Concept and Features of a Load Balancer

What Is a Load Balancer?

A load balancer is a system that distributes server load.

Types of Load Balancers

L4: Port-Based

  • Distributes load using information from layer 4 and below.
  • In particular, it distributes traffic using MAC (layer 2), IP (layer 3), and port (layer 4) information.

L7: URL-Based

  • Distributes load using application layer information.
  • It can inspect packet contents, distribute traffic, and filter abnormal traffic such as DDoS attacks.