What is load balancing definition and what are the methods of load balancing?

What is load balancing definition and what are the methods of load balancing? We will help you understand the concepts and methods of load balancing.

Introduction:

Load balancing definition basically is the even distribution of processing work between two or more computers or CPUs, network links, storage devices, or other devices, ultimately providing faster service with greater efficiency. Load balancing is accomplished through software, hardware, or both, and often uses multiple servers that appear to be a single computer system (also known as a computer cluster). This article introduces the definition and methods of load balancing.

What is load balancing?

Load balancing in computing is the process of assigning a set of tasks to a set of resources (computing units) to increase overall processing efficiency. Load balancing optimizes response times and avoids uneven load when certain compute nodes are idle. 

Load balancing is the most scalable way to handle the high volume of requests coming from modern multi-application, multi-device workflows. Combined with a platform that enables seamless access to the many applications and desktops in today’s digital workspaces, load balancing can provide employees with a more consistent and reliable end-user experience.

ADCs with load balancing capabilities can help IT departments ensure scalability and availability of services. "ADC" stands for "Application Delivery Controller." It is a network device that ensures scalability, availability, and efficient traffic management for IT services. Its advanced traffic management capabilities help enterprises more efficiently direct requests to the right resource for each end user.  ADC provides many additional features, such as encryption, authentication, and web application firewall, to help you protect, manage, and monitor the many applications and services in your environment to ensure the best end-user experience.

What are load balancing methods?

Load balancing, or an ADC that contains a load balancer, uses algorithms to decide how to distribute requests across a server farm. There are many options for this, ranging from very simple to very complex. 

Least Connections Load Balancing is a dynamic load balancing algorithm that distributes client requests to application servers with the fewest active connections as they are received. If the application servers have similar specifications, one server may become overloaded if the connection continues for a long time. This algorithm takes into account the active connection load. This technique is best suited for incoming requests with varying connection times and for groups of servers that are relatively similar in terms of processing power and available resources.

Weighted Least Connections is built on the Least Connections load balancing algorithm, taking into account different characteristics of application servers. Administrators assign weights to each application server based on their relative processing power and available resources within the farm. The LoadMaster makes load balancing decisions based on active connections and assigned server weights (for example, if there are two servers with the fewest connections, it will choose the server with the highest weight).

Resource-based (or adaptive) load balancing makes decisions based on status indicators that the LoadMaster obtains from backend servers. Status indicators are determined by a custom program (the "agent") running on each server. The LoadMaster periodically queries each server for status information and sets the dynamic weights of the real servers appropriately.

In this way, load balancing methods are essentially detailed "health checks" of the real servers. This approach is suitable for any situation where detailed health check information from each server is required to make load balancing decisions. For example: This method is useful for applications that have varying workloads and require detailed application performance and status to assess server health. This method can also be used to provide application-aware health checking of Layer 4 (UDP) services through a load balancing approach.

SDN Adaptation is a load balancing algorithm that combines Layer 2, 3, 4, and 7 knowledge with input from the SDN controller to make more optimal traffic allocation decisions. This allows information about the status of the server, the status of the applications running on the server, the health of the network infrastructure, and the level of network congestion all to play a role in load balancing decisions. This method is suitable for deployments that include SDN controllers.

Conclusion:

Load balancing is a core networking solution used to distribute traffic among multiple servers within a server farm. Load balancers manage the flow of information between servers and endpoint devices (PCs, laptops, tablets, or smartphones). A load balancer is a hardware or software solution that efficiently moves packets between multiple servers, optimizing the use of network resources, and helping prevent network overload. With different methods, we can find the best solution to network problems.