Load Balancing Explained: Types and Tradeoffs

Load balancing sounds simple until you realize there are several kinds, each solving a slightly different problem. Choosing the right one is the difference between smooth scaling and a bottleneck.

The core job is distributing traffic across servers, but the method varies by layer and strategy. Matching the balancer to your architecture and traffic pattern is what actually matters.

• Layer 4 balancing routes by network connection
• Layer 7 balancing routes by request content
• Round-robin, least-connections, and IP hash are common strategies
• Health checks are what make balancing actually reliable

Pick the layer and strategy that fit your application’s traffic, then let health checks do the heavy lifting.