Network Load Balance – Network technology is now increasingly sophisticated, for example, there is load balancing, load balancing is a term that is not familiar to ordinary people.
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Consultation Via WhatsappLoad balancing is a term used by people who work in IT, developers, servers and programmers. What is load balancing? What’s this for? And what are the benefits for a website? Let’s look at the following explanation.
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What is Load Balance and Its Functions
Did you know that a website that can be accessed by millions of people at the same time definitely requires a system and high server specifications. Moreover, a server will automatically accept simultaneously the existing accessors with various different requests, for example someone requesting streaming videos or songs or making other requests.
With so many requests from these users, the server will get a very heavy load, resulting in downtime conditions. This downtime is a condition where there is a failure of website visitors which results in server performance decreasing until it does not work at all. So do not be surprised if the server is experiencing downtime, the website becomes inaccessible to visitors. That’s why load balancing was created which can function to regulate the distribution of traffic on a website.
Load balancing is a process of distributing traffic and loads on a computer network or the internet. Load balancing is usually used to reduce server workloads so that they can work more efficiently and effectively, speed up website performance and reduce website latency.
Network traffic management, load balancing can also detect server failures, provide backup in case of a disaster, and can also monitor the presence of websites with malicious content.
How Network Load Balance works
Actually, the way Network load balance works is quite simple, namely distributing network traffic from several servers to ensure that no server is overloaded. So that the request process can be done quickly and simultaneously.
For example, when an e-commerce website has 1000 visitors who buy goods. Then the process of purchasing this item will take time to complete until the payment process. Of course, with this many accesses at one time, which must be arranged in a queue, the process will be faster.
This load balancing is in the form of an application, which can be installed on a server, virtual machine, or cloud. The process of working load balancing begins with a request from the user to the server. Then the load balancer will determine which servers receive and process requests from users. Load balancers use different methods or algorithms depending on the type of load balancer. Apart from determining which servers can process visitor requests, the load balancer also monitors and manages the balancing process until the request is received by the server.
Several Kinds of Network Load Balance
The following are 2 types of Network load balance based on their type:
Network Load Balance by Function
There are 3 types of Network load balances which are distinguished based on their function, namely Network Load Balancer or Layer 4 Load Balancer, Application Load Balancer or Layer 7 Load Balancer, and Global Center Load Balancer or Multi-site Load Balancer.
Network Load Balancer (Layer 4 Load Balancer)
Network Load Balancer or called Layer 4 Load Balancer has a role in balancing the level 4 traffic distribution contained in the OSI layer, namely the transport layer.
This layer does not consider any parameters in the application layer. Which this type does not only balance requests from data on the Network side and transport layer protocols for example there are IP addresses and TCP ports that direct traffic based on the Network.
Application Load Balancer (Layer 7 Load Balancer)
At layer 7 this load balancer is the application layer or it can be called the application layer load balancer which balances the workload at layer 7. This load balancer application considers the parameters in the application layer such as HTTP headers, SSL and others before the balancing process is carried out.
Global Server Load Balancer (Multi-site Load Balancer)
The Global Server Load Balancer is the result of the development of the Network Load Balancer and Application Load Balancer, so it no longer works at the transport layer and application layer only. Where the global server load balancer works to balance the overall workload.
This Global Server Load Balancer works based on DNS as well as acts as a DNS proxy. Global Server Load Balancer also has a backup process or backup on each server in case of a disaster.
Network Load Balance Based on Configuration
There are 3 types of network load balance based on configuration, including load balancers, software load balancers, and also virtual load balancers. Here’s the full explanation:
Hardware Load Balance
This hardware load balancer is a type of load balancer in the form of hardware that can balance server workloads. This type of hardware load balancer can do several configurations, a hardware load balancer that can work to distribute network traffic. However, the weakness of this type of hardware is that the price is quite expensive and requires routine maintenance.
Software Load Balance
This type of software load balance is a substitute for a hardware load balance which has the same important role as a hardware load balancer. In addition, this load balancer is a balancing process that can be carried out according to needs. The advantages of this load balance software are free and paid. However, the weakness of this load balance software is that it is not uncommon for delays to occur during the configuration process.
Virtual Load Balance
Virtual load balancer is a combination of both types of hardware and software load balance on virtual machines. Virtually, a load balancer that can use the infrastructure of the load balance software. So that the virtual machine has a hardware load balancer that is installed with a software load balancer.
This virtual type load balancer has its own challenges that must be considered, namely thinking about centralized management between hardware, virtual machines, and software.
These are Some Methods of Performing Load Balance
Load balancing where there are several methods or algorithms that can be used to manage server traffic, here are several types of load balancer algorithms:
Round Robin Algorithm
The Round Robin Algorithm is one of the methods used in the load balancing algorithm. This method will distribute requests made by website visitors to all servers sequentially.
Weighted Round Robin Algorithm
This algorithm is the result of the development of the Round Robin algorithm. Which is the use of this load balancer algorithm can provide workloads in a server specification way.
Least Connections Algorithm
This Least Connection method can maintain the distribution of traffic that is on all available servers. So that a server has a large connection load, so that every request or request from accessors can be distributed to more spare servers.
Least Response Time Algorithm
The Least Response Time Algorithm method allows the load balancer to be able to point to the server with the least number of connections and response times. So that visitors can access the website more quickly.
Least Bandwidth Algorithm
The least bandwidth algorithm method looks for a server with the least amount of traffic. So there is a load balancer data access request that distributes to servers that have the least traffic.
IP Hash Algorithm
This IP hashj algorithm method performs load balancing by assigning a client IP address to the server. This IP address will determine the server that will get requests from clients.
Resource-Based (Adaptive) Algorithm
This Resource-Based Algorithm uses an intermediary program or some kind of software that is installed on the server. This software can view and determine the condition of the server and the availability of resources on the server itself.
Source IP Hash
This source IP hash method uses an IP address. This method will combine the IP addresses of the client and server resulting in the hash key.
Advantages of Using Load Balancing for Websites
Selain menjadikan beban trafik lebih tertata dan dibagi ke beberapa server, load balancing ini bisa memiliki kelebihan lainnya seperti misalnya:
More Flexible Traffic Distribution
This load balancer can work by reducing the load on the server and can also ensure requests and servers run more smoothly. And also this load balancer can add and remove servers according to instructions. So that it is suitable when carrying out server maintenance without the need to experience significant disturbances.
Improve Website Performance
With increasing website visitors, there will definitely be an increase in server traffic. If there is server congestion, it will make server performance slow.
If the server traffic is very dense and overflowing so that it cannot be managed properly it will hinder server performance. This load balancing makes it possible to perform server maintenance from anywhere. So that it can improve the performance of the website used.
Minimizing Downtime Conditions
If there is large traffic, it is possible for the server to enter a downtime condition if it does not use load balancing on the server. This load balancer can work to balance traffic distribution according to the algorithm that has been implemented.
Minimizing Failure
In the method used, load balancing is included in the sophisticated category in distributing the traffic load on the server. So that by balancing traffic, requests from website visitors will be more optimal and also be able to minimize failures.
Exploding Website Traffic? Use Load Balance from NDS To Overcome It
As for the explanation regarding the load balance above, we can conclude that there are several important points in its use, such as distributing the traffic load to other servers evenly, making the server have faster performance, and minimizing failures in processing requests from website visitors. For those of you who want to get more information about load balance, you can contact NetData on the official website or you can also contact via live chat or email here.
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