How can I set up Active-Passive failover with geolocation records in Route 53?

Short description

If a geolocation record is unhealthy, then Route 53 looks for another record for the larger, associated geographic AWS Region. If the client's location doesn't match the other healthy geolocation record, then Route 53 fails over to the default geolocation record.

You can configure Route 53 to fail over to the other healthy geolocation record instead of the default geolocation record.

Resolution

This resolution uses the following example scenario:

You have a geolocation record that points to a load balancer in one location. You create a secondary geolocation record for the same location. With this configuration, if the primary record becomes unhealthy, Amazon Route 53 automatically fails over to the secondary record. You have the following:

• A geolocation record for clients in Location A to access a load balancer in us-west-1.
• A geolocation record for clients in Location B to access the load balancer in eu-west-1.
• A default geolocation record that points to a static webpage showing that the service is unavailable to clients outside of Location A and Location B.

For DNS queries from Location A:

• Create a primary failover record that points to the load balancer in us-west-1
• Create a secondary failover record that points to the load balancer in eu-west-1
• Create a geolocation record for Location A that points to the failover record

Using the preceding configuration, if Route 53 receives a DNS query from Location A, then Route 53 responds with the primary failover record. If the load balancer is healthy, then the primary failover record is the load balancer in us-west-1. If the load balancer in us-west-1 is unhealthy, then Route 53 returns the load balancer in eu-west-1 (the secondary record).

Step 1: Create two failover records for Location A

1. Open the Route 53 console.
2. In the navigation pane, choose Hosted zones.
3. Choose the name of the hosted zone that you want to create the records in.
4. Choose Create record. You can use the wizard to create the records or choose Switch to quick create.
5. Specify the following values:

• For Routing policy, choose Failover
• For Record name, enter a name for the failover record
• For supported AWS resources, you can create an alias record. If you're using Quick create, turn on Alias by using the toggle button. If you're using the Wizard, you don't have to turn on Alias and can proceed to Define failover record.
  Note: If the resource isn't supported for an alias record, create the record as a non-alias record. For more information, see Record type.
• For Value, choose the Endpoint (for example Alias to Application and Classic Load Balancer). Choose the Region (us-west-1, in this example), Then choose your target resource (load balancer, in this example).
• For Failover record type, choose Primary
• For Evaluate target health, choose Yes.
  Note: The Evaluate target health option is applicable for alias records. If you're creating a non-alias record, create a Route 53 Health Check and associate it with the record.
• For Record ID, enter a value that uniquely identifies each record that has the same name and type.
• When using the Quick create record creation method, choose Add another record to create the secondary failover record. When using the Wizard, choose Define failover record.
• The Record name in this step is the same name that is specified for the primary record.
• For Value, choose the endpoint (for example, Alias to Application and Classic Load Balancer). Choose the Region (eu-west-1, in this example). Then, choose your target resource (load balancer, in this example).
• For Routing Policy, choose Failover.
• For Failover record type, choose Secondary.
• (Optional) For Evaluate target health, choose Yes if you're creating an alias record.
• For Record ID, enter a value that uniquely identifies each record that has the same name and type.

7. Choose Create records.

Step 2: Create a geolocation record targeting the failover record

1. Open the Route 53 console.
2. Choose Hosted zones.
3. Choose the name of the required hosted zone that you want to create the record in.
4. Choose Create Record. You can use the wizard to create the records or choose Switch to quick create.
5. Specify the following values:

• For Routing policy, choose Geolocation.
• For Record name, specify a name for the geolocation record.
• For Record type, choose the same type that you used for the failover record.
• For supported AWS resources, you can create an alias record. If you're using Quick create, turn on Alias by using toggle button. If you're using the Wizard, you don't have to perform this action and can proceed to choose Define failover record.
  Note: If the resource isn't supported for an alias record, create the record as a non-alias record. For more information, see Record type.
• For Value, choose Alias to another record in this hosted zone, and then choose the failover record
• For Location, choose Location A's location.
• For Evaluate target health, choose Yes.
• For Record ID, enter a value that uniquely identifies each record that has the same name and type.

7. Choose Create records.

To complete the Active-Passive failover configuration between the two locations, repeat the steps above for clients in Location B.

For DNS queries from Location B, do the following:

1. Create a primary failover record that points to the load balancer in eu-west-1.
2. Create a secondary failover record that points to the load balancer in us-west-1.
3. Create a geolocation record for Location B that points to the failover record. Make sure that both geolocation records for location A and B are in the same hosted zone.

Note: Use the same DNS record type for all of the records. For example, if you create an A record for the primary failover record:

• The secondary failover record must also be an A record.
• The geolocation record must be a type A Alias record.

Related information

Values specific for geolocation alias records