How to load balance without an external load balancing router?

Question

I want to load balance HTTPS requests across several Linux servers. The application requires session affinity, so once a user gets connected the same server needs to handle all subsequent requests from that user. Is there a reliable way to do this without deploying an external load balancing router or adding any additional hardware? The application will be deployed to a number of clients, some of whom are reluctant to buy more hardware.

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 30 '11 at 03:33

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Hardware load balancers provide better performance but you have the option of running a software-only load balancer. There are plenty of open source options available.

answered Mar 30 '11 at 03:33

Musannif Zahir

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n8whnp · Accepted Answer · 2011-04-04T05:05:24.223

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I have used mod_proxy_balancer: http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/mod_proxy_balancer.html

It has the stickyness you need and is a software only solution.

edited Apr 04 '11 at 05:05

answered Mar 30 '11 at 05:06

n8whnp

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The redundancy part is very untrue. You can setup Heartbeat or similar software that will give you redundancy. – Antoine Benkemoun Mar 30 '11 at 06:25
@Antoine - fair point. I have removed that warning. – n8whnp Apr 04 '11 at 05:06

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 07 '11 at 03:42

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An oldie but a goodie is Resonate CentralDispatch, which does a lot of neat things and can be deployed on your servers or on separate servers. Used it for years before switching to BigIPs. It isn't free though.

answered Apr 07 '11 at 03:42

mahnsc

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How to load balance without an external load balancing router?

3 Answers3