Load Balancer Algorithm Simulator - Learn Load Balancing Strategies
Load Balancer Simulator
Watch how a load balancer distributes incoming user requests across multiple servers
Round Robin: Sends requests to each server in order: 1 → 2 → 3 → 1 → 2 → 3...
Users
Load
Balancer
Balancer
Round Robin
Server 1
Server 2
Server 3
Server 1
0
requests handled
Server 2
0
requests handled
Server 3
0
requests handled
Understanding Load Balancing
What You'll Learn
- How different load balancing algorithms distribute traffic
- When to use each algorithm based on your use case
- How load balancers handle server failures
- The difference between Layer 4 and Layer 7 load balancing
- Impact of server weights on traffic distribution
- Measuring distribution fairness and performance
Load Balancing Algorithms
Round Robin: Simple, even distribution for similar servers
Least Connections: Best for long-lived connections
IP Hash: Session persistence with sticky sessions
Least Response Time: Optimal for varying performance
💡 Real-World Applications
- • NGINX/HAProxy: Popular open-source load balancers supporting all algorithms
- • AWS ELB: Application Load Balancer (Layer 7) vs Network Load Balancer (Layer 4)
- • Kubernetes: Service load balancing with kube-proxy using iptables/IPVS
- • Cloudflare: Global load balancing with geographic routing and health checks
🎯 Best Practices
- • Use weighted algorithms when servers have different capacities
- • Implement active health checks to detect failures quickly
- • Consider geographic routing for global applications
- • Use Layer 7 for content-based routing and SSL termination
- • Monitor distribution fairness and server utilization