MinIO Object Storage
Contents
1 Introduction
MinIO is a software-defined, flexible, and expandable object storage solution that runs seamlessly in the private cloud, public cloud, and at the edge. In combination with a Progress Kemp load balancer, a MinIO solution can provide the necessary availability and scale for object storage using the S3 protocol.
1.1 Intended Audience
Anyone interested in configuring the LoadMaster to load balance MinIO.
1.2 Document Purpose
This deployment guide provides instructions on how to configure the LoadMaster to load balance MinIO nodes using Progress Kemp application templates. You should only use this guide as a reference for the load balancing configuration of MinIO services because each environment is unique and may have different requirements. This guide outlines the load balancing configuration using standard ports (80 and 443) in the Progress Kemp application templates which connect back to the MinIO default port of tcp 9000, but you can also leverage MinIO custom ports based on the environment.
2 Template
Progress Kemp has developed a template containing our recommended settings for this workload. You can install this template to help create Virtual Services (VSs) because it automatically populates the settings. You can use the template to easily create the required VSs with the recommended settings. For some workloads, additional manual steps may be required such as assigning a certificate or applying port following. These steps are covered in the document, if needed.
You can remove templates after use and this will not affect deployed services. If needed, you can make changes to any of the VS settings after using the template.
Download released templates from the following page: LoadMaster Templates.
For more information and steps on how to import and use templates, refer to the Virtual Services and Templates, Feature Description.
3 MinIO Object Storage
MinIO is a software-defined object storage solution for large archives, media, and web data storage. Policy-driven data management allows MinIO to move data seamlessly between on-premises and public cloud storage to optimize availability, protection, performance, and cost.
The following table provides a list of the MinIO default ports and protocols used for accessing the storage.
|
Protocols |
Transport Protocol or Daemon Service |
Port |
|---|---|---|
|
S3 |
HTTP/HTTPS |
9000 |
4 LoadMaster Global Settings
Before setting up the Virtual Services, you should configure the following global settings to support the workload.
4.1 Enable Subnet Originating Requests Globally
It is best practice to enable the Subnet Originating Requests option globally.
In a one-armed setup (where the Virtual Service and Real Servers are on the same network/subnet) Subnet Originating Requests is usually not needed. However, enabling Subnet Originating Requests should not affect the routing in a one-armed setup.
In a two-armed setup where the Virtual Service is on network/subnet A, for example, and the Real Servers are on network B, Subnet Originating Requests should be enabled on LoadMasters with firmware version 7.1-16 and above.
When Subnet Originating Requests is enabled, the Real Server sees traffic originating from 10.20.20.21 (LoadMaster eth1 address) and responds correctly in most scenarios.
With Subnet Originating Requests disabled, the Real Server sees traffic originating from 10.0.0.15 (LoadMaster Virtual Service address on eth0) and responds to eth0 which could cause asymmetric routing.
When Subnet Originating Requests is enabled globally, it is automatically enabled on all Virtual Services. If the Subnet Originating Requests option is disabled globally, you can choose whether to enable Subnet Originating Requests on a per-Virtual Service basis.
To enable Subnet Originating Requests globally, follow the steps below:
1. In the main menu of the LoadMaster User Interface (UI), go to System Configuration > Miscellaneous Options > Network Options.
2. Select the Subnet Originating Requests check box.
5 LoadMaster Virtual Services
This step-by-step setup of Virtual Services leverages the Progress Kemp application template for MinIO Object Storage with Layer 7.
Layer 7 by default does not use transparency and therefore the IP address of the LoadMaster is used when accessing the MinIO nodes. The X-Forwarded-For header is leveraged to provide the original source IP address in the logs for troubleshooting purposes. When a secure connection is used, a certificate must be installed on the LoadMaster to decrypt the traffic for the X-Forwarded-For header insertion. This traffic can then be re-encrypted or offloaded depending on the security requirements.
The tables in the sections below outline the settings configured by the application template. You can use this information to manually configure Virtual Services or using the LoadMaster Application Programming Interface (API) and automation tools.
There are three supported configurations:
-
SSL pass-through: The SSL certificate is installed on the MinIO nodes as a custom server certificate.
-
SSL termination and reencryption: This might be beneficial if you are already doing SSL certificate management on the load balancer rather than installing the SSL certificate on the MinIO nodes. This configuration provides the additional security benefit of limiting the attack surface to the LoadMaster.
-
SSL termination with HTTP: In this configuration, SSL is terminated on the LoadMaster and communication from the LoadMaster to MinIO is non-encrypted to take advantage of SSL offload.
5.1 Create a Virtual Service using a Template
To configure a Virtual Service using the application template, perform the following steps:
1. In the main menu of the LoadMaster WUI, go to Virtual Services > Add New.
2. Type a valid Virtual Address.
3. Select the appropriate template in the Use Template drop-down list.
4. Click Add this Virtual Service.
5. Required only for TLS/SSL Offload and Reencrypt: Expand the SSL Properties section.
6. Required only for TLS/SSL Offload and Reencrypt: Select the certificate to use from Available Certificates and click the arrow (>) to move it to Assigned Certificates.
7. Expand the Real Servers section.
8. Click Add New.
9. Type the Real Server Address.
10. Confirm that the correct port is entered.
11. Click Add This Real Server.
12. Add any additional Real Servers.
5.2 MinIO S3 Virtual Services
The following section outlines the Layer 7 configuration options for using S3 with MinIO Object Storage.
5.2.1 S3 HTTP Virtual Service Recommended API Settings (optional)
This table outlines the API parameters and values set using the Progress Kemp application template. You can use these settings with scripts and automation tools.
|
API Parameter |
API Value |
|---|---|
|
port |
80 |
| prot | tcp |
| VStype | http |
| SubnetOriginating | 1 |
| Schedule | lc |
| AddVia | 1 |
| CheckType | http |
| CheckPort | 9000 |
| CheckUseGet | 0 |
| CheckURL | /minio/health/ready |
5.2.2 S3 HTTPS Passthrough Virtual Service Recommended API Settings (optional)
This table outlines the API parameters and values set using the Progress Kemp application template. You can use these settings with scripts and automation tools.
|
API Parameter |
API Value |
|---|---|
|
port |
443 |
| prot | tcp |
| VStype | http |
| SubnetOriginating | 1 |
| Schedule | lc |
| CheckType | https |
| CheckPort | 9000 |
| CheckUseGet | 0 |
| CheckURL | /minio/health/ready |
5.2.3 S3 HTTPS Offloaded Virtual Service Recommended API Settings (optional)
This table outlines the API parameters and values set using the Progress Kemp application template. You can use these settings with scripts and automation tools.
|
API Parameter |
API Value |
|---|---|
|
port |
443 |
| prot | tcp |
| VStype | http |
| SubnetOriginating | 1 |
| Schedule | lc |
| SSLAcceleration | 1 |
| AddVia | 1 |
| TLSType | 1 |
| CipherSet | BestPractices |
| CheckType | http |
| CheckPort | 9000 |
| CheckUseGet | 0 |
| CheckURL | /minio/health/ready |
5.2.4 S3 HTTPS Reencrypted Virtual Service Recommended API Settings (optional)
This table outlines the API parameters and values set using the Progress Kemp application template. You can use these settings with scripts and automation tools.
|
API Parameter |
API Value |
|---|---|
|
port |
443 |
| prot | tcp |
| VStype | http |
| SubnetOriginating | 1 |
| Schedule | lc |
| SSLAcceleration | 1 |
| SSLReencrypt | 1 |
| AddVia | 1 |
| TLSType | 1 |
| CipherSet | BestPractices |
| CheckType | https |
| CheckPort | 9000 |
| CheckUseGet | 0 |
| CheckURL | /minio/health/ready |
6 Troubleshooting
Refer to the sections below for details on some common issues seen when load balancing the MinIO workload.
6.1 Connections Rejected
When using a non-default TCP port or offloading for MinIO services, you must ensure the Real Server port is correct. This is a common mistake when configuring the Real Servers when the Virtual Services port is different from the Real Server port. See the table in the MinIO Object Storage section of this document for the required Real Server port for MinIO.
6.2 Source/Client IP Visibility
If the client source IP address is required for audit logging, configure your load balancer so that it passes the requests through with the original requesting IP address.
7 References
Some resources on MinIO Object Storage are listed below:
Useful, related documents are listed below:
SSL Accelerated Services Feature Description
Transparency Feature Description
RESTful API Interface Description
Last Updated Date
This document was last updated on 01 March 2023.