Load balancing algorithms are used in computer networks and distributed systems to distribute incoming network traffic or computational tasks across multiple servers or resources. The goal is to optimize resource utilization, maximize throughput, minimize response time, and ensure high availability by preventing overload on any single resource.
Some common ones:
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Round Robin: Distribute tasks sequentially across a group of servers, so each server takes a turn.
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Least Connections: Direct traffic to the server with the fewest active connections or sessions.
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Least Response Time: Direct traffic to the server with the lowest response time or latency.
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Least Bandwidth: Direct traffic to the server with the lowest current bandwidth usage.
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Least CPU Usage: Direct traffic to the server with the lowest CPU utilization.
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Client IP Hash: Use the client's IP address to determine which server should handle the request. Requests from the same client IP will consistently go to the same server. This method is useful for session persistence or sticky sessions.
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Chained or Layered Load Balancing: In a chained or layered load balancing approach, multiple load balancers are used in succession. The first load balancer distributes traffic to the second, and so on. This is useful for complex network architectures.