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Friday, September 26, 2008

Load Balancing - The Power of Reliability

By John Parks

Load Balancing is the principle of spreading work between two or more networks, cpu's, and other hardware. Whether it's used for internet services or simply data-storage, load balancing can help ensure that your servers are able to be accessed at any time, regardless of current conditions. Every high-quality dedicated server company that provides managed hosting utilizes Load Balancing to provide the most important factor when choosing service, reliability.

Typically, a server company will have what is called a "server farm" where several different computers with separate and independent connections will store the same data and functions. Using a hardware device called a multi-layer switch or very sophisticated software, those managing the hosting can keep the workload spread out between each of the computers and connections, providing protection from failure by redundancy. Typically the first thing that a client connects to is actually the load balancer software, which then transparently sends and receives messages from one of several "back end" servers that actually hold the data and internet services that a client is trying to access. A variety of intricate methods ensure that the client continuously uses the same back-end server during a single session, to provide the maximum performance that's possible and keep their session smooth and easy.

The primary benefit of load balancing in this environment is that it provides protection from failure and reliability in the form of redundancy. If one, or potentially even multiple, computers or connections on the network fail, then the service provider will be able to almost seamlessly redistribute the load among the remaining hardware and you will be able to continue working and accessing your data on the remaining equipment that is working. This method of backup is much more flexible and inexpensive than single dedicated connections with a sole backup line. And provides the peace of mind and comfort that comes from knowing no matter what problems your service provider might experience, your data will be safe and you'll be able to get your work done.


For more information on load balancing and server management, visit http://www.Servers.com

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