When do I need load balancing?

You need load balancing when: running more than one server, needing high availability (no single point of failure), experiencing traffic that exceeds single-server capacity, requiring zero-downtime deployments, or implementing auto-scaling. Even with just two servers, a load balancer provides redundancy and seamless failover.

What type of load balancer should I use?

For web applications (HTTP/HTTPS), use an Application Load Balancer (Layer 7). For non-HTTP traffic, raw TCP/UDP, or extreme performance needs, use a Network Load Balancer (Layer 4). For global distribution, use a global load balancer or DNS-based load balancing. Most web applications start with an Application Load Balancer.

How does load balancing handle SSL?

SSL termination at the load balancer is recommended: the load balancer handles SSL decryption, then forwards unencrypted traffic to backend servers over the private network. This simplifies SSL certificate management (one place), reduces CPU load on application servers, and enables the load balancer to inspect and route traffic based on content.

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Load Balancing

Also known as:traffic distributionserver load distributionrequest routing

Distributing incoming network traffic across multiple servers to ensure no single server becomes overwhelmed, improving application availability, reliability, and performance.

In-Depth Explanation

Load balancing distributes incoming traffic across multiple servers (or backend resources) to ensure no single server is overwhelmed. It improves application availability, reliability, and responsiveness by spreading the workload evenly.

Load balancing algorithms:

Round robin: Distributes requests sequentially across servers
Least connections: Sends to the server with fewest active connections
Weighted: Distributes based on server capacity weights
IP hash: Routes based on client IP (session persistence)
Least response time: Sends to the fastest-responding server

Types of load balancers:

Application Load Balancer (Layer 7): HTTP/HTTPS routing based on content
Network Load Balancer (Layer 4): TCP/UDP routing based on IP and port
Global Load Balancer: Distributes across geographic regions
DNS-based: Load balancing through DNS resolution
Software: Nginx, HAProxy running on servers

Cloud load balancing services:

AWS: Application Load Balancer (ALB), Network Load Balancer (NLB)
Azure: Azure Load Balancer, Application Gateway
Google Cloud: Cloud Load Balancing
Cloudflare: Load Balancing with health checks

Load balancing features:

Health checks: Monitoring server health and routing away from unhealthy servers
SSL termination: Handling SSL/TLS at the load balancer
Session persistence: Routing returning users to the same server
Auto-scaling integration: Adding/removing servers based on demand
WAF integration: Web application firewall at the load balancer

Load balancing benefits:

Eliminates single points of failure
Enables horizontal scaling
Improves response times through optimal server selection
Provides graceful handling of server failures
Enables zero-downtime deployments

Business Context

Load balancing ensures applications remain available and responsive even during traffic spikes, preventing the revenue-damaging outages that occur when a single server is overwhelmed during peak periods or marketing campaigns.

How Clever Ops Uses This

Clever Ops configures load balancing for Australian businesses using cloud-native services. We design load-balanced architectures that handle traffic spikes, eliminate single points of failure, and enable zero-downtime deployments, ensuring applications remain fast and available for Australian users.

Example Use Case

"An Australian e-commerce company implements an AWS Application Load Balancer distributing traffic across 4 web servers with health checks. When one server fails during a sale, traffic automatically redirects to healthy servers with zero customer impact."