A load balancer is a component in a network system that distributes incoming traffic across multiple servers or resources to evenly distribute the load and enhance the performance, reliability, and availability of the system.
There are various types of load balancers, including:
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Hardware Load Balancer: Physical devices designed specifically for load distribution, often used in data centers.
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Software Load Balancer: Programs or applications running on servers that provide load balancing functionalities. These can be used in virtual environments or in the cloud.
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Cloud Load Balancer: Load balancing solutions tailored for cloud services, capable of automatic scaling and adapting to cloud requirements.
The primary function of a load balancer is to evenly distribute incoming traffic across different servers to optimize server utilization, improve response times, and enhance fault tolerance. By distributing requests evenly across multiple servers, a load balancer also ensures that no single resource gets overloaded, thus improving overall system performance.
