Load balancing for secure servers

What is load balancing?

Load balancing is a type of server clustering, and UKFast’s hardware solution provides the perfect antidote to the problem of hardware failure, in an environment where downtime cannot be tolerated.

When an existing single server can’t handle the high volumes of incoming traffic any longer, website pages will load more slowly. To counteract this, additional servers can be added to a solution, which then enables the distribution of traffic/load among a couple or a group of servers. Load balancing is this distribution of traffic/load.

When it's difficult to predict the number of requests that will be issued to a server, load balancing is especially important for these networks. Two or more web servers are typically employed for busy websites in a load-balancing scheme.

Load balancing applies to all types of servers, which includes application and database servers and it can be implemented with hardware, software or a combination of both.

In environments where downtime can’t be tolerated, load balancing provides the perfect solution to the problem of hardware failure. No single device is overwhelmed when processing and communications are distributed evenly across a computer network.

If there is a problem with a clients’ server, once the load balancer detects it, it will automatically take it out of the cluster and allow maintenance to be carried out. When this work is complete, the server can be put back into the cluster and allow the load balancing to carry on as usual.

The load balanced solution is specifically designed to cope with one of a cluster of servers being taken out of the cluster, without affecting the service that is provided to the users – leaving no single point of failure.

Click here to find out about the benefits of clustering solutions or request more information online.