Connection persistence
Layer 4 connection persistence uses source and destination addresses to ensure traffic from a particular client is always sent to the same physical server. Extensive Layer 7 connection persistence methods are also available and include cookies, session IDs and URLs along with rules for inspecting HTTP content.
Response times to user requests are improved as the appliance can cache static web content in memory and apply GZIP compression to HTTP objects. IPS also comes as standard as the appliance applies Snort rules to incoming web traffic and blocks malicious content from the server farms.
For SSL acceleration, the appliance is equipped with a Cavium Nitrox PCI-e card. It decrypts SSL traffic and sends it to the physical servers in the clear for improved performance but for greater security, it can also re-encrypt traffic before passing it on.
Overall
Kemp may not be able to beat F5's BIG-IP appliances for features but it trounces them on value. F5's LTM 3900 has half the traffic throughput capabilities but costs over twice as much as the 5300.
And then there's the Barracuda Networks 640 which costs nearly the same as the 5300 but has a meagre throughput of only 950Mbps. If you want a well specified load balancer at a very tempting price Kemp's LoadMaster 5300 should definitely be on your shortlist.
Verdict
The LoadMaster 5300 delivers plenty of load balancing features and is capable of handling high volumes of web traffic. We found it easy to deploy, it is 10-Gigabit enabled and is offered at an extremely competitive price.
Chassis: 1U rack CPU: 3.4GHz Xeon E3-1275 Memory: 8GB DDR3 1333MHz Storage: Transcend 512MB DOM Network: 8 x Gigabit, 2 x 10-Gigabit SFP Other Ports: VGA, serial, 2 x USB SSL Acceleration: Cavium Nitrox PX CN1620 PCI-e card Power: 2 x 200W fixed supply Management: Web browser
