Load Balancer
Distribute traffic across multiple servers with health checks, SSL termination, and session affinity.
What is Load Balancer?
A Load Balancer distributes incoming traffic across multiple backend servers, ensuring no single server is overwhelmed. If a server fails, the load balancer automatically stops sending traffic to it — your application stays online with zero downtime.
Our load balancers operate at Layer 4 (TCP/UDP) and Layer 7 (HTTP/HTTPS). Layer 7 supports path-based routing (e.g., /api → API servers, /static → CDN), host-based routing (e.g., app1.com → server 1, app2.com → server 2), and SSL termination (decrypt HTTPS at the load balancer, forward HTTP to backends).
Every load balancer includes health checks (HTTP, TCP, or custom), session affinity (sticky sessions via cookies or IP), connection draining (graceful server removal), and real-time traffic statistics. Integrate with auto-scaling groups for fully automated traffic distribution.
Key Features
Everything included with Load Balancer, ready to use from day one.
Layer 4 & 7 Load Balancing
Distribute TCP/UDP traffic (Layer 4) or HTTP/HTTPS traffic (Layer 7) with path-based and host-based routing.
Health Checks
Monitor backend server health via HTTP, TCP, or custom scripts. Unhealthy servers are automatically removed from rotation.
SSL Termination
Decrypt HTTPS at the load balancer. Backends receive plain HTTP — reducing CPU load on your application servers.
Session Affinity
Sticky sessions via cookies or client IP. Ensure a user's requests always reach the same backend server.
Path-Based Routing
Route /api to API servers, /static to CDN, /admin to admin servers — all from a single load balancer.
Auto-Scaling Integration
Integrate with auto-scaling groups. As servers are added or removed, the load balancer updates its target list automatically.
Connection Draining
When removing a server, existing connections complete gracefully. No dropped connections, no user disruption.
Real-Time Stats
Live traffic statistics: requests per second, response times, error rates, per-server health. Visualized in the dashboard.
Technical Specifications
How Load Balancer Works
A visual breakdown of how Load Balancer connects to the platform backend.
Client Layer
Load Balancer
Backend Servers
Monitoring
Use Cases & Examples
Real-world scenarios where Load Balancer delivers value.
High-Availability Web App
Run a web app on 3+ servers behind a load balancer. If one server fails, the load balancer routes traffic to the remaining servers — zero downtime.
Example: A SaaS app runs on 3 servers behind a load balancer. Server 2 crashes — the health check detects it in 5 seconds, removes it from rotation, and traffic flows to servers 1 and 3. Users don't notice.
Blue-Green Deployments
Deploy new versions with zero downtime. Route traffic to the 'blue' (old) servers, deploy to 'green' (new) servers, test, then switch the load balancer to green.
Example: A team deploys v2 of their app: the load balancer routes to v1 (blue), they deploy v2 (green), test v2, then switch the load balancer to green — zero downtime deployment.
API Gateway Pattern
Use path-based routing to direct /api/v1 to old API servers and /api/v2 to new API servers. Gradually migrate users to v2 without breaking v1.
Example: An API team uses path-based routing: /api/v1 → old servers, /api/v2 → new servers. They gradually move traffic from v1 to v2 by adjusting routing weights — no breaking changes.
Backend Integration
How Load Balancer connects to the platform's backend systems.
Data Entity
HostingAccount
Backend Function
provisionHostingAccount
Automation Workflow
Auto-Provision Hosting Account
Load balancers are provisioned through the provisionHostingAccount function. The system creates a load balancer instance, configures backend server targets, sets up health checks, enables SSL termination, and configures routing rules — all within seconds of purchase.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a load balancer?
If you run a single server, you don't need a load balancer. If you run 2+ servers, or want high availability, a load balancer distributes traffic and handles failover automatically.
What's the difference between Layer 4 and Layer 7?
Layer 4 routes TCP/UDP traffic without inspecting the content. Layer 7 inspects HTTP requests and can route based on URL path, host header, or cookies.
Can I use a load balancer with a single server?
Yes. A load balancer with one backend still provides SSL termination, DDoS protection, and a fixed IP — useful even without multiple backends.
How does the load balancer handle SSL?
The load balancer terminates SSL (decrypts HTTPS), then forwards plain HTTP to your backends. This reduces CPU load on your servers and centralizes certificate management.
Related Services
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Dedicated Servers
Bare metal power for mission-critical workloads — no virtualization overhead, no resource sharing.
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