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Understanding Load Balancers and Algorithms

A load balancer distributes network or application traffic across servers to increase capacity and reliability of applications. Load balancers are grouped into Layer 4 and Layer 7, with Layer 4 balancing based on network data and Layer 7 balancing based on application data like HTTP. Load balancers use algorithms like round robin, weighted round robin, least connections and least response time to distribute requests, and monitor server health to send requests only to responsive servers.

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92 views1 page

Understanding Load Balancers and Algorithms

A load balancer distributes network or application traffic across servers to increase capacity and reliability of applications. Load balancers are grouped into Layer 4 and Layer 7, with Layer 4 balancing based on network data and Layer 7 balancing based on application data like HTTP. Load balancers use algorithms like round robin, weighted round robin, least connections and least response time to distribute requests, and monitor server health to send requests only to responsive servers.

Uploaded by

pravin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Load Balancer

A load balancer is a device that acts as a reverse proxy and distributes network or application traffic
across a number of servers. Load balancers are used to increase capacity (concurrent users) and 
reliability of applications. They improve the overall performance of applications by decreasing the 
burden on servers associated with managing and maintaining application and network sessions, as 
well as by performing application­specific tasks.
Load balancers are generally grouped into two categories: Layer 4 and Layer 7. Layer 4 load 
balancers act upon data found in network and transport layer protocols (IP, TCP, FTP, UDP). Layer
7 load balancers distribute requests based upon data found in application layer protocols such as 
HTTP.
Requests are received by both types of load balancers and they are distributed to a particular server 
based on a configured algorithm. Some industry standard algorithms are:
 Round robin 
 Weighted round robin 
 Least connections 
 Least response time 
Layer 7 load balancers can further distribute requests based on application specific data such as 
HTTP headers, cookies, or data within the application message itself, such as the value of a specific 
parameter.
Load balancers ensure reliability and availability by monitoring the "health" of applications and 
only sending requests to servers and applications that can respond in a timely manner.

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