The role of the load balancer
The load balancer distributes the workload (of web servers, mail servers, database servers, etc.) across two or more machines.
Using a load balancer connected to a set of machines (Cloud Servers, Cloud VPS or Dedicated Servers) increases reliability through redundancy and ensures service continuity. This allows you to optimise the resources of your infrastructure, maximise productivity and reduce response times, thus avoiding potential overloads.
If one of the balanced machines stops working for any reason, the load balancer automatically excludes it from load balancing and uses the other machines, thus ensuring service continuity. If the notification service is enabled, the system sends a notification to the configured contact details.
Servers that can be connected to the load balancer
You can connect the following types of servers to the load balancer:
| Bare Metal - Dedicated Servers |
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| Virtual Data Center - Cloud Server |
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| OpenStack Cloud Server |
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| VMware Cloud Server |
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| Cloud VPS - OpenStack Starter |
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| Cloud VPS - OpenStack |
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| Cloud VPS - VMware |
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| Cloud VPS - Hyper-V |
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Why use a load balancer
Using a load balancer is recommended if you need to:
- ensure service continuity;
- handle sudden traffic peaks;
- manage high volumes of traffic.
Notification service
The
notification service (optional) is triggered when the load balancer detects an issue with one of the machines connected to it and sends a notification to the contact details entered during configuration.
You can enable notifications through two separate channels:
- Email Notifications: free service that can be enabled for multiple email addresses;
- SMS Notifications: charged per SMS sent and can be enabled for multiple mobile phone numbers.
Notifications can also be enabled and managed after the load balancer has been created, from the service details page.
Service costs
The service has a monthly cost (30 days), which is deducted in advance from the Cloud account credit upon activation.
The cost does not depend on:
- the number of balanced machines;
- the number or type of rules used;
- the status (active or inactive) of the load balancer.
If a load balancer is deleted, the cost charged in advance will not be refunded.