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Knowledge Base
system designintermediate

System Design: Load Balancing Strategies

Deep dive into load balancing — Round Robin, Least Connections, Consistent Hashing. When and why each strategy matters for distributed systems.
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load balancinground robinconsistent hashingleast connectionsL4 vs L7
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System Design: Load Balancing Strategies

Load balancing distributes incoming traffic across multiple servers to ensure no single server bears too much load.

Why Load Balancing?

  • High availability: if one server fails, traffic routes to others
  • Scalability: add more servers to handle more traffic
  • Performance: distribute load evenly for faster response times

Common Strategies

1. Round Robin

Requests are distributed sequentially across servers.

  • Pros: Simple, no state needed
  • Cons: Doesn't account for server capacity or current load

2. Least Connections

Routes traffic to the server with the fewest active connections.

  • Pros: Better for varying request durations
  • Cons: Requires tracking connection counts

3. Consistent Hashing

Maps both servers and requests to a hash ring.

  • Pros: Minimal disruption when servers

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Sources

System Design Primer

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