SonicOS 7.1 Rules and Policies for Classic Mode

NAT Rules > Creating NAT Rule Policies: Examples > Creating a One-to-Many NAT Load Balancing Policy
Table of Contents

Creating a One-to-Many NAT Load Balancing Policy

One-to-many NAT policies can be used to persistently load balance the translated destination using the original source IP address as the key to persistence. For example, firewalls can load balance multiple SonicWall appliances, while still maintaining session persistence by always balancing clients to the correct destination appliance.

This NAT Rules policy is combined with an Allow access rule.

To configure a one-to-many load balancing policy and access rule

  1. Navigate to the POLICY | Rules and Policies > Access Rules page.

  2. Click +Add to display the Adding Rule dialog.

  3. Enter the values shown in the Option Choices: One-to-Many Access Rule table.

    Option Choices: One-to-Many Access Rule
    Option Value
    Action Allow
    From WAN
    To LAN
    Source Port

    Select a port; the default is Any

    If Source Port is configured, the access rule filters the traffic based on the source port defined in the selected service object/group. The service object/group selected must have the same protocol types as the ones selected in Service.
    Service HTTPS
    Source Any
    Destination WAN Primary IP
    Users Included All
    Users Excluded None (default)
    Schedule Always on
    Comment Descriptive text, such as SMA LB
    Enable logging Selected
    Allow Fragmented Packets Selected
    All other options Unselected

  4. Click Add. The rule is added.

  5. Navigate to the POLICY | Rules and Policies > NAT Rules page.

  6. Click +Add at the bottom of the page. The Adding NAT Rule dialog displays.

  7. To create a NAT policy to allow the web server to initiate traffic to the public Internet using its mapped public IP address, choose the options shown in the Option Choices: One-to-Many NAT Load Balancing Policy Example table.

    Option Choices: One-to-Many NAT Load Balancing Policy Example
    Option Value
    Original Source Any
    Translated Source Original
    Original Destination WAN Primary IP
    Translated Destination

    Select Edit | +New Address Object to display the Adding Address Object dialog. Use the options shown in Option Choices: Add Address Object Dialog.

    Option Choices: Add Address Object Dialog
    Option Value
    Name A descriptive name, such as MySMA
    Zone assignment LAN
    Type Host
    IP Address The IP addresses for the devices to be load balanced (in the topology for these examples, this is 192.168.200.10, 192.168.200.20, and 192.168.200.30.)
    Original Service HTTPS
    Translated Service HTTPS
    Inbound Interface Any
    Outbound Interface Any
    Comment Descriptive text, such as SMA LB
    Enable NAT Policy Selected
    Create a reflexive policy Not selected

  8. When done, click Add to add the NAT Rules policy.

For a more specific example of a one-to-many NAT load balancing policy, see Configuring NAT Load Balancing for Two Web Servers.