Load balancing is a term used to describe the process where the
workload of running a computer system is spread across multiple
machines for maximum efficiency. If one large job is split across
five computers, for example, each computer will be able to do its
share more efficiently than one computer would be able to handle
the entire workload. In these types of setups, called computer
clusters, reliability is typically increased exponentially through
a process called redundancy.
When you start talking about load balancing in relation to the
world of cloud computing, things get a little more complicated.
Because cloud computing typically features a mixture of both
hardware and software based solutions to allow users remote access
to their information, load balancing is also spread across hardware
and software at various points during the process. Any part of the
cloud computing solution that is idle immediately becomes part of
the load balancing process. Load distribution is migrated across a
series of source nodes, which are elements that feature a surplus
workout, and transferred across the cloud to something called a
destination load.
When load balancing begins to be applied during the normal
runtime operation of the cloud service, it becomes a process that
is known as dynamic load balancing. Dynamic load balancing is
capable of being realized through a combination of both hardware
and software working on conjunction with one another.
Load balancing and the types of applications that handle it have
been shown to dramatically increase the overall efficiency of a
cloud based environment by successfully moving around large sets of
data. That type of efficiency wouldn't normally be present in a
system that wasn't based on cloud computing technologies. Load
balancing is particularly efficient when moving large amounts of
data either to or from the cloud.
