If a server goes down, traffic can be automatically directed to another server " that's high availability. If you want to take a server down or apply a patch, in the real world if you don't have a load balancer you have to tell users the server's going down or do the administration at night. And a load balancer can be a security gateway, to stop the bad guys that a firewall doesn't. These are not trivial benefits to the people running server farms.
Networking Pipeline: How does a load balancer catch what a firewall doesn't?
Kopparapu: Most enterprises keep their Web servers inside the firewall, and end up having to punch a hole " typically through Port 80 " to let traffic in. Ultimately, that can become a gateway for the bad guys. A firewall cannot distinguish different types of traffic, while a load balancer can look deeper into the packet and even into transactions, to determine what is a good or bad connection.
Networking Pipeline: Isn't there a performance hit from using load balancers?
Kopparapu: Sure, there's always a performance hit " anyone who tells you they have a "wire speed" load balancer is selling you marketing hype. But while you can't offer wire speed on every port, you can offer high performance levels. We offer 4 to 8 Gbps throughput, and that's plenty. You have to ask if that satisfies your requirements, especially weighed against the costs of downtime or taking a hit when a server goes down.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
