Dictionary · Networking Hardware
Load Balancer
Devices · Intermediate
A device or service that distributes client requests across multiple servers. It can check server health and may terminate encryption so the servers share one public name.
Users see one address, while several servers share the work. If one server fails its health check, new requests go to the ones that remain.
Example: Three web servers sit behind one virtual address. Unhealthy servers are removed until they answer checks again.
Common misconception
- Spreading traffic does not replace backups or application fixes. It only distributes requests among the servers you configured.