Load Balancing for Network Servers

From Computing and Software Wiki

Load balancing refers to methods used to distribute network traffic amongst multiple hosts. This can be done by having different hosts used for different tasks (for example, separate servers for image and text content for a website) or by using a pool of redundant servers from which a load balancer can choose a single host to use for a given connection. Load balancing is usually achieved transparently to the client—that is, the service requested by the client appears to come from one place, even though it may be coming from multiple servers or a server at a different IP address.

Contents 1 Effects of Load Balancing 1.1 Pros 1.2 Cons 2 Methods of Load Balancing 2.1 Dividing Servers Based On Use 2.2 Multiple Redundant Servers 2.2.1 Traditional Load Balancing 2.2.2 Optimizing the Return Trip 2.3 Caching 3 Case Study: Facebook's Photo System 4 See Also 5 References

Effects of Load Balancing

Pros

Cons

Methods of Load Balancing

Dividing Servers Based On Use

Multiple Redundant Servers

Traditional Load Balancing

Optimizing the Return Trip

Caching

Case Study: Facebook's Photo System

See Also

Content delivery network

References

1. Tony Bourke: Server Load Balancing, O'Reilly, ISBN 0-596-00050-2
2. Matthew Syme, Philip Goldie: Optimizing network performance with content switching, Prentice Hall PTR, ISBN 0-13-101468-4
3. Jason Sobel: Needle in a Haystack: Efficient Storage of Billions of Photos