DNS Load Balancing
DNS load balancing is a technique that distributes incoming network traffic across multiple servers or resources by using the Domain Name System (DNS) to resolve domain names to different IP addresses. It works by configuring a DNS server to return multiple IP addresses for a single domain name, often with mechanisms like round-robin or weighted distribution, allowing clients to connect to various backend servers. This approach helps improve availability, scalability, and performance by preventing any single server from becoming overloaded.
Developers should learn and use DNS load balancing when building high-traffic web applications, APIs, or services that require redundancy and fault tolerance, as it provides a simple, cost-effective way to distribute load without specialized hardware. It is particularly useful for global applications where geographic distribution of servers can reduce latency, and for scenarios where quick failover is needed, such as during server outages or maintenance. However, it is less precise than application-level load balancers and may not handle session persistence or health checks as effectively.