Software Load Balancer
A software load balancer is a network tool that distributes incoming application traffic across multiple servers or resources to ensure high availability, reliability, and scalability. It operates at the application layer (Layer 7) or transport layer (Layer 4) of the OSI model, using algorithms like round-robin or least connections to optimize performance and prevent server overload. Unlike hardware load balancers, it runs as software on standard servers or virtual machines, offering flexibility and cost-effectiveness.
Developers should learn and use software load balancers when building scalable web applications, microservices architectures, or cloud-based systems to handle high traffic volumes and ensure fault tolerance. They are essential for distributing requests in environments like Kubernetes clusters, cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure), or on-premises data centers to improve response times and maintain uptime during server failures. Use cases include load balancing HTTP/HTTPS traffic, managing API gateways, and enabling blue-green deployments.