What is a load balancer?

A load balancer—or application delivery controller (ADC)— acts as the “traffic cop” distributing incoming traffic efficiently between available servers. For example, if you have three computers, out of which two are hard at work while one is idle, the load balancer will redistribute the workload between the three computers to ensure that they deliver the fastest result.  A load balancer can also provide a range of other services including:

• Global server load balancing
• Web application firewalling
• Traffic management
• Proxying
• Application acceleration

Why are load balancers so important?

Load balancers distribute incoming traffic efficiently
between available servers and can also provide a
range of other services including:
• Global server load balancing
• Web application firewalling
• Traffic management
• Proxying
• Application acceleration.
Together, these services maximise application speed, security, reliability and scalability. All this functionality ensures load balancers are very important for scalable cloud and server stacks. Perhaps that’s why some vendors make them really complicated—and expensive. But they don’t have to be.

Benefits of load balancing

Manage traffic flow:  Offices daily experience a high volume of incoming and outgoing traffic from communication messages to workload. This traffic if not managed can overwhelm the system and reduce its speed and efficiency. A load balancer can help manage the traffic follow by spreading the workload over multiple computers or servers. This will prevent the network from slowing down and effecting work processes.

Increase efficiency: Heavy workloads reduce the efficiency of a network. By adding a load balancing solution to your network, you enable it to redistribute the workload across multiple computers and/or servers. Thus, allowing the computers or servers to complete the work faster. 

Eliminate system failure:  A load balancer can help you can prevent the entire network from failing if a server from a server cluster fails. This process is known as redundancy. When setting up your network or upgrading your network, create server clusters using the same application. This will allow you to remove a failing server from your system effortless. It will also allow you to transfer its current workload to a functioning server without any repercussions.

Update without downtime: Load balancing adds flexibility to your network. Using the build in redundancy in server clusters, you can shift workload to a set server or cluster of server while updating the rest. This will prevent updates from effecting accessibility to data or services to clients.

Simply put, load balancing is a process that organization should undertake to ensure that your network is functioning effectively, efficiently and optimally.

How can Edgenexus Load Balancer at SAPPLY help?

The Edgenexus Load Balancer is the most cost-effective and easy to use load balancer on the market. Unlike legacy products, Edgenexus has been designed from the ground up so its agile, cost effective and exceptionally easy to use. They have a unique integrated App Store that provides agile expansion & future proofing. It’s also the only HPE certified OEM device of its kind, delivering the peace of mind and performance of unrivalled HPE technology and support.

Why choose Edgenexus?

Their disruptive edge is that their in-house development has made their products exceptionally easy to use with additional USP’s including:

• Easy to use graphical interface
• Advanced Traffic Management via FlightPath
• Future proofed with a built in app-store for expanded functionality
• Cost-effective providing high functionality/price ratio
• Fully featured with proprietary in-house development

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