JH Group Secures Operational Reliability with Progress Kemp LoadMaster Deployment
Products:
Kemp LoadMasterChallenge
JH Group sought a dependable load balancing solution to solve numerous issues, including routing sessions to other United Access Gateways (UAG) and mitigating connectivity issues.
Solution
- Deploy Progress® Kemp® Virtual LoadMaster® Load Balancer to validate performance prior to a financial commitment
- Help JH Group’s ICT team regain stable access by utilizing the LoadMaster solution’s virtual appliance
- Support current hardware and HA configurations with a clear upgrade path
Result
- Achieved consistent and predictable session distribution across UAGs and eliminated session drops and login failures
- Maintained reliable user connectivity for the whole organization by re-establishing high availability and redundancy
- Equipped with a more rapid recovery response in case of potential system outages
Full Story
Challenge
JH Group is a company with a unique history; started and operating in Australia in 1987, the organization evolved from a security firm to a diverse holding group focusing on hospitality, real estate, technology and several different sectors.
The organization has a fully self-hosted, private cloud environment that prioritized cost control, security and operational independence. This was so they could avoid using public cloud services. The company’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) team initially considered using a Citrix NetScaler-based Virtual Desktop Interface (VDI). As projected costs kept rising, the ICT team switched to FortiGate high-availability firewall pair to handle basic load balancing for Horizon Unified Access Gateways (UAGs).
While FortiGate performed acceptably for nearly two years, JH Group’s infrastructure scaled to where its current load balancing solution could no longer support it. The ICT team lacked the ability to fine-tune load balancing for Horizon workloads. This, in turn, resulted in uneven session load, for example over 90% of connections routed to a single UAG, and periodic session drops. Additionally, JH Group didn’t have the robust visibility they needed to investigate application traffic and session behavior.
One day, the ICT team upgraded to FortiOS 7.49. But, this caused a business-wide outage that halted day-to-day activity and disrupted the business. Over 50% of end users couldn’t log in and those that could, would be disconnected from the server. A temporary workaround restored partial service but it sacrificed redundancy. The ICT team realized that JH Group required a new, purpose-built load balancing solution.
We needed a purpose-built load balancing platform for Horizon that was stable, predictable and easy to manage. LoadMaster solved the session distribution and stability issues we were fighting with.
Duke Knight
ICT Manager at JH Group
Solution
During their search, JH Group discovered positive technical references for Progress® Kemp® Virtual LoadMaster® Load Balancer in front of Omnissa Horizon environments. Using the publicly available LoadMaster documentation and Horizon-specific templates, the ICT team rapidly deployed a free Virtual LoadMaster appliance in their private cloud.
“The free Virtual LoadMaster allowed us to validate the platform properly in production before committing to hardware,” said Duke Knight, ICT Leader at the JH Group. “Once we saw the stability improvements, moving to HA appliances was an easy decision.”
There were numerous factors that went into consideration when selecting the LoadMaster load balancing solution. The ICT team found its setup to be more streamlined and the deployment to be intuitive. What stood out the team the most, was the solution’s application delivery capabilities. Since their previous solution was not optimized for application delivery, this was a huge win for the JH Group.
Without external assistance, they configured the virtual appliance, updated firewall rules and transitioned it into production with virtually no downtime. Immediately, users regained stable access and the team confirmed the solution’s suitability as a long-term platform. The Virtual LoadMaster trial allowed JH Group to validate performance and reliability in production before any financial commitment—effectively de‑risking the investment decision.
Result
Deploying the LoadMaster solution delivered immediate and measurable improvements for JH Group’s private cloud VDI environment. Once the LoadMaster solution was placed in front of the Omnissa Horizon Unified Access Gateways, session handling stabilized almost instantly.
With purpose-built application load balancing in place, JH Group achieved consistent and predictable session distribution across its UAGs. Rather than overwhelming a single gateway, connections were intelligently balanced, maintaining optimal use of available resources and significantly improving user experience. This consistency allowed the ICT team to proactively monitor performance and verify that high-availability objectives were being met, rather than reacting to intermittent failures.
Just as important, the LoadMaster solution enabled JH Group to re-establish redundancy within its environment. The previous workaround that restored limited service had left the organization exposed; if a threat to occurred, the ICT team would be under pressure to mitigate it immediately. Now, the team achieved its goals to maintain uptime and operational reliability, since the LoadMaster solution helped strengthen the system’s resilience to withstand potential component failures.
“We needed a purpose-built load balancing platform for Horizon that was stable, predictable and easy to manage,” said Knight. “LoadMaster solved the session distribution and stability issues we were fighting with.”
The successful production trial also served as proof of long-term viability. By validating the LoadMaster solution under real-world conditions, JH Group gained confidence in deploying it as a strategic platform for the future. This low-risk evaluation directly informed the decision to invest in two hardware LoadMaster appliances under support contracts, deployed in a high-availability configuration to provide enterprise-grade resilience and vendor-backed support.
Today, JH Group’s ICT team views the LoadMaster load balancing solution as a vital component of their private cloud strategy. It has restored stability, strengthened business continuity and positioned the organization to scale application delivery across additional services while maintaining its commitment to cost control, independence and reliable access for users across the business.
The free Virtual LoadMaster allowed us to validate the platform properly in production before committing to hardware. Once we saw the stability improvements, moving to HA appliances was an easy decision.
Duke Knight
ICT Manager at JH Group