekit-quick-installation-guide-in-aws-with-network-load-balancing-and-failover/) without the need for specialized and complex clustering skills. By using SafeKit’s health checks to handle the Virtual IP network load balancing and SafeKit's application monitoring and restart, you get a robust scalable solution that is significantly simpler to deploy and maintain than traditional NLB clustering solutions. ### Beyond AWS, which applications and environments can SafeKit protect? SafeKit is a versatile high-availability solution **for both Windows and Linux** that extends far beyond AWS farm cluster. It enables mirror clusters with **synchronous real-time replication** and automatic failover for a wide range of critical workloads, including: * **Virtual & Physical Environments:** Complete Hyper-V or KVM virtual machines. * **Container Orchestration:** Docker, Podman, and K3s (Kubernetes) environments. * **Data & Services:** Individual file directories, services, and various databases. * **Cloud Infrastructure:** High availability for Cloud applications. [Explore the full list of supported HA solutions here.](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/cluster-configuration/) ## How the SafeKit farm cluster works with AWS? ### How Network Load Balancing (NLB) works for AWS * **Multi-AZ Deployment:** Nodes are distributed across multiple Availability Zones (Multi-AZ) to ensure maximum resilience against data center outages. * **Active-Active Redundancy:** The critical AWS application runs simultaneously across all nodes in the farm. * **Intelligent Traffic Routing:** Users connect via a [virtual IP address](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/how-a-virtual-ip-address-works/) managed by the AWS load balancer. * **Real-Time Health Monitoring:** The load balancer leverages SafeKit’s Health Check URL. SafeKit returns an **HTTP 200 OK** when a node is healthy and an **HTTP 404** (or timeout) upon failure, allowing the load balancer to automatically route traffic only to operational nodes. ### How High Availability (HA) works for AWS * **Advanced Application Checking:** SafeKit constantly monitors the AWS application using built-in process checkers and customizable scripts. * **Self-Healing Capabilities:** In the event of a software glitch, SafeKit automatically attempts to restart the application locally using pre-configured restart scripts. * **Seamless Failover:** If local restarts fail, SafeKit stops responding to health checks, triggering the load balancer to execute an immediate failover to the remaining healthy nodes. * **Simplified Maintenance:** Each node includes a SafeKit web console connector, providing a "one-click" interface to manually exclude nodes from the cluster for hardware or software maintenance. ![Diagram showing a SafeKit farm cluster for AWS with Multi-AZ redundancy, showing a load balancer using HTTP health checks to route traffic between active nodes and handle automatic failover.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%201161%201140'%3E%3C/svg%3E "SafeKit NLB and HA Architecture for AWS")![Diagram showing a SafeKit farm cluster for AWS with Multi-AZ redundancy, showing a load balancer using HTTP health checks to route traffic between active nodes and handle automatic failover.](https://safekit.evidian.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/cloud-farm-cluster-load-balancing-cluster.png "SafeKit NLB and HA Architecture for AWS") **SafeKit NLB and HA Architecture for AWS** ### How to configure the load balancer rule: is the AWS application stateful or stateless? The configuration of your load balancer depends on whether your application is stateful or stateless: #### Stateful Configuration (Session Affinity) For a **stateful** AWS application, session affinity (persistence) is required. This ensures that a specific client remains connected to the same node across multiple TCP sessions to maintain their application context. In this scenario, the load balancer is configured with a rule based on the **Client IP address**. Consequently, while an individual client is locked to a specific node, traffic from different clients is distributed across the various nodes in the farm. #### Stateless Configuration (No Affinity) Conversely, for a **stateless** AWS application, session affinity is not required. Since no local context is stored on the node between sessions, a single client can be balanced across different nodes for each new TCP session. In this case, the load balancer rule is configured based on the **TCP session identity**. This configuration provides the most efficient distribution of traffic across the farm, but it is only applicable to services designed without session dependency. ### How to configure a SafeKit farm cluster in AWS? ![SafeKit Web Console: Farm cluster configuration for network load balancing and virtual IP management.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20966%20616'%3E%3C/svg%3E)![SafeKit Web Console: Farm cluster configuration for network load balancing and virtual IP management.](https://safekit.evidian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/safekit-farm-cluster-config.png) The **SafeKit farm cluster** is designed for high availability and scalability of services. The configuration focuses on distributing incoming traffic across both nodes simultaneously: * **Load Balanced Services (Macros tab):** Define the specific application services (e.g., Apache, IIS, Nginx) to be kept active on all nodes. * **Heartbeat network(s):** Communication path(s) used to detect if a node has left the farm. * **Virtual IP (Farm VIP):** For on-premises deployment, configure the VIP directly in the SafeKit web console. For cloud deployment, configure the Virtual IP in the Cloud Load Balancer using SafeKit's health check. * **Load Balancing Rules:** For on-premises deployment, configure the traffic distribution policy based on the source IP address or port in the SafeKit web console. For cloud deployment, configure the policy in the Cloud Load Balancer. * **Checkers:** Monitor the application's health and trigger automatic restart if a process failure is detected. ### How to monitor a SafeKit farm cluster in AWS? ![SafeKit Console: Monitoring a 2-node Farm cluster showing both nodes in UP state with active load balancing.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20473%20373'%3E%3C/svg%3E)![SafeKit Console: Monitoring a 2-node Farm cluster showing both nodes in UP state with active load balancing.](https://safekit.evidian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/safekit-farm-cluster-monitor.png) Monitoring a farm cluster provides visibility into the **Active-Active** nature of the infrastructure, where all nodes contribute to the application's performance (showing 2 nodes in this example): * **UP State (50% on 2 nodes):** In a healthy farm, both nodes are in the "UP" (50%) state, meaning they are both actively receiving and processing client requests via the shared Virtual IP. * **Automatic Re-balancing:** If one node fails, the console visually shows the remaining node taking 100% of the traffic. The failover delay depends on the Cloud load balancer's health check polling interval. * **Node Insertion:** When a repaired node is restarted, it transitions from "STOP" to "UP" and automatically starts receiving its portion of the load without administrator intervention. * **No Data Sync:** Note that in a farm cluster, there is no "Orange" resynchronization state, as nodes are expected to be stateless or share a backend database (which can be protected separately in a mirror cluster). Beyond simple status icons, the interface provides one-click node management, allowing you to manually stop or start a node for planned maintenance while the shared Virtual IP automatically redistributes traffic without interrupting user activity. ## Comparison: SafeKit Farm Cluster On-Premises vs. SafeKit Farm Cluster in the Cloud Technical comparison of SafeKit Farm Cluster On-Premises vs. in the Cloud | Feature | SafeKit On-Premises (Physical/VM) | SafeKit in the Cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP) | | --- | --- | --- | | Virtual IP (VIP) Management | SafeKit manages the VIP directly via Gratuitous ARP (GARP). | The Virtual IP is hosted by a Cloud Load Balancer (NLB). | | Traffic Distribution | Handled by the SafeKit Kernel Filtering Algorithm across local nodes. | Handled by the Cloud Load Balancer based on SafeKit health status. | | Health Monitoring | Internal heartbeats monitor node health. | The Load Balancer polls a SafeKit Health Check URL (HTTP 200/404). | | Deep Monitoring & Self-Healing | SafeKit monitors application processes and executes local restart scripts before failing over. | SafeKit monitors application processes and stops responding to the Cloud LB health check to trigger failover. | | Failover Mechanism | VIP is moved instantly between nodes on the local network. | Load Balancer stops routing traffic to the failed node automatically. | | Infrastructure Requirement | Standard Layer 2 network (same subnet for VIP). | Multi-AZ (Availability Zones) for maximum resilience. | ### Conclusion Whether on-premises or in the cloud, SafeKit ensures that your critical applications remain resilient, scalable, and easy to manage through a single, unified interface. For software editors, the **SafeKit software-only nature** is the ultimate choice for adding a High Availability option to your product catalog. Unlike hardware-dependent or cloud-specific solutions, SafeKit is 100% agnostic, allowing you to provide a consistent HA experience regardless of whether your customers deploy on-premises, in virtualized environments, or across public clouds. ## Video Guide: Configuring a SafeKit Farm NLB Cluster ### [SafeKit Video: Network Load Balancing and Virtual IP Management (5:03)](https://www.youtube.com/embed/1Ww2-cXHNx4?rel=0&autoplay=1) This video demonstrates a **SafeKit on-premises deployment**. The configuration is very similar to a **cloud deployment**, with the primary difference being the Virtual IP setting (which is replaced by a cloud load balancer). Learn how to implement a **virtual IP address** to provide a single entry point for a 2-node cluster. SafeKit simplifies **network load balancing** by automatically managing the virtual IP, ensuring that client traffic is distributed across nodes and redirected instantly during a failover. ### Video Highlights 1. [Architecture: Preparing 2 nodes for a shared Virtual IP](https://www.youtube.com/embed/1Ww2-cXHNx4?rel=0&autoplay=1&start=0&end=13) (0:13) 2. [Configuration: Setting up the farm.safe module and Virtual IP address](https://www.youtube.com/embed/1Ww2-cXHNx4?rel=0&autoplay=1&start=13&end=153) (2:20) 3. [Validation: Failover testing and Virtual IP redirection on server crash](https://www.youtube.com/embed/1Ww2-cXHNx4?rel=0&autoplay=1&start=153) (2:30) ## 🔍 SafeKit High Availability Navigation Hub Explore SafeKit: Features, technical videos, documentation, and free trial | Resource Type | Description | Direct Link | | --- | --- | --- | | **Key Features** | Why Choose SafeKit for Simple and Cost-Effective High Availability? | [See Why Choose SafeKit for High Availability](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/#why-choose-safekit-for-ha "Discover SafeKit features for simple and cost-effective high availability") | | **Use Cases** | Explore How SafeKit Ensures the High Availability of Critical Infrastructure | [See All Use Cases](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/#safekit-use-cases "Explore SafeKit high availability use cases") | | **Deployment Model** | All-in-One SANless HA: Shared-Nothing Software Clustering | [See SafeKit All-in-One SANless HA](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/#all-in-one-sanless-ha "Learn about all-in-one SANless high availability with shared-nothing software clustering") | | **HA Strategies** | SafeKit: Infrastructure (VM) vs. Application-Level High Availability | [See SafeKit HA & Redundancy: VM vs. Application Level](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/#safekit-ha-redundancy-choices "Compare VM-level redundancy with SafeKit application-level high availability strategies") | | **Technical Specifications** | Technical Limitations for SafeKit Clustering | [See SafeKit High Availability Limitations](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/#safekit-ha-limitations "Technical requirements and limitations for SafeKit application clustering") | | **Proof of Concept** | SafeKit: High Availability Configuration & Failover Demos | [See SafeKit Failover Tutorials](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/#safekit-failover-tutorials "Step-by-step videos on SafeKit high availability, from installation to automated failover") | | **Architecture** | How the SafeKit Mirror Cluster works (Real-Time Replication & Failover) | [See SafeKit Mirror Cluster: Real-Time Replication & Failover](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/#safekit-mirror-cluster "See technical architecture and failover mechanism of SafeKit Mirror Cluster") | | **Architecture** | How the SafeKit Farm Cluster works (Network Load Balancing & Failover) | [See SafeKit Farm Cluster: Network Load Balancing & Failover](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/#safekit-farm-cluster "Technical overview of SafeKit Farm Cluster architecture with network load balancing") | | **Competitive Advantages** | Comparison: SafeKit vs. Traditional High Availability (HA) Clusters | [See SafeKit vs. Traditional HA Cluster Comparison](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/#safekit-ha-comparison "Detailed comparison of SafeKit software vs traditional hardware-based HA clusters") | | **Technical Resources** | SafeKit High Availability: Documentation, Downloads & Trial | [See SafeKit HA Free Trial & Technical Documentation](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/#safekit-ha-technical-resources "Access SafeKit free trial, technical documentation, and high availability white papers") | | **Pre-configured Solutions** | SafeKit Application Module Library: Ready-to-Use HA Solutions | [See SafeKit High Availability Application Modules](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/#safekit-ha-application-modules "Browse the library of pre-configured SafeKit modules for automated application failover") | [🧑 Contact us](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/contact-us-for-safekit/) [🎁 SafeKit free trial](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/safekit-free-trial/) [🏅 Free certification](https://training.my.evidian.com/mod/page/view.php?id=712) [💰 Perpetual license cost](https://safekit.evidian.com/products/high-availability-software-for-application-clustering/get-a-quote-safekit-en/) * © Eviden, all rights reserved * |[Eviden privacy](https://eviden.com/privacy-policy) * |[Eviden terms and conditions](https://eviden.com/terms-and-conditions) * |[Eviden](https://eviden.com) [![eviden-logo](https://safekit.evidian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/eviden-logo-black-265-54.png)](https://eviden.com/) We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your 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