Cloud Load Balancer vs On-Premises Load Balancer

Developers should use cloud load balancers when building scalable web applications, APIs, or microservices that require high availability and can handle variable traffic loads meets developers should use on-premises load balancers when deploying applications in private data centers or hybrid cloud setups where data sovereignty, security, or compliance requirements mandate local control over infrastructure. Here's our take.

Cloud Load Balancer

Nice Pick

Developers should use cloud load balancers when building scalable web applications, APIs, or microservices that require high availability and can handle variable traffic loads

Pros

• They are essential for distributing traffic across multiple instances in auto-scaling groups, enabling zero-downtime deployments through health checks and traffic shifting, and improving performance with features like SSL termination and content-based routing
• Related to: cloud-computing, auto-scaling

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

On-Premises Load Balancer

Developers should use on-premises load balancers when deploying applications in private data centers or hybrid cloud setups where data sovereignty, security, or compliance requirements mandate local control over infrastructure

Pros

• They are critical for handling high-traffic web applications, microservices architectures, and enterprise systems that need fault tolerance and seamless failover capabilities
• Related to: load-balancing, network-infrastructure

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. Cloud Load Balancer is a platform while On-Premises Load Balancer is a tool. We picked Cloud Load Balancer based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

Cloud Load Balancer wins

Based on overall popularity. Cloud Load Balancer is more widely used, but On-Premises Load Balancer excels in its own space.